DUNEDIN CENTRAL SEAT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2378, 6 February 1915, Page 8

DUNEDIN CENTRAL SEAT

SEAMEN'S VOTES DISALLOWED. (By Telej^aph.—Press Association.) Dunedin, February 5. ■ Mr. ' Belcher, secretary of the Seamen's Union, informed, a reporter to-' day that thirty members of the crew of the Maunganui and one belonging to the Tahiti, whose names are amongst the 105 seamen on the supplementary, roll for-Dunedin Central, had had their votes disallowed by the Collector of Customs for reasons under the new law. If such men' wish to record their votes they can only do so at Wellington, where articles are taken, out, and only In tho electorate in which the Customhouse is situated.

Mr. Belcher is not oorrect when he says that seamen must vote in the electorate in which the Customhouse is situated. Seamen must vote at the port at which the ship's articles are signed, but they may vote in any electorate adjacent to the port. In Wellington, for instance, a seaman who signed articles herei may vote in City North, Central, East, or South, and also in Hutt or Wellington Suburbs, provided he is not permanently domiciled,'as the owner or occupier of somo premises, in any ono of these electorates. In this latter event he must vote in the district whero he resides.