ELECTORS OVER-TAXED.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1740, 3 May 1913, Page 5

ELECTORS OVER-TAXED.

RETURNING OFFICER'S VIEW OP WEDNESDAY'S POLL.

, Wednesd ly last wos tho first ocoaeion on which, under tlio new Act, all tho municipal elections were held on-the on© day, and consequently must "bo regarded to Gomo extent nature of a test. There were four issues put before tlio c-kctors—tho election of fcbo Mayor, City Council, llqrljoar Board, arid Hospital and Charitable Aid Board-aud as tlioro was a contest in each casa the . test was a fair one, ' . .. . "What do vou think of the idea of holding all tho polls on. ono day?' the chief returning officer (Mr. J. Ames) ynw asked ycstar&iy. . "Rotten—absolutely rotten! eaia Mr. Ames vehemently. "It's bad, for every body." Jlow? "The time it takes for ft person to record his vote for one thing; tho number of issues put bef>re the electors was rosponsible to* the trouble iii scino booths. Why, I visited ono booth during tho day, and* fiaw an elector take a chair and retire Ijeliind tlio screen with it. I asked tho cleric what the man was doing with, the chair, and ho said that he (tho elector) had asked for a chair to sit on, as le paid ho wished to study each ol the ballot paper* carefully.' Supposing there were six men just as careful about tho recon - inir of tlieir votes:, it might hold a booth up for half an hour. If there were a hundred booths it ivould bo little better. There's two much given to tin elector to do, and it makes tho work of recording the votes wi'.rioldv."