It shall be lawful for the Governor-General from time to time as occasion requires, by Proclamation in His Majesty’s name, to summon and call together a House of Representatives in and for New Zealand, consisting of seventy-six members, in addition to four Maori members as provided in Part IV hereof.

Every such House of Representatives shall, unless the General Assembly is sooner dissolved, continue for a period of three years, computed from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for choosing such House, and no longer.

Members of the House of Representatives shall be known and designated by the title of “members of Parliament,” and in this Act and all Acts hereafter to be passed the term “member of Parliament” shall be construed accordingly.

The House of Representatives shall, immediately on its "first meeting, proceed to the choice of one of its members as its Speaker during the continuance of the said House, which choice, on being confirmed by the Governor-General, shall be valid and effectual.

In case of vacancy of the office of Speaker by death, resignation, or otherwise, then and so often as the same happens the choice shall be repeated and confirmed as aforesaid.

The House of Representatives and the respective members thereof (including Maori members), the Speaker, and the Chairman of Committees thereof as existing on the coming into operation of this Act shall continue under and subject to the provisions of this Act.

In order to provide for the periodical readjustment of the representation of the people of New Zealand in the House of Representatives there shall be two permanent Commissions, one for the North Island, to be called “the North Island Representation Commission,” and one for the South Island, to be called “the South Island Representation Commission.”

Each of the said Commissions shall consist of five members, of whom—

In this and the next succeeding sections—

Within three months after the results of any periodical census have been ascertained and reported to the said Commissions, which report the Government Statistician is hereby required to make as early as possible, it shall be the duty of the Commissions to divide New Zealand into electoral districts for the apportionment of the representation of the people of New Zealand in the House of Representatives, according to the following basis, that is to say:—

Where, in the opinion of either of the Commissions, districts cannot be formed consistently with the above considerations so as to contain exactly the quota, the Commissions may for any district make an allowance by way of addition or deduction of population to an extent not exceeding one thousand two hundred and fifty:

Provided that in the case of any district containing urban population only the Commissions shall not make any allowance by way of addition or deduction of population to the extent of more than two hundred and fifty:

Provided also that in the case of a district comprising any part of the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, or Dunedin, or adjoining any such district and containing any rural population, the maximum allowance that may be made shall be a number bearing the same ratio (after the addition prescribed by paragraph (a) of the last preceding section has been made) to one thousand two hundred and fifty as such rural population bears to the quota.

The report of the Government Statistician of the results of the census last taken before the making of any such division shall be sufficient evidence as to the population of New Zealand or of any district; but the Commissions may, in allowing the margin of one thousand two hundred and fifty hereinbefore mentioned, take into consideration—

Provided that in making any addition or deduction of population the Commissions shall make such adjustment, as far as practicable, so as to diminish the area of the country rather than that of the suburban constituencies.

The Commissions shall sit together as a joint Commission for the purpose of fixing, in the manner and according to the basis aforesaid, the number of the districts for the North Island and for the South Island respectively; but shall thereafter act separately and independently of one another, the duties and functions of the Commission for the North Island being confined to that Island, and those of the Commission for the South Island being confined to the South Island.

The Governor-General may fix the time and place for the aforesaid joint sitting of the Commissions, and prescribe the method of procedure thereat; and the Commissions shall, when directed by the Governor-General, and within such time as he determines, do all such acts and things as are necessary to carry out the provisions of sections seven to ten hereof.

When either of the Commissions proposes to alter an existing electoral district due notice of the proposed boundaries or approximate boundaries shall be given in the Gazette, and objections in writing to such proposed boundaries may be lodged with the Commission proposing to make the alteration, and such Commission shall duly consider any objections so lodged before coming to a final determination.

The Commissions shall in every case report the names and boundaries of the electoral districts fixed by them to the Governor-General, who shall proclaim the same in the Gazette; and such report shall have the force of law from the date of such Proclamation, but shall not come into effect until the expiry of the then existing Parliament.

A copy of every such report, together with properly authenticated maps of the electoral districts fixed by such report, shall, within ten days of the receipt thereof, be presented by the Governor-General to the House of Representatives if sitting, and if not, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

Upon the taking-effect of any report as aforesaid the electoral districts therein set forth, and the boundaries thereof respectively, shall be the electoral districts of New Zealand for the purpose of the election of members of Parliament after the dissolution or expiration of the then existing Parliament, and shall so continue until the succeeding report of the Commissions takes effect, or Parliament otherwise enacts.

The Minister shall forthwith after every report of the Commissions is proclaimed cause to be deposited in the office of the Clerk of the said House properly authenticated maps of the electoral districts fixed by such report.

In each Commission any three of the members thereof shall form a quorum, and may exercise all functions vested in that Commission.

The Commissions may make such rules for the conduct of their business, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as they think fit.

Any unofficial member of the Commissions may resign his appointment by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor-General, in which case, or in case of any such member becoming bankrupt, or being convicted of any indictable offence, or of his refusing to act, or of his death or mental or physical incapacity, or absence from New Zealand when his services are required, the Governor-General in Council may, if the House of Representatives is not in session at the time, appoint another person in his stead; and every appointment so made shall be notified to the House of Representatives as soon as possible after the making thereof.

An unofficial member of either of the Commissions shall not, within two years after he ceases to be a member, be capable of being appointed or elected a member of either House of the General Assembly.

The area comprised in the Chatham Islands shall be included within the Electoral District of Lyttelton:

Provided that for the purposes of the Licensing Act, 1908, the said islands shall continue to be a special licensing district within the meaning of that Act, and shall not form part of the Lyttelton Licensing District.

The names of persons resident in the said islands and qualified to be registered as electors of the said Electoral District of Lyttelton shall be entered on a special supplementary roll or rolls for that district prepared pursuant to regulations to be made in that behalf by the Governor-General in Council, and it shall not be necessary for any such roll to be printed.

For the purposes of the election of members of the House of Representatives under Part IV of this Act (relating to Maori representation) the Chatham Islands shall be deemed to form part of the Western Maori Electoral District.

Every poll of the electors of the said district (including any poll taken for the purposes of the Licensing Act, 1908) shall be taken in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations to be made in that behalf by the Governor-General in Council.

The validity of any election or licensing poll shall not be questioned on the ground that anything required to be done pursuant to this section or to regulations thereunder has not been done, or has been irregularly done, or that for any reason it has been found impracticable to receive the vote of any person who is entitled to vote by virtue of this section, or that any person who has voted was not entitled to vote by virtue of this section.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, every person registered as an elector, but no other person, is qualified to be a candidate and to be elected a member of Parliament for any electoral district:

Provided that a person shall not be so elected—

A woman shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage from being elected as a member of the House of Representatives, or from sitting or voting as a member thereof, anything to the contrary in any other Act notwithstanding.

For the purposes of this section—

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, the seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall not become vacant nor shall any person be incapable of election to the House of Representatives by reason—

No person who enlists in or is appointed as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer in either of the said Forces while he is or within twelve months after he has ceased to be a member of the House of Representatives shall thereby be deemed to be a public servant or contractor, notwithstanding the receipt by him of pay in respect of such enlistment or appointment.

Every member of Parliament who sits or votes therein, being disqualified under either paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of subsection one of section fifteen hereof, or after his seat has become vacant under paragraph (f) of section twenty-three hereof, knowing himself to be so disqualified, or that his seat is so vacant, is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds for every day whereon he so sits or votes.

