agrarian monetary reformist Country Party, which saw its votes collapse completely. The Country Party lost the two seats it held ( and ) as, unlike 1935, Labour stood candidates in the seats held by the two Country Party members. Hence Harold Rushworth did not stand in the Bay of Islands seat, and Arthur Sexton came third in Franklin. Independent candidates also lost ground, with only two being elected, Harry Atmore () and Charles Wilkinson (). As in 1935, the independents were tactically supported by one of the major parties who did not stand a candidate against them, and they generally voted with that party; Wilkinson and Wright had supported National while Atmore had supported Labour. But Robert Wright was defeated for the new electorate of Wellington West by Labour despite National not running a candidate against him. An analysis of men and women on the rolls against the votes recorded showed that in the 1938 election 92.85% of those on the European rolls voted; men 93.43% and women 92.27%. In the the figures were 90.75% with men 92.02% and women 89.46%. As the Māori electorates did not have electoral rolls they could not be included. This was the first election in which the Māori were given a secret ballot. Secret ballots had been available to white voters since 1870, but it was not extended to Māori voters until the 1937 Electoral Amendment Act was passed. The number of votes cast in the Māori seats in the 1938 election rose 18.3% from the 1935 election. Opponents of the secret ballot for the Māori claimed that the Māori suffered from illiteracy, but only 2.28% of the ballots were ruled invalid. Member of Parliament Eruera Tirikatene praised the secret ballot for the Māori as he regarded it as one of the rights promised in the Treaty of Waitangi. Party standings *includes two Ratana MPs (Toko Ratana, Eruera Tirikatene) who joined the Labour caucus after the 1935 election Votes summary Electorate results The following table shows the detailed results: Key |- |colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" | General electorates |- |- | Hauraki | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:center;" | Robert Coulter | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:center;background-color:;" | John Manchester Allen | style="text-align:right;" | 1,188 | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:center;" | Robert Coulter |- |- |colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" | Māori electorates |- |} References Other sources