SEAMEN'S VOTE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 84, 6 October 1938, Page 10

SEAMEN'S VOTE

MANY APPLICATIONS

AN IMPORTANT FACTOR

Figures so far available indicate that the seamen's vote at the General Election will be considerably larger than for any previous poll. The total number of seamen's votes in 1935 was 1523, but already in Wellington alone 752 seamen have applied for the special seamen's right which permits them to cast their votes at any time up to the closing of the poll. The possibility of the seamen's vote deciding a close contest in, say, Wellington North or Wellington Central, is not to he overlooked, as will be seen from the following totals of seamen's applications received to date for the various Wellington electorates:—Wellington North 250, Wellington West 71, Wellington Central 241, Wellington East 84, Wellington South 71, and Wellington Suburbs 35. FACILITIES ON SHIPBOARD. Under the amending legislation passed during the last session of Parliament it is no longer compulsory for seamen to obtain the seamen's qualification, and the above figures by no means represent the total number. of seamen eligible to cast their votes in the Wellington district. They may vote as absentees, at any time up to 7 p.m. on October 15 immediately prior to their vessels leaving New Zealand. For this purpose, special polling arrangements are being made for each vessel before sailing. The new. provision also covers passengers leaving New Zealand who will be absent from the Dominion until after election day. There are a large number of seamen who live aboard the vessels on which they are employed and who have no fixed place of abode. Men in this class are entitled to vote in any electorate contiguous with the port where they are registered. Seamen who have been discharged from their vessels and who have no fixed place of abode can similarly vote in any electorate contiguous to the port where they were discharged, Eighteen votes were cast on the Maui Pomare on Tuesday in the first poll conducted in Wellington for the passengers and crew of a vessel about to leave New Zealand. A poll was also taken on the Awatea yesterday afternoon before she sailed for Sydney, and the total number of votes cast was 107. Another poll will betaken on the Awatea on October 14. It is pointed out that New Zealand residents who propose to leave the Dominion before election day are entitled to make application for postal voting facilities, and by doing this rather than by waiting for the. special polls held on the vessels on which they sail, they -will avoid the last-minute rush which already appears likely to become a feature of voting at the special polls on shipboard.