LOCAL ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1743, 7 May 1913, Page 8

LOCAL ELECTIONS.

ANOMALIES & SUGGESTIONS. CIIIEP RETURNING OFFICER SPEAKS OUT. CHRISTCHURCH AND WELLINGTON COMPARED. One way and nnollicr thorn has been a Ifood deal of criticism on the part of tho public over fho conduct' of tho recent municipal elections in Wellington. Tho man behind tho gun in Wellington was llio Chief Ketiirnini! Officer (Mr. James Allies), who was interviewed yesterday. "Well," siid Mr. Ames, "I could say n good deal, but 1 don't know thai it would 'tiller matters." ISut il. iniufit. clear the way for an improvement, two years licnco? "I si ill think," said Mr. Ames, "that tho method of Allowing doctors to vote on four or five proposals on tho same day Is a very great mistake, ntid the sooner n change is mado tho lxiltcr. Take tho erection jusl. over—fancy an elector having to -select ,'!l candidates out of 71, from tho four ballot pnpors! What has boon the result? Why, hundreds of mistakes liavc bwn made, and hundreds of ballot papers had to be put aside, as informal. "If these elections havo to be held in the same month and year, then I would liko to make a suggestion. It is this: At present tho election of the members of t.lio Harbour Board, Hospital Board, City Council, and the weekly half-holiday'poll lako plaeo every two years. Why not mako tho Mayoral election biennial instead of annual, and so save the City Council some hundreds of pounds. I would suggest further that the proposals Ijo divided into two days. What I mean is that it would bo ever so mucli more convenient both to (he public and the staff if tho election of Mayor, Hospital Hoard, and the weekly half-holiday were taken on the first Wednesday in April and the Harbour Board and council on tho last Wednesday in the same month. That would bo better for the voters, less costly to the bodies concerned, and the work would be better done.

A Just Complaint. "Talking about having the work better clone, reminds mo of the conditions under which my staff are asked to work. Some three or four weeks prior to tho election the Mayor and council agreed that it was objectionable to ask electors to go down into the basement (of the Town Hall) to consult the roll, and as a lesult we were given the use of one of tho big committee rooms. But what was not fit for the elector to so down to for a few minutes was considered quite good enough for the staff to work in from morning till night—quite a fit placo for the rolls to be prepared in. Is it any wonder that mistakes aro made when the staff are asked to" work in a cellar and frequently in a very poor light? The whole thing will have to bo put on a proper basis by creating a department with a proper constitution, and housed in decent offices. In the case of the Parliamentary election rolls a staff is kept working all tho time, though tho election- is only once in three years, but we have ail election every year, and a very difficult' one every two years. Wo were given the use of a committeo room for a time, but now we havo been bundled out of it. .and havo to return to tho basement, whero it is not fit for dogs, let alone men! The Half-Holiday Poll. "Regarding the petition for tho weekly half-holiday poll, I think that it should not only contain the namo of tho signatory, but his or her occupation and address—either that or let it be a compulsory poll. Tho present method should be tinkered with. 110 longer. If that were done we could very easily find out if signatures aro genuine or otherwise. In any case the attaching of the occupation and address of the signatory would at once prevent a recurrence of what happened last month.

■ The Sign of, tho Cross. "Here's another thing—the application for enrolment should bo simplified now that wo have the Parliamentary franchise. We have on our roll two columns moro than is on the Parliamentary roll, both utterly useless and unnecessary. The ono states the qualification—whether freehold or residential—and the other sets but whether tho elector votes .in her own right or that of her husband. Nobody cares or wants to know either of these things now that wo liavo adopted tlia broader franchise. Wo don't want anything moro than'is on tho Parliamentary enrolment form (and roll). This, if amended, would save trouble and make the printing bill lighter. Close Calls. "Another very important matter is that regarding the dates for closing tho roll and receiving nominations. With regard to the latter the closing date is a week prior to tho election—when that happens oil tho last Wednesday in. April. Between that day and tho following Wednesday six days occur, of which two are Saturday and Sunday, which only leaves us <ti days to get printed, gummed, counted, and distributed to the various booths throughout the city and suburbs somo 120,M0 ballot papers. What was the result? Why, tho printers had to work day and ' night to get tho papers out, and then we had to slog in and count them out in bundles for the booths. On top of this is tho risk that a candidate may, up till the Saturday preceding • the election, withdraw his name from the list of nominations, in which case the law says that I am' to erase his name from every ballotpaper. If this had occurred at thi6 last election I don't know how I could have managed, because if the candidate was standing for seats on three bodies it would have meant handling 100.000 ballotpapers or having them printed all oveij again, with only Monday and Tuesday morning to do it in. How could it be done ?" A Queer Anomaly. /

"Hero's another thing," continued Mr. Ames. "The roll is, according t;> the Act, to close 28 flays boforo the election, but if further claims am handed in fourteen datfs before tho election I would havo to acccpt them and issue a second supplemontary roll. I. was advised that if l"0n claims had been handed in on .April 10 (fourteen days prior to the election) I would have had to accept them, but not if tliov were handed in on April 11 or 15. Funny, isn't it? X think that nominations should close at least a full lortnight before the elections, and that the roll should definitely and finally bo closed 28 days before election day. Christchurch and Wellington. "I notice that the. Chief Returning Officer at Christchurch has been saying something about the election. According to the press message he had five places in each booth for tho five issues, which lie says simplified tho procedure. I m' l " not ngreo with him. He says lie got tho re'ult of the Mayoral election out at 9.J5 p.m., .nul that he had 195 deputy-return-ing officers and 285 'polling clerks and ushers. We only had 05 deputy-rcturning officers and 225 poll clerks, and and our Mavoral return -was out at H..iU p.m., and that with only one ballot-box in each booth, and 1!),4S0 votes rccordcd, os against 15,4(51 iu Christchurch. "I'hart 95 deputy-returning officers at .£2 55.; 190 poll clerks at ,C 1 15s. 6d.. and ,15 ufliers at XI for the day. In addition to that there was the printing, advertising express hire, etc. In comparison with Christchurch our poll was managed most economically if the people were paid the same as in "Wellington.*