Any person duly qualified as an elector who has been registered on any electoral roll but whose name has become removed from such roll through no fault of his own shall not, by reason only of not being registered as an elector, be disqualified from becoming a candidate and being elected for any electoral district; but in every such case he shall forward to the Returning Officer, at the time when he sends his consent to be nominated, a statutory declaration to the effect that he is not disqualified as an elector for the district in respect whereof he was previously registered under the provisions of this Act or any other Act, that he still retains such qualification, and that his name has been removed from the roll of the aforesaid district through no fault of his own.

The nomination of any person as a candidate for election, or his election as a member of Parliament, shall not be questioned on the ground that, though entitled to be registered as an elector of any district, he was not in fact registered as an elector of that district but was registered as an elector of some other district.

Any member of Parliament ceasing to be on the register as an elector shall not from that cause only be disqualified from sitting as a member.

A member of Parliament shall not, within twelve months after he ceases to be a member of Parliament, be capable of being appointed a public servant; and if he is so appointed he shall be subject to a fine of fifty pounds for every day he remains a public servant.

Nothing herein shall apply to any person, being at the time Attorney-General of New Zealand, accepting the office of Judge of the Supreme Court, or any person accepting the office of High Commissioner of New Zealand.

Any fine prescribed by section seventeen or by section twenty-one hereof may be sued for by any person in any Court of competent jurisdiction, provided that proceedings be taken for the recovery thereof within twelve months after such fine has been incurred.

The seat of any member of Parliament shall become vacant—

Where a member of Parliament is received or detained in any mental hospital or other place as a mentally defective person under any Act in force relating to mental defectives, the Court or person upon whose order, and every medical practitioner upon whose certificate, such member was so received or detained, and the superintendent or other person having the charge of the mental hospital or other place as aforesaid, shall, as soon as may be, certify such reception or detention to the Speaker.

The Speaker shall forthwith transmit such certificates to the Inspector-General of Mental Defectives, who, together with some medical practitioner named by the Speaker, shall without delay visit and examine the member to whom the certificates relate, and shall report to the Speaker whether he is of unsound mind.

If the report is to the effect that he is of unsound mind the Speaker shall, at the expiration of six months from the date of the report, if Parliament is then sitting, and if not, then as soon as may be after the next sitting thereof, require the said Inspector-General, together with the said medical practitioner or some other medical practitioner named by the Speaker, again to visit and examine the member; and if they report that he is still of unsound mind the Speaker shall forthwith lay both reports on the table of the House of Representatives, and thereupon the seat of the member shall be vacant.

Every medical practitioner, or superintendent or person having charge of a mental hospital or other place where any such member is received or detained, who wilfully commits a breach of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, to be recoverable, with costs, in the Supreme Court at the suit of any person.

The Registrar or Clerk of the Court in which any member has been adjudged a bankrupt, or has been declared to be a public defaulter, or has been convicted of any crime as aforesaid or of a corrupt practice, shall, within forty-eight hours after such adjudication, declaration, or conviction, notify the fact to the Speaker, or to the Governor-General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from New Zealand.

Every Registrar or Clerk who fails to send such notice commits an offence, and is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which he neglects to send such notice.

The Registrar of Births and Deaths by whom the death of any member of Parliament is registered shall, within twelve hours of making such registration, notify the fact by telegraph to the Speaker, or to the Governor-General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from New Zealand.

Every Registrar who neglects so to do is liable to a fine of five pounds for every day or part of a day after the expiry of the said period of twelve hours during which he neglects to forward such notice.

Except at a general election, a member for one district shall not be capable of being elected to supply a vacancy in any other district; and in the event of his being returned, with his consent, for one district while he is member for any other the seats for both shall thereupon become vacant.

The members of Parliament shall be chosen in every electoral district by the votes of the inhabitants of New Zealand who possess within the district the following qualification, that is to say:—

Every adult person who has resided for one year in New Zealand, and who has resided in any electoral district for not less than three months immediately preceding the date of his application for registration as an elector of that district, and who is a British subject either by birth or by naturalization in New Zealand, is entitled, subject to the provisions of this Act, to be registered as an elector of that district:

Provided that Maoris (other than half-castes) shall not be entitled to be registered as electors under this subsection.

For all the purposes of this Act a person shall be deemed to have resided within the district wherein he has his usual place of abode notwithstanding his occasional absence from such district, and notwithstanding his absence for any period while serving His Majesty as a member of any Naval or Military Force, or in any capacity in connection with such Force while on active service, and notwithstanding his absence for any period at the seat of Government in attendance as a member of either House of Parliament.

For all the purposes of this Act a person appointed to the Executive Council shall be deemed, so long as he holds that office, to continue to reside in the electoral district on the electoral roll whereof he was registered at the time of such appointment (hereinafter referred to as the original roll) notwithstanding his absence therefrom at the seat of Government or elsewhere, unless and until he elects by notice in writing to the Chief Electoral Officer to be transferred from the original roll to the roll of another electoral district wherein he has actually resided for a period of three months.

Upon the receipt of any such notice in writing as aforesaid the Chief Electoral Officer shall cause all necessary steps to be taken to effect such transfer, and thereupon the person giving such notice shall cease to be entitled to continue to be registered under this section as an elector upon the original roll.

A person shall not be entitled to be registered on more than one electoral roll.

Maoris shall be qualified only to vote at elections of Maori members as provided in Part IV of this Act.

A half-caste registered under this Part of this Act shall not be qualified to vote at any election of Maori members.

Every application and declaration to be made by a half-caste to be registered under this Part of this Act shall be made in manner specified in section forty-four hereof.

An alien or mentally defective person, or a person convicted of an offence punishable by death or by imprisonment for one year or upwards within any part of His Majesty’s dominions, or convicted in New Zealand as a public defaulter, or under the Police Offences Act, 1927, as an idle and disorderly person or as a rogue and vagabond, unless such offender has received a free pardon or has undergone the sentence or punishment to which he was adjudged for such offence, shall not be entitled to be registered.

The Registrar of the Supreme Court or Clerk of the Court at which any person is convicted as aforesaid shall, not later than the fifth day of the month next succeeding the conviction, forward to the Registrar of the district in which the offender was residing a statement showing the name, place of abode, and occupation or description of such offender and the offence of which he was convicted.

The name of every person disqualified as aforesaid shall be erased from every electoral roll.

There may from time to time be appointed some fit person to be Chief Electoral Officer, who, under the direction of the Minister, shall be charged with the duty of carrying this Act into effect.

There may also from time to time be appointed some fit person to be Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, who, under the control of the Chief Electoral Officer, shall perform such general official duties as he is called upon to perform, and who in case of the illness, absence, or other temporary incapacity of the Chief Electoral Officer shall act in his name and on his behalf, and while so acting shall have and may exercise all the powers, duties, and functions of the Chief Electoral Officer.

Such Chief Electoral Officer and Deputy Chief Electoral Officer may hold such office in conjunction with any other office not inconsistent therewith, and shall be paid such salaries or additions to their salaries as are from time to time lawfully provided.

If at any time both the Chief Electoral Officer and his Deputy are from any cause incapable of acting, some fit person may be appointed to discharge the duties of the office temporarily, and while so acting the person so appointed shall have and may exercise all the powers, duties, and functions of the Chief Electoral Officer.

There may from time to time be appointed—

Every substitute while so acting shall have all the duties, powers, and authorities of the officer for whom he is acting.

Every duty that a Registrar may perform may be performed under the direction of the Registrar by the Deputy Registrar in any part of the district.

