How the Country Voted

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 45, 4 October 1887, Page 3

How the Country Voted

A glance over the election returns, and a comparison of the figures, affords some interesting information. As nearly as it is possible to ascertain, the total number of rotes recorded was 80,743, out of which 54 elected Opposition candidates who polled 25,099, and the Ministerial candidates who were successful polled 19,126, the one I member-elect who is classed as; a " doubtful" having 779 Bupporters. Thus the new House represents rattier more than one-half the electors who voted. The unsuccessful Opposition candidates polled 14,582 votes, and the unsuccessful Ministerial candidates 18,497, while 2660 votes were cast for " doubtful" candidates who were rejected. Excluding the "douttfuls" I successful and unsuccessful, we find that the verdict of the electors was against the Government by the small majority of 2058, the number of electors who voted for Opposition candidates being 39,681, while 37,623 electors voted for Ministerialists. The Opposition members represent, within a fraction, an average of 465 electors ! each, and the Ministerial members a fraction over 478 each Mr Guinness, the Ministerial member for Greymouth, polled the largest number of votes of any candidate, 1185, while his unsuccessful opponent, Mr Petrie, polled more than double the average of votes recorded for the members of the new House. Mr Marchant, the member-elect for Taranaki, polled the smallest number of vetes (382) of any of the successful candidates.— Post.