HAWKE'S BAY RECOUNT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2345, 30 December 1914, Page 3

HAWKE'S BAY RECOUNT

: MAGISTRATE'S FINDING. (By Telegraph.—Presu Association.) Hastings, December 29. The result of the Magisterial recount is as telegraphed last night. In the course of his finding, Mr. M'Cnrthy, S.M., says:—"And I hereby certify that at a scrutiny of tho marked rolls used by sevoral deputy returning officers acting at forty-three booths for the said election, that in respect of forty-seven electoral numbers appearing on such rolls there appears, from comparison thereof, that two voting papers have been issued in respect of each one of the forty-seven electoral numbers; and I do certify that at the said election ninety-seven persons would _ seem to have voted under declarations made pursuant to Section 18 of the Amended Electoral Act, of 1914, and that only eighty-five of suck persons can be traced to have 'been on any roll, and whereas the result of the before-mentioned recount above recorded differs froni the return of the returning officer which I find to be incorrect, I do therefore order and direct that the said returning officer make an amended return notifying tho before-mentioned results of such recount. I also direct that Mr. Campbell's £20 deposit be returned, to him." .

It is necessary to point out that the forty-seven dual votes mentioned in the finding are not the forty-seven votes declared by the Magistrate to be informal, and which increase the number of informal votes declared by the returning officer in his official declaration from fifty-three to 100. . The number

is merely a coincidence. 'The dual voting and apparently false declaration voting are matters for tlie Election Court to deal with, and not till then will it be definitely known who is member for Hawk a'j Bay. '

THE "UNOFFICIAL." EXPLANATION The official result of the Magisterial recount received by the Chief Electoral Office .yesterday was exactly the same as the unofficial one telegraphed the previous night, and published in The Dominion yesterday morning. The figures give Dir. M'Nab a majority of 40.

It would appear, however, that there is something" wrong with the "unofficial" . explanation, which sought to account for the increased majority. It was stated that certain votes wero declared informal because the voters had struck out completely one of the two names on-' the ballot-pajper, and had' also marked out the Christian .name of the other. The weakness of ■ the explanation is that the ballot papers, if properly printed, would not bear the Christian names of the candidates, but the surnames only. Only in the event of two candidates of the same surname standing; for the same seat are theChristian names printed on the ballot paper. As there is 110 similarity between the names "Campbell" and "M'Nab" there would be no reason for printing the Christian names of either candidate on the Hawke's Bay ballot papers. •