Save as otherwise provided in the next succeeding subsection, there shall be a separate Registrar for every electoral district, who may also be the Returning Officer for the same district.

One Registrar may be appointed for any two or more districts in each of which is comprised any part of the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

No Registrar or Returning Officer shall hold any official position in connection with any political organization.

Except as hereinafter provided in the case of an equality of votes, the Returning Officer shall not vote at any election.

Such salaries shall be paid to the several persons appointed or holding office under this section as are from time to time lawfully provided.

The Chief Electoral Officer shall from time to time inspect the various Registrars’ offices and the rolls kept by each Registrar, and forward to the Minister such recommendations for the more efficient conduct of such offices or the keeping of the rolls as he deems expedient.

Every Returning Officer and every substitute for a Returning Officer shall, before entering on the duties of his office, make and sign before a Justice of the Peace a declaration in the form numbered (1) in the First Schedule hereto.

Save as otherwise provided in this Act, every person qualified to be registered as an elector for any district shall forthwith after he first becomes qualified to be registered as an elector make application in the prescribed form to the Registrar of the district for registration as an elector of that district.

Every person who at the commencement of this Act is qualified to be registered as an elector for any district and is not so registered, and every person who thereafter becomes so qualified, commits an offence if for one month after such commencement or after the date on which he thereafter becomes so qualified, as the case may be, he fails to become so registered, unless he proves that he duly applied for registration or that his failure to apply for registration was not due to wilful default.

Every such offence shall be a continuing offence until application for registration has been duly made.

Every person who commits an offence against this section shall be liable to a fine of five shillings on a first conviction, and to a fine of twenty shillings on any subsequent conviction.

The burden of proof that a person against whom proceedings are taken for an offence against this section was not qualified to be registered as an elector at any time when he was alleged to have been so qualified shall lie on such person.

Every registered elector who while remaining resident within an electoral district changes his place of residence within that district, and who has failed for two months to notify the Registrar of his new address, commits an offence, which shall he a continuing offence while such default continues.

Every person who commits an offence against this section shall be liable to a fine of five shillings on a first conviction, and to a fine of twenty shillings on any subsequent conviction.

A registered elector who has changed his residence within the district as aforesaid shall not be disqualified from voting at an election for that district notwithstanding that he has not given notice of such change of address as hereinbefore required.

A person who is registered as an elector of any district shall not be deemed to have forfeited his qualification for registration as an elector of that district by reason of absence therefrom unless he becomes registered in another district or is qualified to become so registered.

It shall be the duty of every registered elector who may be temporarily absent from the district for a period of not less than three months to give notice of his absence to the Registrar before the expiry of the said period.

Every Registrar of Births and Deaths shall forthwith after the registration of the death of any adult person notify the Registrar of Electors of the district in which the deceased person resided of the fact of the death, together with such particulars known to the Registrar of Births and Deaths as may be required to enable the Registrar of Electors to amend the roll, if necessary.

Every Registrar of Marriages forthwith after receipt of a notice given pursuant to the Marriage Act, 1908, of the intended marriage of any woman registered as an elector of any district shall send notice thereof to the Registrar of Electors of that district.

On receipt of such notice the Registrar of Electors shall take all proper steps, after verification of the particulars contained in the notice, to amend the roll, if necessary.

If for any reason such alteration is not made in the roll before the issue of the writ the elector shall, if otherwise qualified, be entitled to vote in respect of her former name as appearing on the roll.

Every person making any application or declaration in respect of registration as an elector under this Act shall sign the same with his own hand in the presence of a witness, who shall be—

or, if he cannot write, he shall affix his mark in the presence of such witness.

The locality of residence in respect of which registration is claimed shall be specified in such manner as to enable it to be easily and clearly identified.

For the purposes of this Act every person resident on a hulk permanently located in any harbour of New Zealand shall be deemed to be, and at all times while so resident to have been, resident in the electoral districts any part of which is contiguous to the waters of the harbour; and may, if otherwise qualified to be registered as an elector, be registered as an elector of such one of those districts as he may elect.

Every member of the theatrical profession who has resided in New Zealand for not less than one year immediately prior to his application shall, if otherwise qualified to be registered as an elector, be entitled, notwithstanding that he has not resided in any electoral district for three months immediately preceding his registration, to be registered for the district in which he is residing at the time of his making an application for registration.

Every person who is engaged as a commercial traveller and has resided in New Zealand for not less than one year immediately prior to his application shall, if otherwise qualified to be registered as an elector, be entitled, notwithstanding that he has not resided in any electoral district for three months immediately preceding his registration, to be registered for the district in which the headquarters of his business are situated.

All applications for registration received by a Registrar from persons claiming to be British subjects by naturalization in New Zealand shall be verified by reference to the records caused to be kept by the Minister of Internal Affairs in compliance with the provisions of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens (in New Zealand) Act, 1923.

If the Registrar is satisfied that any application for registration (whether by transfer from another district or not) is valid he shall mark the application as approved, and shall forthwith enter the name of the applicant on the roll.

If the Registrar is not satisfied of the validity of any such application it shall be his duty, within the three days following the receipt of the application, to make inquiries as to the truth of the particulars therein stated.

If within the said three days he satisfies himself that the particulars stated in the application are true he shall thereupon mark the application as approved and enter the name of the applicant on the roll; otherwise he shall, within the said three days, cause notice in writing to be given to the applicant setting forth the particulars of which proof is required.

If within ten days after proof is required as aforesaid the applicant fails to satisfy the Registrar that his application is valid, and does not withdraw his application, the Registrar shall as soon as conveniently may be thereafter apply to a Magistrate or a Justice, or the Clerk of the nearest Magistrate’s Court, who shall forthwith issue a summons in the form numbered (2) in the First Schedule hereto.

If at the time and place specified in the summons the Registrar fails to appear the case shall be dismissed, and the Registrar shall forthwith place the name of the applicant on the roll.

If the applicant fails to appear the Magistrate shall make an order that the name of the applicant shall not be placed on the roll, and the Registrar shall act accordingly.

If both Registrar and applicant appear the applicant shall be required to prove the particulars of which proof was required by the Registrar.

If the applicant does so to the satisfaction of the Magistrate, an order shall be made directing the Registrar to place the name of the applicant on the roll, and such name shall be placed on the roll accordingly.

If the applicant fails to do so an order shall be made directing the Registrar not to place the applicant’s name on the roll.

Not later than seven days after the registration of any person the Registrar shall send him notice of his having been so registered.

It shall be the duty of every Registrar to make the rolls as complete as possible, and with that object from time to time to place thereon the name of every person who has transmitted an application to the Registrar of the district, and of whose qualification as an elector he is satisfied; and it shall further be his duty to assure himself of the right of every person registered to have his name retained on the roll, and make all necessary alterations in the occupations, additions, or addresses of electors of which he has been advised.

All members of the Police Force, Postmasters, Clerks of Court, and Registrars of Pensions are hereby enjoined, at the request of the Registrar, to assist him by informing him of the name of any person who they have reason to believe is qualified to be registered but is not registered, or is registered but is not qualified to be registered.

All members of the Police Force are also enjoined to assist the Registrar by making inquiries, collecting information, and otherwise as he requests.

In every case where, by reason of the neglect or default of the Registrar, any person making application for registration is not registered the Registrar shall, unless there is some valid objection to such application, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Any name on a roll may be objected to either by an elector registered on the same roll or by the Registrar.

