VOTING BY SOLDIERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 September 1943, Page 3

VOTING BY SOLDIERS

RESULTS BEING CABLED FROM LONDON. MANY MEMBERS OF FORCES LITTLE INTERESTED. (Special P.A. Correspondent.) LONDON, September 23. Counting of the votes cast in the general election by New Zealanders in Britain is now in progress at New Zealand House. Voting ends at 5 p.m. on September 24, and the results will be cabled to Wellington, where they should be received on Saturday morning. It is likely that some further votes may reach New Zealand House by post on Saturday. They will also be cabled, but there are not expected to be many. It must be admitted that there has been fairly widespread lack of interest in the election by members of the forces, a large number of whom are known not to have voted, one estimate being nearly half of those whose names appeared on the list complied by the returning officer. There are apparently several reasons for this, one being that many men in the forces have been away from New Zealand for two or three years and have either lost interest in home politics or do not know personally the candidates in their districts. Thus one member of the R.N.Z.A.F. said: “I am not interested in party politics, but I like to know the candidates. I vote for the man and not the party, and as I do not know any of the candidates in my electorate I am not voting.” Another airman said he did not know the party policies when voting took place at his station. These policies subsequently reached the station in pamphlet form, but he still seemed disinclined to vote. At another station every New Zealander voted except one, and he was on leave, but stated he would vote. Quite a large number of New Zealanders on leave voted at New Zealand House. Whatever number of votes is cast, it must be said that every step was taken to see that New Zealanders throughout Britain were informed of the election and what to do to vote.