The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs,forwards the following memorandum by the Chief Electoral Officer for advice:

The Emmaville polling booth in the Subdivision of Emmaville Division of New England was destroyed by fire at 5 a.m. on Sunday the 1 st instant. The Assistant Returning Officer at Emmaville has reported-

1. that the whole of the ballot-papers and other documents used in connection with the elections and referendums were lost;

2. that he holds a certified statement that the House of Representatives ballot-papers for the Subdivision were duly counted, 353 votes being given in favour of Abbott and 536 in favour of Foster;

3. that the Senate and referendum ballot-papers were not counted.

It would further appear, vide the attached telegram, that a record of absent voters' ballot-papers has been preserved and that no election for the House of Representatives is likely to be affected.

The legal position appears to be that the result of the Senate election and the refer-endums must be declared on the count and that if it be ascertained that the lost ballot-papers could have affected the results, the parties concerned may petition if they think fit. I shall be pleased to know whether the Attorney-General's Department concurs.

I agree with the view of the Chief Electoral Officer. The votes counted for the New England election will of course be included in the return; and the Senate election and referendums must be declared on the count, as if the uncounted ballot-papers had never existed.

[Vol. 11, p. 266]