A CURIOUS POINT.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 121, 18 February 1926, Page 5

A CURIOUS POINT.

CHAIRMAN’S CASTING VOTE When Must He Exercise It ? At the last meeting of the Piako County Council a motion and amendment were proposed in connection with the allocation of the rate for the new Te Aroha bridge. The voting was even on the amendment, the chairman giving his deliberative vote in favour of the amendment. When it came to the matter of giving his casting vote he deferred this until the next meeting. The point, which may be of interest to chairmen and members of public bodies, is whether a chairman can postpone giving a casting vote. The Morrinsville Star editorially comments on the matter as follows :

The position arises is the chairman entitled to defer giving his casting vote until the next meeting? Can he legally do so? Such an extraordinary action was never contemplated in either legislation or procedure. The Counties Act provides that “ every question coming before the council shall be decided by open voting, and by the majority present, and in case of an equality the chairman shall have a second or casting vote.” It is not set down that the chairman must exercise his casting vote; he is only given the right of a second or casting vote. Therefore, legally he would be within his rights in withholding his casting vote. But in such a case the result would be that since the motion did not secure sufficient votes to enable it to be carried, it would be lost. Assuming that a division had been called for on the occasion referred to, if the chairman declined to give his casting vote the amendment in question would not have been carried and such would be declared. Since the law does not make it mandatory that the chairman must exercise his casting vote and there is an absence of any provision as to when he shall exercise it, custom or procedure must be relied upon. There appears to be no precedent bearing on the subject, for there is no record of such a case as the one in question. As far as can be gathered there is no provision in the regulations for the conduct of the proceedings of the council, or what are sometimes called the “ standing orders ” of the council, which directly empowers the chairman to reserve his casting vote, so the rules and practices of the House of Representatives w uld apply, as is usual in such cas '. According to the practice of the House of Representatives, when cn a division the “ ayes ” and “ nops ” are found to be equal, the Speaker or Chairman of Committees, as the case may be, must give his casting vote forthwith. If he refused to give it, and such a thing is not contemplated by the Standing | Orders of the House, it seems that the question before the House or Commit tee would lapse. The facts of the case were submitted to a very eminent authority for his opinion. Two questions were asked. The first was: Is the chairman of a local body, after a general vote has been taken on a motion, and the voting is even, entitled to defer giving Iris casting vote until | a subsequent meeting? The second was: If not, what is the position of the motion? The reply received endorsed the opinion we held that the chairman’s action could not be sup- ! ported by procedure. The opinion was I expressed that the chairman was not I entitled to reserve his casting vote ] (unless he can show some special authority for his action) and as the amendment was not carried it amounted to a nullity.