If the objection is by an elector the following provisions shall apply:—

If the objection is by the Registrar the following provisions shall apply:—

No notice of objection under this section shall be entertained unless the summons or the notice of objection, as the case may be, is served on the person objected to in sufficient time to admit of the same being determined by a Magistrate before the issue of a writ for an election in the district to which it relates; and, except as otherwise provided in this section, the name of any person objected to shall not be removed from the roll, notwithstanding such objection, until the objection has been determined.

The Magistrate shall, upon the ex parte application of the Registrar or any other person, direct the Registrar to correct any mistake proved to the Court to have been made in any roll, and to enter on the electoral roll the name of any person who proves his application to be registered thereon, or to remove therefrom—

The Registrar, or, if he is unavoidably prevented, some person on his behalf, shall attend the Court and produce to the Court all books, lists, papers, and documents connected with his office in his custody or control and relating to any case to be heard before the Court.

The Magistrate may direct the description of any qualification as it appears in the roll to be changed in so far as is necessary for the purpose of more clearly or accurately defining the same.

Notwithstanding anything herein the Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, postpone the dealing with any such ex parte application as aforesaid until notice of the application has been given to the person affected thereby.

Not later than two clear days after the issue of a writ for an election either the Registrar or an elector may object to any applications received by the Registrar within the twenty-one days preceding the issue of the writ.

If the objection is by an elector he shall give notice thereof to the Registrar in writing setting out the grounds of his objection.

Where any such objection is made, whether by the Registrar or by an elector, the Registrar shall forthwith apply to the Magistrate for a special sitting of the Court for the purpose of hearing and determining the validity of the application so objected to, and the Magistrate shall hold such special sitting, but not later than four days after the issue of the writ; and notice of the time and place of the special sitting shall be given by the Registrar to the person objected to, and if the objector is an elector, to that elector.

If an elector objecting to any application, or an agent appointed in writing by him, does not appear at the special sitting of the Court the objection shall be dismissed. It shall be the duty of the Registrar also to appear, but the objection may be determined in his absence.

If any application so objected to is proved, the Magistrate shall order the Registrar to place the name of the applicant in alphabetical order upon an extra supplementary roll for the district and not upon the general roll, and such extra supplementary roll shall be printed forthwith as a roll separate from the general or ordinary supplementary roll, but shall be deemed to form part of the electoral roll.

If any objection made by an elector under this section is in the opinion of the Magistrate vexatious, or frivolous, or unreasonable he may order the objector to pay the costs or part of the costs of the hearing, and a reasonable allowance to the person objected to, and any such order may be enforced in the same manner as an order of the Magistrate’s Court.

The Magistrate shall have the same power of summoning and compelling the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, and of compelling the production of documents, and of punishing persons summoned for non-attendance or for refusing to give evidence or to produce documents, and the same means of enforcing the observance of order and of punishing for contempt, as is possessed by a Magistrate’s Court.

Any summons issued under section forty-eight or section fifty-one hereof may be served by the bailiff of the Court or his assistant, or by any other person the Magistrate, or Justice, or Clerk of the Magistrate’s Court directs.

The summons may be served by delivering the same to the person to whom it is addressed, or by leaving the same at his place of residence as stated on the roll, or it may be sent to him through the post by a registered electoral notice-letter.

The service of the summons may be proved by oath at the hearing, or by affidavit made before a solicitor or the Clerk of any Magistrate’s Court or a Justice, or by producing the Post Office receipt for a registered letter addressed to the person upon whom the summons is to be served.

In any such proceedings before a Magistrate either party may appear and act personally, or the person objected to may appear by an agent appointed in writing by him, or by a barrister or solicitor.

A Magistrate holding any Court under this Act in any electoral district may adjourn the same from time to time by advertisement or otherwise in any manner he thinks sufficiently public.

If from any cause the Magistrate is not present at the time and place appointed for holding any Court under this Act, nor within two hours after such time, the holding of such Court shall be deemed to be postponed to the same hour on the following day as the hour originally appointed, and so from day to day, not exceeding three days in any case.

Except as provided by section fifty-three hereof, no such adjourned Court shall be held after the issue of a writ for an election in such district until the completion of the election.

The Magistrate may at any time before the hearing of objections order the removal from the roll of the name of any person who, by writing under his hand attested before a Justice, or Post master, or elector of the district, has given previous notice to the Registrar, or states to the Magistrate in Court, that he consents to his name being so removed; and no costs shall be awarded against such person in respect of any act or thing done in the matter of the objection after such notice given or statement made.

The powers and duties imposed on a Magistrate under this Act may, in the event of the Magistrate himself being unable to act, be exercised and performed by any two Justices nominated by telegraph or otherwise by the Magistrate; and the Justices so nominated shall act accordingly when notified by the Clerk of the Court so to do.

The Registrar shall at any time, except during the interval between the issue of a writ and the completion of an election in the district, remove from the roll of the district—

The Registrar shall, at any time before the expiration of six days after the issue of a writ for the election of a member for any district, remove from the roll of the district the name of every person entered thereon whose subsequent registration in any other district is notified to him by the Registrar of that district.

Notwithstanding anything in this Act the Registrar, on being satisfied that the name of any person has been omitted or removed from the roll by mistake or clerical error, or through false information, may restore the name of such person to the roll at any time before or after the issue of a writ, but not later than ten clear days before the day appointed in the writ for the poll to be taken.

The name of any person on the roll who is absent from New Zealand for more than twelve months at any one time, although not objected to, shall by reason of such absence be removed from the roll; but on the return of such person to New Zealand he shall, on application to the Registrar, be entitled to have his name entered forth with on the aforesaid roll if still possessed of the qualification in respect whereof he was previously registered on such roll.

Where a person’s name has been removed from the roll of a district under the last preceding section by reason of absence from New Zealand, his residence in a district shall not be deemed to be interrupted by absence therefrom in either of the cases following, that is to say:—

The Registrar shall write his initials against the name of every person removed from the roll, and against any part of the roll in which any mistake is corrected, or any omission supplied, or any insertion made by him.

A name shall be deemed to be removed from the roll when a line in red ink is drawn through the same and a note stating the ground of removal made opposite thereto and initialled by the Registrar.

Except as provided in sections fifty-three and sixty hereof, it shall not be lawful for any Registrar to enter on or to remove from the roll of any electoral district the name of any person after six o’clock in the afternoon of the day of the issue of a writ for the election of a member for the said district.

Every Registrar who offends against the provisions of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds for every name so improperly entered on or removed from the roll.

Any Registrar who in consequence of the redistribution of electorates removes from or enters on any roll the name of any elector shall, as soon as convenient, forward to the Registrar of the district or districts affected by the redistribution a list showing the name, address, and occupation or description of every elector so removed, and shall also send notice to each elector so removed from or entered on the roll.

Registrars shall be exempt from the payment of any Court fees in respect of any proceedings under this Act, and are authorized to send registered letters free of charge in conformity with instructions to be issued by the Postmaster-General.

In every year in which a general election is to be held the general roll in every district shall be closed on a date to be fixed by the Governor-General in Council, and after that date no names shall be added to the general roll of any district until after that election.

As soon as practicable after the closing of the general roll the Chief Electoral Officer shall cause a general roll to be printed for every district containing the names, numbered consecutively in alphabetical order, of all persons whose names are lawfully on the roll of the district.

The general roll shall be in the form numbered (6) in the First Schedule hereto.

