I was appalled by the editorial on November 22 arguing that Reynold Macpherson's petition was a waste of time and money.
In my opinion, having read his petition and submission of arguments, he demonstrated three electoral irregularities that deserve balanced media attention, not a witch hunt and blame game on costs.
I was at the district court when the judge, at the council's request, ruled that, because Dr Macpherson had not stood for council, only for mayor, he was not allowed to petition on behalf of council candidates adversely affected by the irregularities.
The common-sense solution, allowing a councillor candidate to join as co-petitioner, was blocked, even though the alleged irregularities obviously applied to both elections.
Worse, any proven irregularities could only be evaluated for their material effect on the mayoral election, requiring an additional 7 per cent swing, but not to the councillors' election that only required less than a 1 per cent swing to make a real difference. In my view, technicalities were used to prevent electoral justice.
Please give credit when it is due. Dr Macpherson's challenge focused on whether the election was fair and voters properly informed. It was generated in a few days by someone not trained in law.
There are now many unanswered questions.
[ABRIDGED]
DES TOWERS
Rotorua
