THE ELECTIONS AND THE ROLLS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2294, 30 October 1914, Page 4

THE ELECTIONS AND THE ROLLS

Unlike the Leader of the Opposition and his lieutenants the Prime Minister and his colleagues have for months past been completely absorbed in Parliamentary and administrative duties, and the extra work imposed upon them by the war will necessarily still claim a good deal o£ their attention. The Opposition hope to profit by this, but there should bo time for a, fairly full discussion at the hustings of the questions at present astir in the political arena and Ministers are not likely in the end to lose anything by their devotion to duty. ■ If the Election is sot down, as it probablv will be, for December 10, a full five weeks should be available for campaigning. The writs are returnable in 28 days from the date of issue, the period being increased from 21 days at the introduction of the Second Ballot and not reduced wheri>that feature of the electoral system was eliminated. It is just possible that a desire to bring Parliament to life again with as little delay as possible may lead to the Election being held on December 3 instead of a week later, but it does not at present seem likely that any sufficient reason will arise for adopting this courso. A good deal has been heard recently about the state of tho rolls and it has been alleged that complaints are numerous and that tho names of many qualified electors have been omitted. Most of this talk may safely, be set, down as an attempt to

manufacture a little party capital. The actual position appears to be that tho rolls havo been subjected to a thorough purging and revision which they badly needed and that side by side with this the electoral officials, assisted by the postal officers and the police, have conducted a brisk enrolment campaign. That the rolls should in some cases have been reduced in volume is not in the least strange, for in the past they have often been obviously overloaded and in need of purging. In any caso it is quite certain tbafc people who complain about their names oeing left off the main roll are in no danger of being disfranchised. Tho apparent importance of these complaints is easily magnified, but it is safe to assumo .that in every case thoy come from people who will take care to see that their names are included in tho supplementary rolls. During every election campaign in this country all possible pressure is brought to fiear upon qualified persons to enroJ. Apart from the facilities provided by the State and the activities of parties and organisations much prominence is given to the matter in tho newspapers and it may reasonably be supposed that very few people are excluded from enrolment otherwise than by their own neglect. It is no doubt true that a percentage of those qualified always neglect to enrol or to vote when enrolled, but this is partly duo to unavoidable causes, such as sudden illness or unforeseen absence, and largely to indifference. Tho only practicable remedy for the latter trouble is compulsory voting, a drastic measure for which public sentiment' does not yet seem ripe. In ordinary course there should still bo a few weeks available before the supplementary rolls are closed, but the sensible course for electors who have not already mado sure that they are I on tho rolls is to do so at once.