THE SOUTHLAND REGISTRATION ACT.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 203, 17 January 1866, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE SOUTHLAND REGISTRATION ACT.

(From The Southland Times, Dec. 29.) The first quarter of the year, commencing the first day of January, is the legally appointed period during which persons desirous of having their names placed on the yarious Electoral Rolls of the colony must register their claims, in order to entitle them to vote at elections of members of the House of Representatives and Provincial Councils. This period is now close at hand, and we would strongly recommend the adoption of effective measures on the part of those who take an interest in politics, with a view to the emendation of the present Rolls, so far as Southland is concerned. There are 457 names of electors now upon the list of voters for the district of Invercargill. Out of that number, only 156 voted at the recent election of a member of the Provincial Council for that district; and after making due allowance for many, who, from motives of their own, did not vote on that occasion, we may fairly assume that in this one district alone more than half the persons whose names appear as voters, having left the province, and parted with their qualifications, are not voters at all. * On the other hand, there are hundreds of qualified persons whose names do not appear, on the roll, who cannot consequently vote. We shall endeavour to show how, in one respect, this unsatisfactory state of things arises, and in what manner Aye consider it may be rectified. " The Registration of Electors Act, 1855," requires that any person wishing to become an elector, and having the necessary qualification, must make out a claim according to a particular form prescribed by the Act, which he must sign in the presence of a householder or freeholder, and send in to the Registration Officer, on or before the last day of March in each year. This is simple enough to those who are blessed with an ordinary amount of education and intelligence — and even to very many of them it is too much trouble ; but the labouring man cannot understand it, and, unless he takes more interest than o the generality of his class in the conduct of public affairs, will not seek the assistance of those who could instruct him. In the first place people, generally speaking, have a strong disinclination to do any voluntary act which does not come within their everyday occupation. It is a difficult matter, in many instances, to induce them even to vote, unless some arguments are addressed to them, calculated to awaken a sense of their own personal interest in the result of a contest. How unreasonable is it, then, to expect that they will voluntary place themselves in a position to yote, when.the effort is attended with considerable difficulty. At the very outset, an impediment arises that, in nine cases, out of ten, prevents a man from proceeding further. He must fill up a form —he does not know where to get it; and after making numerous inquiries, if he is fortunate enough to obtain one, he cannot fill it up as it should be ; and if he imagines he can, is almost sure to fill it up wrong. The result is, that" the thing is abandoned, as no

more time can be thrown away upon it. It is evident there is a great fault somewhere ; it may be iv the law itself, but with that it is not our business at present to deal. We must take the law as it is, and make the best of it. What, then, can be done to facilitate the efficient working of the system ? In almost every other province of JSTew Zealand, the leaders of popular opinion on either side have institutedproperly organisedcommittees, whose duties consist in watching the various changes in the population, and taking advantage of every opportunity to place upos\ the rolls as many new names as possible, as well as to expunge those of persons who have ceased to hold the proper qualifications. The necessity for this organization has arisen* from precisely the same cause as the one we have referred to, viz., that people will not take the trouble to register. Consequently those who take an interest in the public welfare have to do the work for them. We would suggest that a committee should at once be formed, having for its object the complete revision of the Electoral Roller. As far as we are aware, no endeavor has yet been made in Southland to establish an association of this kind; and unless some step is taken in this direction, the province will never attain the position in the politic^