Letter to the Editor, Tuesday March 8, 2016

The same old rumour

The letter signed by someone calling themselves Harry Stottle (March 3) alleges that "a van-load of inebriated 'voters'" was brought to the WHST Kaeo election to swell the votes placed for Maggie Rudolph, standing against Brendan Tuohy last May.

The inference is that these people either shouldn't have voted, or they should not have been brought to the voting place. That is rubbish.

It is not a new rumour. It started after the election. As an eyewitness of the election, and a resident entitled to vote in it, I want to put this nonsense to rest.

A large number of people attended the election meeting in May 2015. The hall was full, spilling into the tea room at the side and the lobby at the back. These people were the bulk of the voters (85 or so, I'd say - total votes counted were 100: Brendan Tuohy was beaten by a margin of 52 votes).

I went forward fairly early once voting began, and because I held two proxy votes from neighbours, the chairman asked me to wait till the end.

I went to the back of the queue in the entrance lobby, where several people were standing chatting. Some were still trickling in the doors to cast votes, and I spoke with them as they came in, telling them to jump ahead of me in the queue. Several were young guys, who could have come from the rugby club.

I stayed at the back until the end of voting, and can say without doubt that not one of the people who came in was inebriated. Whether or not they had a drink before they came is irrelevant, provided they had capacity.

How they got to the election meeting and where they came from is entirely their own affair. I saw no unacceptable behaviour of any kind at any stage of the evening, and the lobby did not "reek of second-hand alcohol".

There is nothing to prevent candidates' supporters from bringing people to elections to cast their votes. As I understand it, Whangaroa is not a dictatorship yet - and may we keep it from ever becoming one.

All voters were thoroughly checked for eligibility (as residents of the Kaeo Ward) to vote. Any votes that did not comply were not counted.

Because of this rumour, I subsequently asked the chairman of the meeting if he had noticed anyone inebriated in the time he was processing voters' eligibility details. He told me he had only smelled alcohol on the breath of one person all evening, which confirmed my observations.

Seems we have a bad case of sour grapes here!

PATRICIA HOWITT

Kaeo