Tauki v Returning Officer for Western Province [1980] SBHC 5; [1980-1981] SILR 23 (24 June 1980)

[1980-1981] SILR 23

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

Civil Case No. 5 of 1980

TAUKI

v

RETURNING OFFICER FOR WESTERN PROVINCE

High Court of Solomon Islands
(Daly, C J)
Civil Case No.5 of 1980

24th June, 1980

Petition - Regulation 14 of Local Government (Elections) Regulations - notice of election to be given - election not invalid by reason of non-compliance of Regulations if election conducted in accordance with the principle of the Regulations or if such non-compliance did not affect the result - Regulation 65.

Facts:

The Petitioner was a candidate for Ward 5 Ranongga central in the provincial election held on the 7th of December 1979 for the Western Provincial Assembly. The Petitioner lost the election and petitioned the Court for a declaration that the election held on the 7th December 1979 was void and order that a fresh election be held in that Ward. The main complaint was that election procedures in respect to election notices were not complied with. Regulation 14 (d) provides for notices to be given specifying the situation of each polling station and a statement of the persons entitled to vote thereat. On or about the 7th October 1979, a notice was posted at Patu Village in Ward 5 Ranongga central stating that an election was to be held on the 24th October 1979 and that Patu Villagers were to vote at Koriovoku Polling station. This election date was subsequently set aside and election procedures commenced afresh. A second notice was issued which set down the election date as 7th December 1979 and the polling stations as Emu Harbour and Pienuna. This second notice was given to an old man to put up at Patu Village. However, no such notice was put up at Patu Village. A third notice was put at Pienuna which assigned the Patu Villagers to vote at Pienuna Polling station. These new arrangements were not brought to the notice of the Patu villagers and consequently eighty-seven registered Patu voters were not able to vote at the election on the 7th December 1979.

Held:

1. That the principle of Regulation 14 was that voters should be given adequate notice before the election of the place to which they should go to vote.

2. That this principle was not met in that the Patu villagers were not informed of the change of arrangements and that they received no written notice as required under Regulation 14.

3. That the election on the 7th December 1979 was therefore void and a new election be held to elect duly the Western Provincial Assembly member for that Ward.

Petitioner: In person
Respondent: In person

Reported by: James Apariai

Daly CJ: This is a Petition under Part VI of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations (the Regulations) in relation to the election of Provincial Assembly members for Western Province held on 7th December 1979. The Petition is brought by Mr Banisi Tauku who was a candidate for Ward 5 Ranongga Central. He asks that the election of the member for that ward be declared void and that a re-election should take place in that ward. As Mr Tauku claims that there were defects in the election procedure the Returning Officer has been made a Respondent and has been heard by the court.

The result of the election held was as follows:

BANISI TAUKU	49 votes
JOHN ANGOID	78 votes
STANLEY PIO	19 votes.
ANDREW MANASH	25 votes

Mr Angolo was therefore declared to be the elected candidate. Mr Tauku has two main complaints. The first is concerned with election notices. Regulation 14 of the Election Regulations provides: -

"In the case of a contested election, the Returning Officer shall on or before the seventh day before the day of the election give notice thereof in such manner as he may think fit, specifying:

(a) the day and the hours fixed under regulation 19 for the voting generally, or in respect of particular polling stations or wards;

(b) the full name, address and description of each candidate, and the symbol allotted to him under regulation 15 (g).

(c) the names, addresses and descriptions of the persons who nominated each candidate; and

(d) the situation of each polling station and a statement of the persons entitled to vote thereat."

Mr Tauku refers to Regulation 14(d) in particular and says that the notices given to the voters in Patubolibolivi Village (Patu Village) in the ward were inadequate to such an extent that the 87 registered voters in that village found themselves unable to exercise their right to vote on 7th December 1979.

The facts I find in relation to the notices to Patu Village are as follows:

1. That on or about 7th October 1979 a notice was posted in the village or brought to the attention of the villagers relating to an election to be held on 24th October 1979. This notice stated that the voters in Patu should vote at Koriovoku polling station for the purposes of Regulation 14 (d). This election date was subsequently set aside and the election procedure commenced afresh.

2. In relation to the new election date of 7th December 1979 a final election notice in the form of Exhibit A was drafted to be posted in Patu Village. This specified polling stations at Emu Harbour and Pienuna and referred to notices on display at those polling stations. As far as Exhibit A was concerned the Assistant Returning Officer Mr Kaiete gave evidence that because of adverse weather what he did was to give notice to an old man who came to his canoe and asked him to put it up in Patu. The Petitioner in his evidence says that no such notice was posted. For the purposes of this petition I find on the evidence that no notice in form of Exhibit A was ever posted in Patu.

3. In mid-November a notice in form of Exhibit B was posted at the clinic and school in Pienuna. This notice assigns the Patu voters to Pienuna. Pienuna is 1 hour walk to Patu and from Patu a further hour’s walk in the other direction to Koriovoku. It will be noted that there was a change in the arrangements between the notice for the November election and the notices for the December election in allotting the Patu voters. Mr Tauku says that this change was not brought to the attention of those voters and as a result 3 voters went to Koriovoku to vote but were told they could only vote at Pienuna. But, and this has not been disputed, it was impractical for them so to do and they were therefore unable to vote. Mr Glass says that 3 voters would not have made any difference in the results of the election.

However it is my judgment, having considered all the facts and particularly the change in arrangements between the two proposed election dates a comparatively short time apart and the fact that Exhibit A was not posted in Patu that the notices to the voters of Patu left a lot to be desired. Some effort should have been made to ensure that the voters at Patu were informed of the change of arrangements. On my findings it would appear that they received no written notice at all.

In the circumstances this amounted to a failure to comply with the election procedures.

I have considered Regulation 65:-

"No election shall be invalid by reason of non-compliance with these Regulations (or any Regulation amending or replacing these Regulations), if it appears that the election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in any such Regulations, or that such non-compliance did not affect the result of the election".

The principle of Regulation 14 is that voters should be given adequate notice before the election of the place to which they should go to vote. I find in this case that this principle in relation to the election for Ward 5 Ranongga Central was not met. I also consider, having regard to the closeness of the election results and the fact that there were 87 registered voters at Patu that the results of the election may well have been affected by the failure to meet this principle.

On this ground therefore I determine in accordance with Regulation 63 (3) that the election held on 7th December 1979 for the Western Provincial Assembly member for Ward (5) Ranongga Central was void and I shall so certify that determination to the Minister for Home Affairs.

I also certify that a new election shall be held to elect duly the Western Provincial Assembly member for that ward.

In those circumstances it is unnecessary for me to consider the Petitioner’s second point in relation to the counting of the ballot papers at this election. This Petition therefore succeeds.