SECOND BALLOT BILL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 104, 22 October 1908, Page 5

SECOND BALLOT BILL.

There is little chance of the Second Ballot Bill being brought into operation in connection with the Taumarunui election, as thus far there are only two candidates in the field. However, it is almost sure to be necessary in some parts of the Dominion and a resume of the Bill will be of interest. The object of the Bill is to ensure that no candidate shall be elected without first having obtained an absolute majority of all the votes recorded at an electino. An Illustration. Unless at an election one of the candidates receives more than half the number of valid votes recorded, including the casting vote of the returning officer, a second ballot will have to be taken. For instance, the candidates are: Black, White and Brown. Black polls 450, White 300, and Brown 250. Black, though at the head of the poll, is not returned, as the 1000

votes cast he has not received the required actual majority —501. Therefore the second ballot will be taken between Black and White. Again, if no candidate has received an absolute majority—say 501 out of 1000 votes cast —but two or more candidates have received the same'number of votes, the returning officer will have to give his casting vote to one of those candidates so as to thereby give him an actual majority, and thus prepare the way for a second ballot. When the Second Ballot will be Taken.

In the following electorates the second poll will be taken on the fourteenth day after the first poll: Bay of Islands, Bay of Plenty, Kaipara, Marsden, Motueka, Taumarunui, Tauranga, Wakatipu, Wallace, and Westland. In all other electorates a second poll will be taken on the seventh day after the first one.

When the returning officer finds that a second ballot is necessary, he must give full publicity in the newspapers of the fact, and of the day on which it will be taken.

At the second ballot the candidate who receives the highest number of votes will be elected. If the two candidates tie, the returning officer will settle the matter by his casting vote.

The same polling places will be used at the second ballot as were used at the first one. No candidate will be allowed to retire from the contest at the second ballot. If a candidate dies before the closing of the poll at the second ballot, the election will have to be commenced afresh, as under the present electoral law.