Trouble Ahead

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 564, 17 January 1929, Page 8

Trouble Ahead

* Inadequate Election Provisions THOUGH there were 2,067 informal votes in the last municipal elections, as against the 8,939 votes secured by the councillor who topped the poll, another two years have passed by without any appreciable effort to secure an improvement when the municipal elections recur in a few weeks’ time.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION and the ward system have been brought under the notice of the City Council, but their fate has been sudden and drastic. Last year there were four Mayoral candidates and 61 aspirants for the council. This year there are already some ten possible aspirants for the Mayoralty, and if the number of council aspirants increase in like proportion, there is a possibility of the electors being asked to select 21 from over 100. jA new feature likely this year is that of candidates standing both for Mayor and councillor, taking their

chance on the latter if unsuccessful for the chief position. How many of the prospective Mayoral candidates will take advantage of this remains to be seen. The present possibilities in the Mayoral field are: Mr. G. Baildon, present Mayor. Mr. H. E. Vaile, chairman of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Mr. Geo. Hutchinson, secretary of the Auckland Automobile Association and president of the Rotary Club. Mr. J. A. C. Allum, chairman of the Transport Board. Mr. H. R. Mackenzie, chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board. Mr. W. J. Holds worth, chairman of the Auckland Electric-Power Board. Mr. E. H. Potter, Mayor of Mount Eden. Mr. T. Bloodworth, City Council and Harbour Board member. Mr. W. H. Murray, city councillor. Mr. Harold Schmidt.

The city has been considerably enlarged by amalgamations since the last elections, and there will be several thousand more voters than last election. With the possibility of huge Mayoral and council fields, the promise of a large increase in informal votes looms large. Mr. J. W. Kealy, a city councillor, has been giving the question some consideration, and has come to the conclusion that a modified ward system would meet the position. In a statement to The Sun Mr. Kealy said: — “My proposal Is that the city be divided Into, say, nine wards, following as closely as practicable the boundaries of the old constituent portions of the city area, such as Ponsonby, Parnell, Avondale, etc. Each of these wards would elect one member for a two-year term. The 12 remaining members of the council would be elected, as at present, by the combined vote of the whole city area, but for a four-year term, half retiring in rotation at the end of every two years. “The effect of the scheme in operation would be this: At present the voter living in, say, Epsom, is given a ballot paper from which he has to select 21 names. Under the suggested scheme, he would, at each bi-ennial election, be given instead an Epsom ballot paper, from which he would select one name, and a 'general’ one, from which he would select six. That is, he would vote for seven candidates in all, which is far simpler than voting for 21 as at present, and thus gets over the greatest disadvantage of the present system. In addition, Epsom, and every other district, would be assured of at least one representative on the council, so that local interests would receive due attention. “A grave "disadvantage of the ward system as usually proposed is that it would induce a partisan spirit, representatives of each ward being expected to strive for ‘plums’ for their particular area, with a consequent risk of more important matters of policy being sacrificed to local issues, while there is the further danger of prominent and able men being passed over at election time in favour of those who would do more ‘pushing’ for their particular districts. That these risks are real, is shown by the example of Sydney, where the ward system operated until the recent abolition of the council. “Under the scheme suggested they are obviated, because, although each portion of the city would be assured of one representative, yet a majority of the council would still continue to be elected by the combined voters of the whole area. “The scheme could not be adopted in time for the forthcoming council election, as, before it could operate, a slight amendment of the Municipal Corporations Act would be necessary, lf, however, in the meantime a helpful criticism and discussion of the proposals is provoked, the purposes of this statement will be well served.”