WEEK'S SUSPENSE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 88, 4 December 1931, Page 5

WEEK'S SUSPENSE

ROTORUA SEAT ABSENTEE VOTES CANNOT BE 5 COUNTED FOR SEVERAL DAYS OFJTCIAL COUNT AND SCRUTINY With only eight votes separating the official Coalition candidate, Mr. G.4 H. Clinkard, M.P., and the Labour' candidate, Mr. A. F. Moncur, the Rotorua seat is in a very doubtful position, and is the only one in either Island where the .leading candidate has not definitely been placed in a winning position. The fate of the; seat depends entirely upon 516 absentee votes and 58 postal votes which cannot be opened and included in the count for approximately a week's. time. This delay may appear a little unnecessary to those unfamiliar with the requirements of the Electoral Act, but however expeditiously the final scrutiny and eounting of the votes is carried out, the returning officer, Mr, J. L. Crowther does not expect to be able to announce the final figures in less than a week. In order to understand the position, an outline of the sections of the Electoral Act, which govern the procedure following the elosing. of the poll is necessary. Official Scrutiny Section 145 of the Electoral Actj 1927, states:- — "The .Returning Officer shall make arrangements a^ soon as practicable after the elosing of the poll and shall give notice in writing to each of the candidates or their scrutineers of the time and place at wlreh he will commence the scrutiny of the rolls." This section provides for the official scrutiny of both the main and supplementary rolls in order to saf-e-guard against double voting. In th,e case of Rotorua,, it is not antieipated that the scrutiny ,can he carried through in less than two days. In order to complete the work even in this time, a considerable amount of night work will probably be necessary. The proeedure following the completion of the official scrutiny. is set out in Section 149, sub-section 3, of the Act, which stipulates that as soon as the scrutiny is completed, the official count of the votes shall be carried out in the presence of the scrutineers and a Justice of the Peace. Official Count This official count will occupy about four days, and the date of its commeneement will depend upon the arrival of ballot boxes from the outlying districts of the eleetorate. In at least one case, it is lcnown that owing to postal arrangements one box cannot be received at Rotorua until Monday. Yesterday only 42 of a total of 79 boxes had been received, but it is expected that with the exeeption of the one box mentioned, the total number will be to hand to-day and to-morrow. The returning officer expects that it will be possible to commence the official count on Monday, which will place its completion at about Friday, December 11. Absentee Votes Under Sub-section 4, of Section 149, however, it is laid down that absentee postal, and seamen's votes cannot be dealt with until the official count is completed. Present indicafclons, therefore, are that the 516 ab-

sentee and 58 postal votes in the Rotorua eleetorate will not be opened and counted until the end of next week. Notifications of absentee votes have been received from booths all over New Zealand, but it is antieipated that all of the votes will be to hand some days before the completion of the count. The fate of the eleetorate must therefore remain in the balance for a week, and in the meantime. speeulation as to the final results is the main topic of discussion. Yesterday the "Post" received a large numher of inquiries from all parts of the district regarding the final figures and it was evident that very many people are not aware that some days must neeessarily elapse before the final result of the poll can be announced. The total number of absentee and postal votes due was stated to be271 when polling closed on Wednesday night, but a large numher of subsequent notifications which have come to hand have brought the number of absentee votes up to 516. The number of postal votes remains unchanged.