Dec. 4.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2863

8. If the Deputy Returning Officer is satisfied that the claimant is entitled to vote as an absent voter, he shall require him to make an application in the form numbered (6) in the Schedule hereto.

9. On application being so made the Deputy Returning Officer shall fill up a blank ballot-paper with the names of the candidates for the district for which the elector is entitled to vote, and shall enter on both the counterfoil and the top right-hand corner of the back of the ballot-paper the proper consecutive 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 counterfoil of the ballot-paper he shall also write his initials, and the name of the electoral district in respect of which the ballot-paper is given; and shall then, on both the counterfoil and the back of the ballot-paper, place his official mark, and shall give the ballot-paper to the voter. The voter shall mark the ballot-paper in the manner prescribed by the Legislature Act, 1908, and shall return the same to the Deputy Returning Officer, who shall, in the presence of the voter, enclose it in an envelope addressed to the Returning Officer of the district for which the vote is exercised and, having fastened up the envelope, shall enclose it, together with the application for a ballot-paper in a second envelope similarly addressed, and shall forthwith post it to that Returning Officer.

10. Forthwith after a vote is recorded as mentioned in the last preceding regulation the Deputy Returning Officer shall transmit by telegraph or other expeditious means to the Returning Officer of the district for which the vote is exercised a statement of the name, address, and occupation or description of the elector who recorded the vote.

11. On receipt of any such statement the Returning Officer shall place on the roll against the name of the elector a note indicating that such elector has exercised his vote as an absent voter.

12. The Returning Officer, on receiving a ballot-paper transmitted to him as aforesaid, shall open the outer envelope only and extract therefrom the application for a ballot-paper which he shall forthwith refer to the Registrar of Electors, who shall, on receipt of the same, compare the signature of the voter on his application for a ballot-paper with that of the voter on his application for registration as an elector.

13. If the Registrar of Electors is satisfied as to the identity of the voter, he shall certify to that effect, and return the application forthwith to the Returning Officer, who shall allow the vote if it is otherwise in order.

14. If the Registrar of Electors is not satisfied as to the identity of the voter, he shall certify to that effect and shall give his reasons for so doing; or if the voter’s name is not on the roll a certificate to that effect shall be given; and the Registrar shall return the application forthwith to the Returning Officer, who shall disallow the vote and set aside, unopened, the envelope containing the ballot-paper, after having written across it the words “Disallowed, identity not proved,” or “Disallowed, name not on roll,” as the case may require.

15. The envelopes containing the ballot-papers of absent voters shall be placed in a ballot-box specially set aside for the purpose, and shall not be opened until the official count, and then only in the presence of such of the scrutineers as choose to be present. The envelopes marked “Disallowed” shall not be opened at all.

16. In the case of a vote disallowed for the reason that identity has not been proved the scrutineers shall, if they so desire, be given an opportunity to compare the signatures of the voter as appearing on the application for a ballot-paper and on the application for registration as an elector.

17. For the purpose of exercising his vote as an absent voter for a district in which a by-election is being held the elector shall apply in person to any Postmaster to have a ballot-paper issued to him, and shall make application in the form numbered (6) in the Schedule hereto, and thereupon the foregoing provisions of these regulations relating to voting by absent voters at general elections shall, with the necessary modifications, apply.

18. Declarations under section 14 of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1924, shall be in the form numbered (7) or the form numbered (8) in the Schedule hereto, as the case may require.