2 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. [No. 1

place, and shall declare the purpose for which
the meeting is held. It shall be competent to
the Returning Officer to declare the meeting
adjourned from day to day till the election is
completed.

(7.) Every candidate shall be proposed by one and
seconded by another elector, who shall each
previously obtain from the Returning Officer a
certificate that he is qualified to vote at the
election; and, if no more than the number of
candidates specified in the writ shall be so pro-
posed and seconded, the Returning Officer shall
declare such candidates duly elected, and will
make his return accordingly.

(8.) In the event of there being more candidates pro-
posed and seconded than the number decided
upon by the Governor, as the case may be, the
Returning Officer shall call for a show of hands,
separately, in favour of each candidate, and after
such show shall declare the persons in whose
favour the show of hands shall appear to have
been largest; and if thereupon a poll be not
demanded by one of the candidates, or by some
elector, duly certified as such, on his behalf, the
Returning Officer shall declare such persons to be
duly elected.

(9.) The names of the persons so declared to be elected
shall be indorsed on the writ by the Returning
Officer as the persons duly elected in pursuance
thereof, and the writ shall be returned by him
to the Governor forthwith, who shall transmit
the same to the Superintendent of the Maori
Lands Administration Office. The Returning
Officer shall forthwith publish a notice of the
result of the poll in the Kahiti.

(10.) If a poll be demanded as aforesaid, the Return-
ing Officer shall then declare the day on which
the same shall be taken, being the day fixed by
the writ as aforesaid, and on that day the poll
shall be taken at the places appointed as afore-
said, and shall commence at 10 o'clock in the
forenoon of the day appointed and shall close
at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day,
unless otherwise ordered by the Returning Officer.

(11.) If a poll be demanded, the Returning Officer shall
immediately make arrangements for the issue at
each polling-place of voting-papers to electors,
which shall be in the Form C in the Schedule
hereto, and such papers may be issued at any
time or times appointed by the Returning Officer
until the close of the poll.

(12.) On the day of the poll the electors shall enter one
by one the polling-booth, and shall each present
his voting-paper, and, when requested to do so,
shall state the names of the candidates, not being
more than the number decided upon by the
Governor as aforesaid, for whom he intends to
vote, and his own name. The Returning Officer
or his Deputy shall thereupon write the names
of such candidates on the voting-paper, and sign
the same, and pass it to a Maori, to be appointed
by him, to be associated with him for this pur-
pose, who shall place his initials or name on such
voting-paper as witness.

(13.) Each candidate may, by writing under his hand,
appoint one scrutineer, who, if he chooses, may,
after the closing of the poll, be present at the
counting of the votes given to each candidate.

(14.) The Returning Officer shall, immediately after the
closing of the poll, and in the presence of such
scrutineers as choose to be present, ascertain the
numbers polled for each candidate, and shall sign
a notice and declaration stating the number of
votes polled for each candidate, and declare the
persons found to have the greater number of
votes to be duly elected, and shall indorse, re-
turn, and forward the writ accordingly, and
publish a notice of the result of the poll, as
provided in subsection (9) of this section.

(15.) If two or more candidates have received an equal
number of votes the Returning Officer shall give a
casting-vote.

(16.) The Returning Officer or his Deputy shall have
power to appoint a sufficient number of officers to
keep order, and to make and enforce such other
regulations for insuring the orderly, effective, and
impartial conduct of the election.

(17.) Where by these regulations it is directed that any
notice or copy of any instrument is to be pub-
lished in the Kahiti, such publication shall be in
the Maori language; and where by these regula-
tions it is directed that any notice or copy of any
instrument is to be published in the Gazette, such
publication shall be in the English language.

5. The President and every member of the Council,
   whether appointed by the Governor or elected under the
   provisions of the said Act, shall, before entering upon the
   duties of his office, take the oath set out in Form D in the
   Schedule hereto, before a Justice of the Peace, who shall
   remit such record to the Superintendent of the Maori Lands
   Administration Office.

PAPATUPU BLOCK COMMITTEES.

Election of Block Committees.

6. The Council of the district in which a block of papa-
   tupu land is situate may, by notification in the Kahiti in
   Form E of the Schedule hereto, and by notice to be affixed
   in a conspicuous place at any kainga or Maori village on or
   adjacent to such block, fix a time and place for the holding
   of a meeting of claimants to the land, and the election of a
   Papatupu Block Committee.

7. Such notification shall describe the block by its name
   and boundaries or other sufficient description; and the
   Council may for the purpose use the name, boundaries, and
   description used in any application made to the Native
   Land Court in respect of papatupu land before the date of
   such notification, where such application has not been in-
   vestigated; and such notification shall further state where,
   and at what times, a sketch map of the land in question is
   open for inspection.

8. The notification shall be inserted in at least three
   consecutive issues of the Kahiti, and shall fix a date for
   the meeting not less than six weeks from the date of the
   publication of the first insertion of the notice in the Kahiti.

9. Maoris claiming the land, or any portion thereof, may
   claim the same in Form F of the Schedule hereto.

10. The claim shall set forth the names, residences, and
    hapus of the claimants, and also the grounds or take on
    which the claimants rely in support of their claim.

11. The meeting shall, when practicable, be held on the
    land in question, or at some runanga-house or kainga on or
    adjacent to the land, or at some other place that the Council
    may appoint to suit the convenience of the majority of the
    claimants.

At the time and place fixed for the meeting the President
or his deputy, and at least one Maori member of the Council,
shall attend.

12. The President shall preside at such meeting, or, in his
    absence, the deputy to be appointed by him shall be chair-
    man.

13. The notice convening the meeting, and the purpose for
    which such meeting is convened, shall be read out and
    explained to those present, and the sketch map shall be dis-
    played in a conspicuous place.

14. The President or chairman shall thereupon announce
    to the meeting the various claims received and call for
    any further claims (if any), which may thereupon be handed
    in.

15. The President and members of the Council present shall
    thereupon examine the same, and decide who are claimants
    or counter-claimants, or may decide that any two or more
    claims by Maoris of the same hapu may be amalgamated
    and constitute a separate party, and group the various
    claimants into parties. The President may thereupon
    decide, subject to the provisions of section 16 of the said Act,
    how many members the committee shall consist of, and how
    many of such members each party is entitled to elect, and
    may call for nominations accordingly.

16. In case any party shall nominate more than the
    requisite number of members of committee, the President
    shall require the members of such party to separate from the
    rest of the Maoris present, and shall call upon such party for
    a show of hands in favour of each candidate nominated, and
    shall declare the candidate or candidates receiving the largest
    number of votes to be the member or members of committee
    to represent such party.

17. In all cases in which any party shall nominate only
    the required number of candidates the President shall declare
    such candidate or candidates duly elected.

18. The time and place of the first meeting of the commit-
    tee shall be fixed by the President, and at such meeting
    the members of the committee shall, before proceeding with
    any other business, elect a chairman from their number.

19. The chairman shall preside at all meetings of the
    committee, and shall have a deliberative as well as a casting
    vote.

20. In case of any vacancy the continuing members of the
    committee may act, provided that a quorum is present.

21. A quorum shall be a majority of the members of the
    committee.

22. The committee may meet together for despatch of
    business, adjourn, and otherwise regulate their meetings
    as they think fit.

23. All questions arising at a meeting shall be decided by
    a majority of votes, and each member shall have one vote.

24. In the absence of the chairman the members of the
    committee present shall choose one of their number to be
    chairman for such meeting.