The Registrar shall enter on a supplementary roll the names of all persons whose applications for registration have been received and approved by him after the closing of the general roll.

Such names shall be numbered on the supplementary roll or rolls consecutively in alphabetical order, commencing with the number immediately following the number affixed to the last preceding name on the roll, whether a general or a supplementary roll.

The Chief Electoral Officer shall cause the supplementary roll to be printed as often as occasion requires.

The supplementary roll shall be in the form numbered (6) in the First Schedule hereto, and shall be issued under the hand of the Registrar.

Each printed roll so formed, signed, added to, or altered from time to time as aforesaid shall for the time being be the electoral roll for the district, and be called, according to the tenor thereof, the “general roll” or the “supplementary roll” for the district.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the several persons whose names are on the rolls last aforesaid for any district, and no other person, shall be entitled to vote at any election for that district.

A supplementary roll shall be printed immediately before every general election and also immediately before any by-election held after the closing of the general roll; and an extra supplementary roll, formed under section fifty-three hereof, shall be printed as soon as possible after the issue of the writ for the election.

A printed copy of the roll of every district shall be kept for inspection by the public at the office of the Registrar, and at such other convenient places within the district as the Minister from time to time directs.

Any person desirous of inspecting the roll shall be entitled to inspect the same at the Registrar’s office without payment on any week-day during office hours, and shall be entitled to copies thereof or extracts therefrom on prepayment of sixpence for every copy or extract containing less than seventy-two words, and of sixpence for every additional seventy-two words or fraction of seventy-two words.

Any person desirous of inspecting the applications to be registered of persons whose names have not yet been entered on the roll shall be entitled to do so at the time and place mentioned in the last preceding subsection.

Any person shall be entitled to a copy of any printed electoral roll with its supplements, as one roll, at the price of one shilling.

Printed copies of the general roll of a district, showing thereon all alterations made since the closing of that roll and certified as correct by the Registrar, shall be supplied by him to the Returning Officer of the district as the same are required from time to time for the purpose of conducting any election.

No roll or other document shall be invalidated by reason only that it is not printed, kept, or published in the place or manner or for the time herein required for such purposes respectively, nor by reason of any error in the copying or printing of the same.

A misnomer or inaccurate description of any person, place, or thing named or described in any electoral roll required to be made under this Act, or in any notice required by this Act, shall not in any way prevent or abridge the operation of this Act with respect to such person, place, or thing, if such person, place, or thing is so designated as to be commonly understood.

The Chief Electoral Officer may in any year in which a general election is to be held direct an inquiry to be made in such manner as he thinks fit as to the residential qualifications of all persons whose names appear on the rolls then in force.

If on such inquiry any person whose name appears on the roll for any district cannot be found within the district the Registrar shall apply to a Magistrate exercising jurisdiction in the district for an order directing the removal of the said name from the roll; and the Magistrate shall, on being satisfied that inquiry has been duly made as aforesaid and that the said person cannot be found within the district, make an order directing that the name in respect of which such application is made be removed from the roll, and the said name shall be removed accordingly.

Where it is proved before the Registrar that any person whose name is or who applies to have his name entered on the roll of electors for any electoral district has been convicted within the preceding three years of a corrupt or illegal practice, then such Registrar shall, if the name of such person is on the roll, remove the same therefrom, or shall, if such person is applying to have his name entered therein, disallow such application.

The names of all persons so removed from the roll, and of all persons whose applications are so disallowed, shall thereupon be inserted in a separate list to be entitled the “List of Persons disqualified for Corrupt or Illegal Practices,” which last-mentioned list shall be appended to the electoral roll, and shall be printed and published therewith whenever the same is required to be printed or published.

Every Registrar shall, at such time as the Governor-General prescribes, before the taking-effect of any report of the Representation Commissions constituting new electoral districts, prepare, according to the form numbered (6) in the First Schedule hereto, a new roll for the electoral district of which he is Registrar.

He shall enter thereon the names, arranged in alphabetical order, of all persons whose names are upon any general or supplementary electoral roll for the corresponding district then existing, and of all persons who have, up to the time of preparing the new roll, preferred applications to be registered as electors for such district and have not been objected to, and are not included in any such general or supplementary roll, and shall take care that the name of any person does not appear more than once on such new roll.

Where such last-mentioned district has been apportioned into two or more districts, the Registrar shall include for each district for which he is Registrar the names only of those persons on any such electoral roll whose qualifications are within the area of each such district respectively.

The Registrar shall, in making out such new roll, state therein, from the said applications respectively, the several particulars required regarding each person.

The electoral rolls in force on the day of the Governor-General’s notification prescribing the time for the formation of new rolls shall be the rolls from which the new rolls shall be formed.

Where the boundaries of an electoral district, on the constitution of new districts as aforesaid, are the same as existed immediately prior to such constitution taking effect, the electoral roll then in force for such district shall be deemed to have been formed under this section.

Upon the above-mentioned new electoral rolls being formed the Registrar shall give notice thereof to the Minister, who shall publish the fact in the Gazette, but not until the aforesaid report of the Commissions has taken effect; and from and after the gazetting of such notice the electoral roll so formed for each district shall for all purposes be the electoral roll of such district.

Every electoral district constituted under any report of the Commissions aforesaid shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to have been constituted six months prior to the date when such report takes effect.

All electoral districts existing and all electoral rolls in force at the time of any redivision of New Zealand into electoral districts shall continue in existence and in force respectively until the dissolution or expiration of the Parliament in being at the time when such division is made:

Provided that at any time before such dissolution or expiration all appointments may be made and all things done necessary for or towards preparing and compiling or printing the rolls for the electoral districts to come into existence on the said dissolution or expiration, but so that such rolls shall not take legal effect until the said dissolution or expiration.

Every person who knowingly and wilfully makes a false statement in any application, certificate, or declaration mentioned in this Act is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to three months’ imprisonment.

Every person is liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds who—

Falsifying signatures.

False attestation.

The Registrar, in respect of any offence described in this section committed within the district to which he is appointed, shall have the same powers, authorities, and duties as are conferred and imposed upon the Returning Officer in respect of an act of personation committed at an election.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to imprisonment for any period not exceeding three months who having obtained possession of an application for registration signed by any other person for the purpose of being delivered to the Registrar for registration fails so to deliver it so that the applicant’s name is not entered on the roll.

Every Registrar who knowingly and wilfully does any matter or thing contrary to the provisions of this Act, or who knowingly and wilfully omits to do any matter or thing required by this Act to be done by him, is liable, if no other penalty is elsewhere in this Act provided, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

If at the hearing of any information under this section it appears to the Court or Justices that such information is unfounded, frivolous, or vexatious, the Court or Justices, whether the information is dismissed or not, may order that the prosecutor shall pay to the defendant such costs, together with such further sum by way of compensation, as seem reasonable, and the same shall be recoverable in like manner as any sum ordered to be paid by Justices.

With respect to every seaman the following provisions shall apply:—

Without restricting the meaning of the expression “settled residence” as used in this section, a seaman shall be deemed to have a settled residence in an electoral district if in fact he has in that district a home at which he habitually resides when not engaged in any ship.

This section applies only to seamen who are registered as electors but who on the date of their registration have no settled residence in any electoral district.

In the case of every such seaman the following provisions shall apply

Where any port referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection is comprised in more electoral districts than one the seaman shall be deemed to be an elector of such one of those districts as he may elect:

Provided that where one of such districts is the district for which he is actually registered he shall be deemed for all purposes to be an elector of that district.

