§ MR. ONSLOW (for Sir TREVOR LAWRENCE)asked the Vice President of the Council, Whether he is aware that great dissatisfaction was felt and expressed at the hours of polling, ten till five, fixed at the election of a School Board at Sutton on 9th March; and, whether, 731 since these are the only hours which the returning officer could have fixed under the Order in Council of 3rd October 1873, and the fixing of these hours practically resulted in disfranchising a large portion of the ratepayers, who, being engaged in business in London, have to leave Sutton before ten and do not return until after five, any steps can be taken to obviate the recurrence of this state of things?
§ MR. MUNDELLAThe school board election at Sutton was regulated by the same Order, which has been in operation for more than 10 years, and to which no substantial objection has been made. The hours of polling are fixed at the discretion of the Returning Officer, the only restriction being that the poll must be open for seven hours between 8 A.M. and 8 P.M. It is not, therefore, correct to say that the poll must be between 10 and 5, or that the Order in Council was the cause of the inconvenience complained of.