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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 8. 1966.

Election found valid

page 3

Election found valid

Salient Reporter

The commission of inquiry into the presidential election has released its report.

The report runs to eight foolscap pages and deals with the matter under twelve heads.

The full text is included in the Vuwsa annual report, which may be inspected at the student association's office. The following summary is taken from the report:

"We can find no single factor which, if regularised, would in our view have changed the result of the election.

"We do not think that the combination of irregularities can even be said to have significantly influenced the result.

"We think it is important to mention that this was one of the highest percentage polls on record for a presidential election.

"The defeated candidate Mr. D. A. Shand said that he thought the result was a fair one and the oversights which occurred had not made any difference.

"It is worthy of note that after the election had been in progress the first day a meeting was convened by Mr. Robertson with the two candidates and he discussed the steps which could be taken to remedy the irregularities.

"Both candidates then agreed that the election should be continued with an extra day for polling.

"We do not think that the principles of democracy were outraged in this election despite the constitutional irregularities.

"But we think Mr. Woodhams and his associates have done the association a service in bringing these matters to public attention.

"If the trends observed in these elections were to continue and are accentuated there would be obvious scope for corrupt and undemocratic practice."

The report is signed by the three members of the inquiry. Messrs A. T. Mitchell (chairman), G. W. R. Palmer and I. H. Boyd.