Where pursuant to this section a seaman is deemed to be an elector of a district other than the district for which he is registered he shall for all purposes cease to be an elector of the last-mentioned district.

Every duly registered elector whose name appears on the electoral roll of any district, who is a seaman, and is not disqualified by any law for the time being in force, shall be entitled to receive an elector’s right in virtue of his registration as aforesaid, and for such purpose shall appear personally before the Registrar for the electoral district for which he is registered or wherein he may be for the time being, or before any person appointed in writing in that behalf by the Registrar, or before any Collector of Customs, and in his presence shall make and sign an application and declaration in the form numbered (7) in the First Schedule hereto.

If such application is made in any electoral district other than that for which the applicant is registered, or before a Collector of Customs, the person receiving such application shall forward the application and declaration to the Registrar of the district in which the applicant is registered, and if necessary shall by telegraph inform the Registrar of the particulars of the application, who may thereupon, subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section, issue an elector’s right to such applicant.

Every Collector of Customs is hereby authorized to take declarations under this section.

The Registrar, on being satisfied that the applicant is duly registered as an elector of the district, shall fill up an elector’s right in the form numbered (8) in the First Schedule hereto, purporting to entitle such applicant to vote at elections of members of Parliament for such district in the manner provided by this Act, and shall deliver the same to the applicant.

The electors’ rights issued by any Registrar shall be numbered by him consecutively, beginning with the number one.

An elector’s right shall cease to be in force immediately on the close of the first election at which the holder is entitled to vote after the issue of the right.

The holder of an elector’s right issued to him for any district shall be qualified, by virtue of such right, to vote in any part of New Zealand at an election of a member of Parliament for the aforesaid district.

A person to whom an elector’s right is issued as aforesaid shall not be entitled to vote at any election for the district where the said right was issued unless he produces his elector’s right and has the same endorsed as hereinafter provided.

For the purpose of exercising an elector’s right the following provisions shall apply:—

Every seaman entitled to vote at any election shall, before receiving a ballot-paper, produce to the Deputy Returning Officer or Collector of Customs, as the case may be, an application for a ballot-paper in the form numbered (9) in the First Schedule hereto.

Where a seaman has pursuant to section eighty-seven hereof exercised a vote for an electoral district other than the district for which he is registered, the Deputy Returning Officer shall forthwith notify the Registrar of the district for which the seaman is actually registered of—

For the purposes of sections eighty-six and eighty-seven hereof a port shall be deemed to be comprised within those electoral districts any part of which is contiguous to the harbour of the said port:

Provided that the Governor-General may, by notice in the Gazette, declare that any other electoral district shall, in addition to the districts hereinbefore referred to, be deemed to be an electoral district comprising the said port.

Nothing in section ninety-one hereof shall prevent the holder of a seaman’s elector’s right from voting as an ordinary voter in the manner prescribed by section one hundred and thirty-two hereof:

Provided that he shall produce his elector’s right to the Returning Officer, who shall endorse it with a note of the exercise thereof, and shall sign and date such endorsement.

Every person who loses his elector’s right shall, on personal application to the Registrar of the district from whom he received it and on making the declaration in the form numbered (10) in the First Schedule hereto, be entitled to have a duplicate of such right granted to him.

Every master of a ship that happens to be in any port in New Zealand at the time of any general or by-election for any district, at the request of any of the crew being electors for that district, and on production of their respective electors’ rights, shall allow such persons to go ashore at a proper time to admit of their voting at such election; and every master who without reasonable cause commits any breach of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour.

The removal under the provisions of this Act of the name of any holder of an elector’s right from the roll of the district wherein he was registered shall ipso facto annul and cancel the elector’s right issued to that person by virtue of the aforesaid registration, but in the event of such person being again registered either in the same or in any other district he may obtain a new elector’s right.

An elector’s right may be granted in any district at any time during the six months preceding the date of the poll.

The Governor-General shall from time to time, by Warrant under his hand, appoint some fit person to be Clerk of the Writs, by whom writs for the election of members of Parliament shall in all cases be issued, and to whom such writs shall also be returnable.

There shall be a deputy of the said Clerk, to be appointed in like manner, who shall act when the said Clerk is unable to act.

For every general election the Governor-General shall, not later than seven days after the day of the dissolution or expiry of the then last Parliament, as the case may be, by Warrant under his hand in the form numbered (11) in the First Schedule hereto, direct the Clerk of the Writs to proceed with the elections.

On the receipt of such Warrant the Clerk of the Writs shall within three days cause writs to be issued to the several Returning Officers, in the form numbered (12) in the First Schedule hereto.

In every writ for the election of a member of Parliament there shall be appointed—

The day appointed as the latest day for the nomination of candidates shall be not less than ten nor more than seventeen days before the day named for the polling.

In the case of a general election the same day for the polling shall be appointed in each writ.

Every writ shall be made returnable in forty days.

Where during a recess of the House, whether by prorogation or adjournment, it appears to the Speaker that the seat of any member has become vacant, he shall cause a notice of such vacancy and of the cause thereof to be published in the Gazette.

Where such vacancy arises from death or resignation the Speaker shall issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Writs forthwith, directing him to issue a writ to supply the vacancy.

Where such vacancy arises from any cause other than death or resignation, then, as soon as conveniently may be after the expiration of ten days after such notice has appeared in the Gazette, the Speaker, on its being established to his satisfaction that a vacancy does exist, shall issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Writs directing him to issue a writ to supply the vacancy.

Where a vacancy exists at the commencement of any session and no writ has been issued to supply the same, or if a vacancy occurs during a session, the Speaker shall forthwith, upon being ordered to do so by the House, issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Writs directing him to issue a writ to supply the vacancy.

Where a vacancy occurs at a time when there is no Speaker, or the Speaker is absent from New Zealand, the Governor-General shall cause a like notice to be inserted in the Gazette and the like proceedings to be taken as are provided for in the last preceding section.

If after a petition has been presented against the return of any member his seat becomes vacant on any of the grounds mentioned in section twenty-three hereof, no writ to supply the vacancy shall be issued until after the petition is disposed of, and not then if the Judges trying the petition determine that such member was not duly elected or returned and that some other person was duly elected or returned.

On receipt of a warrant the Clerk of the Writs shall forthwith cause a writ to be issued to the Returning Officer of the district in which the vacancy has occurred, in the form numbered (12) in the First Schedule hereto.

The Clerk of the Writs shall forthwith on the signing of a writ for an election to be held in any district cause a notice of the issue of such writ to be sent by letter or telegram to the Registrar of the district.

The Clerk of the Writs may, on signing a writ for an election to be held in any district, cause a notice to be sent by telegraph to the Returning Officer of the district informing him of the issue of the writ and of the days named respectively for the nomination of candidates and the polling.

The receipt by the Returning Officer of such message shall be deemed to be the receipt by him of the writ, and the date of such receipt shall be endorsed on the writ.

Every Returning Officer shall forthwith on the receipt of a writ give public notice of the days named respectively for the nomination of candidates and for the polling in the form numbered (13) in the First Schedule hereto.

Any person qualified as provided in section fifteen hereof may, with his consent, be nominated as a candidate for election for any district, by not less than two electors of that district, by a nomination-paper in the form numbered (14) in the First Schedule hereto given or transmitted to the Returning Officer so as to reach him not later than noon on the day appointed in the writ as the latest day for the nomination of candidates.

