新西兰英语 158 Mt Albert by-election results

　　As expected, David Shearer¹ of the Labour Party, won the Mt Albert by-election yesterday. He received 63% of the vote. This was 12,615 votes. Melissa Lee of the National Party received only 3,426, the Green Party candidate² received 2,418 while the ACT candidate received 943. Only 45% of the people who were on the voting roll in the Mt Albert electorate³ voted. Most people did not bother, maybe because they knew that Shearer was likely to win. Mt Albert has always been a Labour electorate, ever since this electorate was formed in 1946.
The by-election was held because Helen Clark, who was the Mt Albert MP, resigned to take up her job with the United Nations Development Program.
David Shearer cannot take up his position as MP until the Special Votes have been counted. This should take about 10 days. Special votes are usually made by people who are not at home on the voting day. They can vote in another place instead.
To find out more about this by-election, see March 5th 2009.

1 shearer   

n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机

参考例句：

• A bad shearer never had a good sickle. 拙匠无利器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Eventually, Shearer lost faith, dropping him to the bench. 最终，希勒不再信任他，把他换下场。 来自互联网

2 candidate   

n.候选人；候补者；投考者，申请求职者

参考例句：

• Voters like a candidate who has the common touch. 投票者喜欢那些平易近人的候选人。
• The local newspapers dressed up the candidate as a boxer.当地报纸把那个候选人描绘成一个拳击手。

3 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。