EARLY BY=ELECTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 April 1940, Page 5

EARLY BY=ELECTION

AUCKLAND WEST SEAT. WELLINGTON, This Day. With the death of Mr Savage, a byelection will be necessary to elect a successor to represent the Auckland West constituency in the House of Representatives. The Electoral Act provides that when a member of Parliament dies in office the Registrar of Births and Deaths by whom the death is registered must notify the fact within 12 hours to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker must then “issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Writs forthwith, directing him to issue a writ to supply the vacancy.” The writ states the latest day for the nomination of candidates and a day for polling if a poll is required, the former date to be not less than 10 or more than 17 days before the latter. The writ itself is returnable in 40 days from the date of issue. The position as far as the Auckland West seat is concerned is that the writ for a by-election will probably be issued within the next day or so. If the election is contested, the poll will have to be held before the middle of May.

PARTIES RETICENT CANDIDATES NOT SELECTED YET. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, April 1. Official reticence marks the attitude of‘both Labour Party and National Party in Auckland in connection with the filling of the Auckland West seat in the House of Representatives. On behalf of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee and the Auckland branch of the National Party, it. was stated today that nothing had been done toward the selection of candidates to contest the by-election That the Labour Party will have a candidate is certain, and already the names of several possible nominees, including one woman, are being freely if unofficially, discussed.