OFFICIAL COUNTS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 16, 14 October 1943, Page 4

OFFICIAL COUNTS

Two Lots Of Service

Results Awaited

PAST CLOSE CONTESTS

Tlie only outstanding official counts of general election results now to be received by the chief electoral officer, Mr. L. Irwin, are those from the Pacific and 'the Middle East. In a cable message to Mr. Irwin some days ago tlie special returning officer in the Pacific indicated that the official figures for that area could not be expected before today at the earliest, and the special returning officer for the Middle East named tomorrow as the earliest day lie could finish his official count. However, 'since tlie dispatch of those cablegrams it is quite conceivable there may have been delays in obtaining ballot-papers froni remote stations that had not 'been expected at the time the messages were sent. Votes not accounted for in the preliminary figures total about 8000 for the whole Dominion, 6000 from the Pacific and 2000 from the Middle East. Close contests at earlier general elections, and particularly one for tlie old Eden seat, are recalled by the present situation in Eden, where, though the Setting member, Mr. W. T. Anderton (Labour), has been declared elected by a margin of 10 over Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Fortune (National), the result is still subject to amendment by the inclusion of further service votes. At different stages in the compilation of votes, Mr. Anderton led by 50, and was later in a minority of 18. ' f Uncertainty in 1899.

There was similar uncertainty at the 1899 generaj election in the old Eden seat, which extended round the shores of the Waitemata from Devonport to Avondale, and back toward the city as far as Archhill. On the first count, the sitting member, Mr. J. Bollard, led his opponent, Mr. M. Niccol, by three votes, the respective totals being 2244 and 2241. zl late return from a small polling place increased Mr. Bollard’s lead by one, but this was offset by a seaman’s vote cast for Mr. Niccol. Further scrutiny of the votes reduced each candidate’s total by four, and the final result was only obtained after the receipt of three absentee votes, two of which went to Mr. Bollard and one to. Mr. Niccol. Mr. Bollard therefore retained the seat by a majority of four. . On several occasions in New Zealand s history, Parliamentary seats have been won on the casting vote of the returning officer. The most recent occasion . on which this somewhat doubtful privilege was exercised was in 1925, when there were ties in both the Lyttelton and Westland seats. In Lyttelton, both the sitting ffieipber, Mr. J. McCombs (Labour), and Mr. M. E. Lyons (Reform), obtained 4900 votes, and the returning officer gave his verdict for Mr. Lyons. An election Court! which heard a petition by Mr. McCombs ((gainst the return of Mr. Lyons upset the decision, and declared the petitioner elected by a majority of 11. The candidates in Westland, Mr. J. O’Brien (sitting Labour member) and Mr. T. E. Y. Seddon ((Nationalist), secured 4176 votes each. Here the returning officer declared for Mr. Seddon, and the decision was upheld by an election Court, which gave Mr. Seddon the verdict by 12‘votes. „ „ , The Motueka election in j. 871 resulted tn 193 votes being polled for both Sir David Monro,' the Speaker in the House for the previous 10 years, and Mr. C. Parker. The returning officer gave his casting vote for Sir David, but a subsequent investigation showed that a vote had been polled for him by a man who was not registered as an elector. The result was therefore upset, and Mr. Parker was declared elected. About 60 years ago, Mr. E. Wakefield was returned for Geraldine on a casting vote, and about the same period Sir James (then Mr.) Wilson secured a North Island seat in like manner. There have also been instances where a candidate has been elected to the House by a margin of one vote. A former well-known Parliamentarian, Mr. R. 11. J. Reeves, won Inangahua from Mr. J. Drake by this slender majority in 1890. The Hon. G. W. Russell secured a similar majority oyer the Hon. W. Rolleston in Ricearton in 1899. The most recent example of a single vote margin was in Southern Maori in 1928, when Mr. T. Makitanara beat Mr. E. T. Tirikatene by 199 votes to 198.