The consent of any person to be nominated may be signified to the Returning Officer by letter sent by post or affixed to the nomination-paper, or by an ordinary message by telegraph, which shall be deemed to be delivered in time if delivered at the telegraph-office for transmission within the time hereinbefore limited.

Each candidate shall be nominated by a separate nomination-paper in such manner as, in the opinion of the Returning Officer, is sufficient to identify such candidate.

No elector may nominate more than one candidate.

Immediately on the close of the nominations in any district the Returning Officer shall forward to the Chief Electoral Officer at Wellington, by telegraph or other expeditious means, the names of the several candidates nominated who have not withdrawn as hereinafter mentioned, and shall also advertise the same in some newspaper or newspapers circulating within the district in such manner as he deems most likely to give full publicity thereto, and in the same advertisement shall notify the polling-places for the district.

The Chief Electoral Officer shall forthwith transmit by telegraph or other expeditious means to every Returning Officer the names of the candidates nominated in each district in which a poll is required to be taken.

Every candidate, or some person on his behalf, shall, at the time of sending to the Returning Officer his consent to be nominated, deposit with or remit to the said officer the sum of ten pounds, which sum shall be retained by the Returning Officer until after the official declaration of the poll.

If the total number of votes received by any unsuccessful candidate is less than one-fourth of the total number of votes received by the successful candidate the deposit shall be forfeited and paid into the Consolidated Fund, but otherwise it shall be returned to the person who paid it.

Any candidate may withdraw, not later than the time limited for making nominations, by giving or transmitting by letter to the Returning Officer a notice in the form numbered (15) in the First Schedule hereto signed by the candidate and attested by a Justice.

The Returning Officer shall forthwith publish such notice in such manner as he deems most likely to give full publicity thereto, and shall omit the name of every candidate whose name is withdrawn from the ballot-papers to be printed as hereinafter mentioned.

Where a candidate duly withdraws, the sum deposited or remitted by him or on his behalf as prescribed in the last preceding section shall be returned to the person who paid it.

If only one candidate is nominated, or if any candidate who has been nominated withdraws in manner hereinbefore provided and there remains only one candidate, the Returning Officer shall, by public notice on or before the day appointed for taking the poll, declare that candidate to be duly elected.

The name of the person so elected shall be endorsed on the writ by the Returning Officer, and the writ shall be by him returned to the Clerk of the Writs forthwith.

If more than one candidate is nominated, and a sufficient number do not withdraw so as to leave only one candidate, then a poll for deciding between such candidates shall take place at the several polling-places of the district on the day named in the writ for that purpose.

Forthwith after the day of nomination the Returning Officer shall cause ballot-papers to be printed, in the form numbered (16) in the First Schedule hereto, in sufficient number for use in the district.

The ballot-papers shall contain a list of all the persons nominated as candidates (each name being inserted once only, whether nominated in one or more nomination-papers), and of no other persons, arranged alphabetically in order of their surnames in large characters; and where two or more candidates have the same surname they shall be distinguished on the ballot-papers by the addition in smaller characters of their Christian names and such other matter as may be necessary to distinguish them.

If a duly nominated candidate, who has not withdrawn, dies after the day of nomination and before the polling-day, the Returning Officer shall, upon being satisfied of the fact of such death, countermand notice of the poll.

If any such candidate dies upon the polling-day before the hour of closing the poll, the Returning Officer, upon being satisfied of the fact of such death, shall immediately close the poll, and declare the same to be null and of no effect.

All proceedings with reference to the election in either of such cases shall be commenced afresh in all respects as if the writ had been received by the Returning Officer on the day on which proof was given him of such death:

Provided that it shall not be necessary to nominate afresh any candidate who at the time of the countermand or closing of the poll was duly nominated.

Where the proceedings in any election are to be commenced afresh in consequence of the death of a candidate the Returning Officer shall, previous to their commencement, endorse on the writ the fact of such death, the date of the proof thereof, and of the countermand or interruption of the poll in consequence, as the case may be.

Where any poll is interrupted in consequence of the death of a candidate as aforesaid all ballot-papers placed in the several ballot-boxes shall be taken out by the several Deputy Returning Officers and, being made up into sealed packages, shall be sent by them respectively unopened to the Returning Officer, who shall forthwith, in the presence of a Magistrate or a Justice, burn or otherwise destroy the sealed packages unopened.

Any candidate at an election may, for the purpose of holding public meetings of electors for electoral purposes during the period of an election, use free of charge, other than the cost of lighting, and of cleaning after use, and of repairing any damage done, any suitable room in any primary school in respect of which a grant out of moneys provided by Parliament is received, after the ordinary school hours, and any suitable room in any building the expense of maintaining which is wholly or partially payable out of any local rate, subject as follows, that is to say:—

If it is proved that any such meeting was not a public meeting within the meaning of this section, the holding of such meeting shall be an illegal practice; and the person by whom and the candidate on whose behalf the meeting was convened shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

For the purposes of this section “candidate” means any person who has declared his or her intention of becoming a candidate either by advertisement in a newspaper or by circular, or by announcement at a public meeting, or by signifying in the manner hereinbefore prescribed his or her consent to be nominated as a candidate: but does not include a duly nominated candidate who has withdrawn.

The Governor-General may from time to time appoint, alter, and abolish polling-places for each electoral district within the limits thereof.

A polling-place shall not be appointed—

The Governor-General may appoint any primary school to be a polling-place, and in every such case it shall be the duty of the Committee of such school to place it at the free disposal of the Returning Officer from four o’clock in the afternoon of the day preceding the election until ten o’clock in the evening of the day of the election.

The cost of cleaning such school after use as a polling-place, and of repairing any damage, shall be defrayed by the Returning Officer out of moneys to be appropriated by Parliament.

Public notice of the appointment, alteration, or abolition of polling-places for any electoral district shall be given in the Gazette and in one or more newspapers circulating in the district.

The poll shall be taken by ballot; it shall commence at nine o’clock in the forenoon of the day appointed, and shall, unless lawfully adjourned, finally close at seven o’clock in the afternoon of the same day.

Every elector who on the close of the poll is present in a booth for the purpose of voting shall be entitled to receive a ballot-paper and to mark and deposit the same in the same manner as if he had voted before the close of the poll.

The Returning Officer shall provide the following things for taking the poll:—

The Returning Officer is hereby empowered to appoint in writing as many Deputies as he deems necessary for the effective taking of the poll in every polling-booth, or he may himself preside and take the poll in a polling-booth at some one of the polling-places of the district, which polling-place shall be deemed to be the principal polling place of the district.

All references in this Act to Deputy Returning Officers shall, in respect to the booth at which the Returning Officer presides, extend and apply to such Returning Officer; except that a Deputy Returning Officer shall (if qualified) be entitled to vote as an elector of the district, but he shall not have the power hereinafter conferred upon the Returning Officer of giving a casting-vote.

Every Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officer may at any time before the close of the election appoint in writing a substitute to act for him in case and so long as he is prevented by illness or other sufficient cause from attending or continuing to attend to the duties of his office.

Every such substitute while so acting shall have all the powers, functions, and liabilities of his principal.

Every Deputy Returning Officer shall before the poll, and every substitute of any such officer shall before acting, make and subscribe before the Returning Officer, or any Justice, or Postmaster, or another Deputy Returning Officer the declaration in the form numbered (17) in the First Schedule hereto.

Each candidate, or, if he omits to do so, his nominators together may by writing under his or their hands appoint one scrutineer for each booth; and every such scrutineer shall be entitled to be present in that part of the booth in which the ballot-papers are received as hereinafter mentioned.

