Mangere papers missing

By Josie Clarke

Another polling booth is being investigated because ballot papers have disappeared.

The Chief Electoral Office confirmed yesterday that 37 ballot papers from the Otahuhu College booth in the Mangere electorate were missing.

Police have been asked to investigate.

Chief Electoral Office spokeswoman Penny Gaylor said the disappearance would not delay the formal declaration of the result because Labour MP Taito Phillip Field had a winning margin of more than 13,000 votes.

Mr Field said news of the papers disappearing did not surprise him. Mangere polling booths had had a lot of problems on election day.

"It is just the icing on the cake of a lot of problems."

He told officials three weeks before the election that the multicultural electorate needed Pacific Island and Asian interpreters, and more Pacific Islanders in the polling booths.

But he said his "common sense" advice had been ignored.

Mr Field said the language barrier was a significant problem and polling booth staff were predominantly young Europeans.

Mangere Alliance candidate Finau Kolo said he knew of some polling booths in the electorate that ran out of special votes.

"It is not good enough. Someone at the top has to be answerable."