ABSENT VOTERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 October 1925, Page 4

ABSENT VOTERS.

HOW Id \ I 'TE. With refer,'tie,■ to the .[UOsliou asked in Hie House regarding absent voting, (lie Prime Minister gave for general informal ion a brief resume ot the procedure : Any i eg:isl 1 ■ i ,'it elector who retains Ids -pialili'at imi for registration a- an elector ol Hie district for whit It he is registered i- entitled to vote at any pulling plrnc outside the district tor " liieli lie is registered, lie intis! go to a polling, I tuee. The right m vote ai a pu'-l oitiee only applies in ihe case of a hv-elect ion.

Tile ele. tor applies in person to the ilepiiU reluming oii'ner and alter giving him full part ieulat's as to Ins lull name and address, the deputy toi| i!iin's the elector to make an application tor a voting patter. In this apjll i• al ion I lie elector i' required to dollar,- i hat : (at !le is ,-nt it led to vote fur the electoral district for which Inis registered ; (h) he is not qualified In he enrolled as an elector of any other electoral district.

On ilio application being signed and ] witnessed the deputy returning officer t gives to the elector a voting paper with the names of the candidates writf ten thereon. The elector marks the , voting paper in the prescribed manner • ainl returns it to the deputy, who en- • closes it in an envelope. The licensing voting papers, which arc banded at the i same time to the elector, arc plated in i another envelope. The two en- . velopes are then enclosed in , a third envelope and addressed to the returning officer of the district , for which the vote is recorded. After sealing the envelope the deputy posts it and at the same time sends a telegram to the returning officer that the elector lias exorcised his vote ns an absent voter. On receipt of the applications by the returning officer of the district for which the elector is registered, the signature on the application is compared with the signature on the application for registration as an elector. If the two signatures are alike and the registrar is satisfied he initials it as being in order, and on this evidence the returning officer accepts the vote. The Secretary of the General Post Office has instructed every postmaster throughout the Dominion as to the new system of absent voting, so that any I'crs ,n who applies to a post office will be able to get information on the new system and be informed at the same time that absent voters’ permits are nn.v required. Registrars of electors, returning offi- • et-s and depute returning officers have :t!-o heen fully instructed in rog.vd to the nett system. Tim new system is a much simpler one than the old one. and it is not anticipated that there will he any misunderstanding or confusion on election day. I may mention that for the recent hy-election in Franklin it worked most smoothly indeed. In that case, of course, the absentee electors had to go before the postmaster. {