VOTED TWICE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 537, 14 December 1928, Page 1

VOTED TWICE

ELECTOR’S SENSE OF DUTY AFTER DRUNKEN BOUT Forgetting, after a bout of drunkenness, that he had already voted once on election day, George S. Hodgson, acting under a mistaken sense of duty, voted again. This morning, at the Police Court, he was called to account for his action, pleading guilty to a charge of voting twice. Sub-Inspector McCarthy mentioned that Hodgson was liable to two years’ imprisonment. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.: Is it not an indictable offence? Mr. McCarthy: I think that there is nothing to stop your Worship dealing with it. The section under which the charge is brought says that the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment, not two years under indictment. According to the Sub-Inspector, ‘Hodgson voted early on election day. He then became hopelessly drunk, forgetting all about his actions of the morning. It had occurred to his muddled brain that it was his duty as a citizen to vote, so he had gone back to the same polling booth to vote again. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.: His going back to the same booth shows that there was no criminal intent. I shall j treat the affair as a drunken escapade.* A fine of £1 and costs was imposed.