Every scrutineer and clerk shall make and subscribe before the Deputy Returning Officer or a Justice the declaration in the form numbered (18) in the First Schedule hereto; and such declaration and appointment shall, before the scrutineer is allowed to act, be delivered to the Deputy Returning Officer at the polling-place for which the scrutineer is appointed.

Any scrutineer appointed under section one hundred and twenty-four hereof who during the hours of polling leaves the polling-booth to which he is appointed, without having first obtained the permission of the Deputy Returning Officer, shall not be entitled to re-enter the booth or to resume his scrutiny.

The candidate or a nominator of the candidate shall, where a poll is to be held, send to the Returning Officer, not later than seven days before the day of the poll, a list containing the names and addresses of every person employed for hire or reward by or on behalf of the candidate as a secretary, scrutineer, clerk, or messenger, or from whom any committee-room has been hired on behalf of the candidate, and, if any such person is an elector, his number on the electoral roll.

A copy of such list shall be furnished by the Returning Officer to every Deputy Returning Officer.

If any person named in the list applies for a ballot-paper the Deputy Returning Officer shall warn him that he is not permitted to vote, and if he marks and hands in a ballot-paper shall cause the words “Disqualified by employment” to be placed upon the paper so handed in; and any ballot-paper with these words so placed on it shall not be counted, but shall be dealt with by the Deputy Returning Officer as a rejected ballot-paper, and specified in any report of rejected ballot-papers under a separate head as rejected for disqualification.

Every candidate who fails to comply with the provisions of subsection one of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Subject to the provisions of this section, every day on which any election takes place shall be and be deemed to be a public holiday after midday, and it shall not be lawful to sell intoxicating liquors in any licensed premises within the district between the hours of twelve o’clock noon and seven in the evening.

Where the polling-day at any election is other than that appointed as the weekly half-holiday under the Shops and Offices Act, 1921–22, the provisions of that Act relating to the weekly half-holiday shall be deemed to refer to the polling-day in lieu of the day so appointed, and it shall not be necessary for any employer to observe the day so appointed in the week in which the polling-day falls.

It shall not be necessary for any factory to close during any working-hours on the polling-day, but the occupier of the factory shall afford to each of his employees a reasonable opportunity of recording his vote, and no deduction shall be made from the wages of any such employee in respect of the time occupied in so recording his vote, provided that such time does not exceed one working-hour.

Every person who commits any offence against this section is liable to a fine of five pounds.

Nothing in this section shall operate to relieve any person from liability to prosecution in respect of any such offence under any other Act, but no person shall be punished twice for the same offence.

The Deputy Returning Officer shall, immediately before the opening of the poll, and in sight of any of the scrutineers present, see that the ballot-box is empty, and shall close and lock it, and retain the key in his possession; and the ballot-box shall not again be opened until after the close of the poll.

No person not actually engaged in voting shall be allowed to remain in a polling-booth except the Deputy Returning Officer and his clerks, any scrutineer, an interpreter, and as many constables as the Deputy Returning Officer thinks necessary to keep order.

No scrutineer or other official or unofficial person shall speak to any voter in a polling-booth either before or after such voter has given his vote, except only the Deputy Returning Officer (with an interpreter, if necessary), who may ask the questions he is authorized to put, and give such general directions as may assist any voter to give his vote.

Every person who offends against this section is liable for each such offence to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, and may be at once removed from the booth by order of the Deputy Returning Officer.

Every person proposing to vote shall state to the Deputy Returning Officer his name, and shall demand a ballot-paper; and the Deputy Returning Officer, having satisfied himself by reference to the roll that such person is entitled to vote, and has not already voted, shall deliver to him a ballot-paper.

The Deputy Returning Officer may, and if so required by any scrutineer shall, before allowing any person to vote, put to him the following questions:—

Every person to whom the prescribed questions are so put as aforesaid who, having tendered his vote, fails distinctly to answer the same, or either of them, or does not answer absolutely in the affirmative the first and absolutely in the negative the second of such questions, is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, and shall be prohibited from voting then or afterwards at that election.

Every person who wilfully and knowingly makes a false answer to either of the questions that the Deputy Returning Officer may put to him under this Act is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Before giving a ballot-paper to an elector the Deputy Returning Officer shall enter on both the counterfoil and the top right hand corner of the back of the ballot-paper a number (called a consecutive number) beginning with the number one in the case of the first ballot-paper issued by him, and on all succeeding ballot-papers issued by him the numbers shall be consecutive, so that no two ballot-papers issued in any booth shall bear the same number; he shall then fold over the corner of the ballot-paper so as to conceal the consecutive number, and shall secure the corner by gum or other effective means; on the counter foil of the ballot-paper he shall also write his initials and the number appearing on the roll against the name of the elector to whom the ballot-paper is to be given; on both the counterfoil and the back of the ballot-paper he shall place his official mark, and then draw a line in pencil or ink through the number and name of the elector on the roll as evidence that the elector has tendered his vote.

Every Deputy Returning Officer who fails faithfully to perform any duty imposed on him by this section, by reason whereof any of the requirements of this section are not effectively fulfilled, is liable to a fine of ten pounds:

Provided that, in so far as relates to the duty of securing the corner of the ballot-paper by gum or other effective means, it shall be a sufficient defence if he satisfies the Court that he took all reasonable precautions to secure the same.

Any voter who before depositing his ballot-paper in the ballot-box satisfies the Deputy Returning Officer that he has spoilt it by inadvertence may be supplied with a fresh ballot-paper, but only after the spoilt one has been returned to the Deputy Returning Officer.

The Deputy Returning Officer shall cancel such spoilt ballot-paper by writing across the face thereof the words “Spoilt by voter, and a fresh ballot-paper issued in lieu thereof,” and shall affix his initials thereto, and shall retain the spoilt ballot-paper in his possession until the close of the poll.

The voter, having received a ballot-paper, shall retire into one of the inner compartments provided for the purpose, and shall there alone and secretly mark his ballot-paper by striking out the names of the candidates for whom he does not wish to vote.

Every voter, before leaving the inner compartment, shall fold up his ballot-paper so that the contents cannot be seen, and, after showing the Deputy Returning Officer the official mark thereon, shall then deposit the ballot-paper so folded in the ballot-box.

At the request of any voter who is blind, or is unable to read or write, the Deputy Returning Officer shall, together with any scrutineers (not exceeding two) who may be present, retire with him into the inner compartment and there mark the ballot-paper according to the instruction of the voter; and such Deputy Returning Officer shall sign his own name at the foot thereof, and, if so required by the voter, shall allow a scrutineer or scrutineers to inspect such ballot-paper before depositing it in the ballot-box.

If any person proposing to vote at any election tenders as his name the name of any person to whom a ballot-paper has already been given at the same election, he shall be dealt with in all respects in like manner as any voter tendering his vote; except that the ballot-paper of such person shall not be deposited in the ballot-box or allowed by the Deputy Returning Officer, but shall be set aside for separate custody.

Any registered elector who retains his qualification for registration as an elector of the district for which he is registered shall, in the case of a general election, be entitled to vote at any polling-place outside that district in such manner and on such conditions as may be prescribed by regulations in that behalf; and in the case of a by election may vote in the prescribed manner at any post-office outside the district at any time while that post-office is open for the transaction of ordinary business.

Nothing in this section shall apply with respect to seamen.