CORRUPT MAORI VOTING?

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1079, 17 September 1930, Page 1

CORRUPT MAORI VOTING?

Members’ Allegations Refuted VIEWS OF RETURNING OFFICER “I Know Of No Abuses’ * ‘"IN the course of many years of experience as a returning: I officer in a Maori electorate I have not encountered a single case of the Maori voting system being abused. If there are such cases they do not occur here, nor do they occur in any district I know of.” This was the reply made by an official of the Native Department this morning when asked to comment on statements made in Parliament yesterday when alleged irregularities in Maori elections were discussed.

The returning officer said it was possible that there were certain irregularities and abuses in small districts where the services of a Government man as Returning Officer could not be secured, but all he could say was that he had not heard of them. “In any case,” he added, “It is possible for similar abuses to creep into the European systein. “In all electoral districts of any size the returning officers are civil servants and they conduct their work fairly and impartially. They are bound in honour to secrecy and integrity in their work, and, at most, they can have only a slight personal interest in the result of the election, if any interest at all. NO COMPLAINTS “In any case the allegation that they are in the habit of bringing pressure to bear on Maori voters is absurd. If such pressure had been brought, there would have been complaints, and I have never heard of a complaint being made.” He remarked that in the case of the smaller centres where the services of a Government man could not be secured every effort was made to appoint responsible men of some standing, such as storekeepers. As far as he knew these men performed their duties impartially and conscientiously. Referring to the system of voting in Maori elections, the returning officer said that, in his experience, it worked in satisfactory fashion. ‘‘ln any case,” he said, “it is the

' law ofthe land, and is carried out as the law prescribes.” A WITNESS PRESENT A sample Maori voting paper was displayed by the returning officer, who said that the voters were asked the necessary questions and tho answers were recorded by the officer | in the presence of a deputy. The paper provided space for the i name of the voter, the sex, the tribe, the sub-tribe, and the place of abode. Certain other questions were asked for the purpose of determining whether the voter was registered on I a European roll, whether he or she had voted previously, and whether the I requirements of the franchise were complied with. If it were necessary for each voter to fill in his or her paper there would be a host of difficulties to face, as many of the electors could not read or write, and their ideas of voting were more or less hazy. “As tar as the verbal system goes, there is absolute secrecy,” said the returning officer. “When a vote is recorded the only people present are the voter, the returning officer and a deputy or associate (a Maori) who signs and counter signs as a witness. “If any pressure or influence were to be brought to bear on voters as has been suggested iu Parliament, there would have to be collaboration between the officer and his deputy a most unlikely thing.” ______