HOW TO VOTE

Opotiki News, Volume X, Issue 1047, 18 November 1947, Page 3

HOW TO VOTE

Quite a. number of residents are tilill doiab.tful as to what is the correct method of voting at the local body elections to be held in the borough and county to-morrow. In the general election the method of voting was to draw, a line through the name of the candidate of- those he or she wishes to vote In the local body elections an entirely different method is used, 'lhc voter makes- a cross in the square alongside the name or names he or she did not wish to vote for. for and the other names arc left untouched. The voter does not have to vote for the full number of vacancies on any particular voting paper but- the vote is invalid if crosses are placed alongside more than the required number of candidates. Just above the names of the candidates the required number of vacancies is mentioned and the voter may vote for this or a lesser number. At the bottom of each voting paper the method of voting is printed. Should a voter spoil a voting paper another one may be procured .provided the one handed out in the first- instance is handed back to the person in charge of the polling booth. Printed below is a fictitous voting paper with the names of imaginary candidates. There arc four vacancies and the full number of candidates have been voted for. Had five crosses been placed on the voting paper the vote would have been invalid. One to four creeses could have been placed at will. Waikikuparau Riding | Alt LEWS, SAM L EI, | _*_J j ANDERSON, HORACE | [ j~ JONES, DAVID' j x | | THOMAS, GERALD [x_ | SCOTT, WILLIAM 11. | J j SMITH, THOMAS _ 1 * j MAORIS DISFRANCHISED As a consequence of an omission in the Electoral Act, the majority of Maoris in the Opotiki County will be disfranchised and will not be able to vote even if they voted at the last general election. In the case of Europeans when regis- . tration is made or if the name of the resident is already on the general roll the names are automatically included on the borough or county rolls. As there is no Maori roll and no special provision was made to see that all eligible Maoris were placed on the county roll several hundred —or well over half the adult Maori population—cannot record their votes to-morrow. As an instance at one coastal district where 25 Maoris recorded thenvotes at the general election only two Maori names are on the county roll. This anomaly will be removed in three years’ time as it is expected a- Maori roll will be available for the next general election.