THE MASTER OF ELIBANK (Edinburgh, Midlothian)To ask the Lord Advocate whether, in view of the inconvenience caused to the inhabitants of Walkerburn, in the county of Peeblesshire, owing to the lack of adequate polling facilities in the district on the occasion of Parliamentary and other elections, and the consequent necessity of a four-mile walk for the purpose of recording votes, he will take steps to remove this ground of complaint in the future.
(Answered by Mr. A. Graham Murray.) I have no knowledge of the facts in question, though I must be allowed to deprecate, the idea that four miles is an excessive distance in a county district. The question of polling stations, however, is one for the determination of the sheriff, subject to the sanction of the Lord Advocate. The proper procedure is the presentation of a petition by an adequate number of voters to the sheriff, upon which inquiry follows.