THE ROLLS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2319, 28 November 1914, Page 9

THE ROLLS

. TWO ILLUMINATING TABLES CLEAN LISTS ' AND VERY FEW PEOPLE OMITTED ' Inquiries wcto made yesterday regarding tho enrolment of electors in tho various constituencies of the Dominion. It was found that full particulars were not yet available, but it is stated that they will be given out in a fow days. Mr. J. Hislop, Chief Electoral Officer, said that at present he could only .say that the figures for the AVellington City and suburban electorates were exceedingly satisfactory from the Department's point of view. He pointed out that the total number of electors who voted in 1911 was 36,735, whilo there were 45,932 people on. this year's rolls, an increase of over 9000. The following return 6hows the number. of electors on the roll in tho Wellington electorates in 1911 and iri'l9l4, and the number who voted in 1911:— Number Number Nufaber ' electors electors electors oil Koll who voted on Roll ' ■ 1!)11. 191E 1914. W'gfn North ... 11,365 7,900 . 9,837 W'gt'n Central... 11,431 8,028 ' 9,565 W'gt'n East 10,709 8,075 9,57] W'gt'a South 9,689 7,457 . 9,023 W'gt'n Suburbs 7,927 6,273 7,936. ~ - Totals .81,121 37,733 15,932 .Tho following figures supplied by tho Government Statistician will show how clean the rolls are to-day:' Estim'td. Estim'td-. Popul'tn. Adult M'ch., 1914. Pop'lt'n. Wellington North ..-. 16,276 9,466 Wellington Central 16,255 9,454 Wellington East .... 16,284 9,471 Wellington South ... 16,244 9,447 Wellington Suburb's 15,069 8,764 Totals 80,128 ; 46,602 This table is very satisfactory to the

Departmental officers concerned with f the rolls work; and is an answer to the statements which have been made in certain quarters. The figures prove that there were large numbers of names on the 1911 rolls which had no right ,to be there. When ' inquiries, were mad© after the last election as to the disparity 'between the numbers on the rolls and the numbers who voted, the people corresponding with the names for which no vote had been recorded. could not be found. • Those who complained that in tho process of cleansing tho 'rolls many people were left off, will find their assertions answered in the table which shews that, while thero is an estimated adult population of 46,602 people in the Wellinetou electorates, there are 45,932 people on the rolls. Considering that there are always people who cannot, and will not, enrol, 670 is reckoned to be a very,'.small number to represent those who have not been enrolled. It is of interest to quote the following from the report of the chief electoral officer ,;(Mr. F. W. Mansfield) on the electoral census carried out in 1911 in connection with the compilation and the purging of the .rolls we're •restored to,' or allowed to remain on, the rolls over <11,000 nataes, practically all of which, there can be no doubt, had no right "to remain thereon, and thus the usefulness of the census, so far as the cleansing of tho rolls was concerned, was completely stultified."

• Mr. Mansfield' reported also: "With a total enrolment for tho Dominion of 590,042 electors, there were 97,130 nonvoters, and it is highly probable that a substantial number of these wero 'restored' names due to tho Amendment Act of 1911. In "Wellington North and Wellington Central, for instance, there wore 2754 and 2753 non-voters respec l tivoly,, which is a strong indication of the overloaded condition of these rolls, especially when wp consider that in Wellington Centrafj where there was a second ballot, the' non-voters referred to did not show up at either ballot. As the contests in these electorates occasioned considerable, interest on tho part of t'lio electors, it can only be concluded that the largo [jorcentago of non-voters was almost entirely duo to overloaded rolls. In Auckland Central there .were only twenty short of 3000 non-voters; and even in Parnell, whore tho contest was exceedingly keen, and a second ballot was held, tho number of non-voter? was 1415."