District and Town Officers (Election) Regulations


1988 Revised Edition






C
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DISTRICT AND TOWN OFFICERS
(ELECTION) REGULATIONS

District and Town Officers (Election) Regulations
CAP. 43A Arrangement of

Regulations





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C
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DISTRICT AND TOWN OFFICERS (ELECTION)
REGULATIONS

Arrangement of Regulations
Regulation
1 Short title..........................................................................................................5
2 Returning Officers. ..........................................................................................5
3 Electoral districts. (Cap. 4) ..............................................................................5
4 Notice of elections. ..........................................................................................6
5 Nominations.....................................................................................................6
6 Uncontested elections. .....................................................................................6
7 Elections...........................................................................................................6
8 Ballot papers. ...................................................................................................7
9 Counting of votes.............................................................................................7


THE SCHEDULE 8

THE DISTRICT AND TOWN OFFICERS ACT...................................................8

District and Town Officers (Election) Regulations CAP. 43A Regulation 1




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C
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DISTRICT AND TOWN OFFICERS (ELECTION)
REGULATIONS

Made by the Prime Minister

G.S. 27/58, G.S. 113/59, G.S. 31/65, Act 46 of 1988

[2nd March, 1965]

1 Short title.
These Regulations may be cited as the District and Town Officers (Election)
Regulations.

2 Returning Officers.
The Prime Minister shall appoint a returning officer for each District and such
officer shall have full charge of the elections in the District to which he is
appointed, and may appoint such assistants as may be necessary:

Provided that for the purpose of this regulation the term “District” refers to the
districts of Tongatapu, Ha'apai, Vava'u and the Niuas.

3 Electoral districts.
For the purposes of these Regulations, each District shall be the Electoral
District for the purposes of the Legislative Assembly Act and the roll used for
the purpose of electing members of the Legislative Assembly shall be prima
facie a roll of the residents of the District.

Regulation 4 CAP. 43A District and Town Officers (Election) Regulations




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4 Notice of elections.
(1) Elections will be held at such times as shall be notified by the Prime

Minister by Notice published in the Gazette and by fonos through District
and Town Officers.

(2) Such Notice shall be in the form in the schedule and shall request that
nominations shall be received within 28 days from the date of the first
publication of the Notice.

5 Nominations.
Each nomination shall be in writing and shall be subscribed with the signatures
of those persons whose number and description is as prescribed in the notice set
forth in the schedule hereto, and shall in addition bear the signature of the
nominee. The nominee shall deposit a sum of money the amount of which shall
be calculated as prescribed in the said notice. All losers of elections shall forfeit
their deposit. (Substituted, G.S. 31/65.)

6 Uncontested elections.
If in any district or town only one nomination shall be received the returning
officer shall declare the candidate to be duly elected as a District Officer or a
Town Officer as the case may require.

7 Elections
(1) Elections shall be held in such towns as the Prime Minister shall decide,

and residents of each town shall vote both for the District Officer and for
the Town Officer.

(2) Voting shall be within the hours of nine in the morning and four in the
afternoon.

(3) A returning officer may exempt in writing any person from voting on
grounds of ill health or old age.

(4) For the purpose of this regulation and the schedule a person shall be
deemed to be a resident of the district or town under which his name
appears in the latest electoral roll published in accordance with the
provisions of section 5(d) of the Legislative Assembly Act. (Amended by
Act 46 of 1988.)

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8 Ballot papers.
The ballot paper shall consist of a printed paper showing on the face of it the
names of the Candidates, and each elector shall place an “X” against the name of
the Candidate for whom he wishes to vote.

9 Counting of votes.
(1) Upon completion of the Poll, the Officer in charge of each polling station

shall count the votes and then publicly announce the number of votes
received by each candidate.

(2) He shall then forward a certificate of the result of the election with the
ballot papers to the returning officer of the district who shall announce the
result for the District.

(3) The result of the election shall as soon as possible be published in
the Gazette.



THE SCHEDULE CAP. 43A District and Town Officers (Election) Regulations




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THE SCHEDULE

(Regulation 4(2))

THE DISTRICT AND TOWN OFFICERS ACT

NOTICE OF ELECTIONS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Elections of District and Town Officers pursuant to
Sections 4 and 5 of the District and Town Officers Act will in each district be held on
the …………………….……… day of …………………………………19 ..............

Nominations shall be left with the Government Representative in each district not later
than the ………………………….day of ………………………………19 ...............

subject to the following provisions —

1. Nominations shall be in writing and shall be subscribed with the
signatures of at least 30 persons in the case of District Officers and 10
persons in the case of Town Officers. The subscribing persons shall be
resident in the District or Town for which election is sought and shall be
inscribed in the latest electoral roll published in accordance with the
provisions of Section 5(d) of the Legislative Assembly Act.

2. The Government Representative or, in the case of Districts or Towns in
Tongatapu or 'Eua, the Prime Minister's Office, shall certify that persons
subscribing to nominees are eligible to do so.

3. The nominee shall be required before his nomination is accepted, in
addition to the above requirements, to deposit a sum of money depending
upon the size of the population of the District or Town for which the
candidate is standing for election, as follows —

Population of District or Town Deposit

$

1,000 and above 8

500 to 999 6

200 to 499 4

50 to 199 2

49 and below 1

District and Town Officers (Election) Regulations CAP. 43A THE SCHEDULE




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4. All losers of elections shall forfeit their deposits.

(Amended, G.S. 31/65.)

PRIME MINISTER.