The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-09-10
Hnm ~" Eiprf,H .ii"ti>r.
10 TIRE MANAGERS OF EtECTlONs or aouTtt
CAROLINA,

10 THE MANAGERS OF titECT1ONS or aOuT9
CAROLINA,
The undersigned Committee OH tho part ,r A.,
Managers nr EI,."frhi hrp have 10 rnr 'tr ut
trntiun of the managers throughout the S,ai" To
the accompanying ,rsu'"ti"ns pa-rc'i hr them al
EdgrficlL tS',rt lirusc, "n the 10th day of Oc
tater 1886,
Whcrras. tho Managers Of Elrct,ns iin,l il
Uferous und expensive in discha"ping the duty
assigned to t)c,,,. anil believing Tin, sunc r.n,
urus,tirn slN'nI iin allowed as an incentive tn,
iai'hial disrha,es" Of luty-past experience tav.
'n.. proved that im">rrc.cnry and nrglrri uf
managers in several instances has ca,,s.d cicc.
tions 10 be contested, an,i thereby run ,lr State
to Needless Expense And whereas. We believe
TINT II son,c compensation were allowed, willing
nni competent persons will be found To couhi..t
the elections and guard the purity "f the tac.
h"x necessary in Il Republican Government.
lie it therefore
R~soircd That committee Ut three he ap.
pointed by tho thait tu nr,,iura'iZc the Iruisla-
turN OF the s"hjrct--nskng that Managers "f
EIections be exempt from patrol and mitiu du-
ty, and that they open the polls hut one day and
count the votes Mt their respective precincts.
Whercuron Mcssrs +. w. Scihtls, Thomas
Grafton aud Patrick Coleman, were appointed
by tho Chair.
Rcsoicch That we respectfully invite the
Managers of Elections throughout the State to
join us by making similar petition.
ResvircG That the Secretary OF this meeting
scnd a copy Of these proceedings t" the Chair.
man Of the Managers in each District.
In compliance with those resolutions we drew
up II petition t. the Legislature Which, we are
pleased 10 learn, met with very favorable con
siicrniion by the Committee on Privileges and
Elections, mud is 10 he reported Oh 1T the next
,.,ee,ing Of the Legislature.
The committee will doubtless he Influenced in
their report by the ntcrcs, manifested by mana-
gers III other districts, ard, although we know
there is no general election which Will call the
managers together before the next session, still
if the Chairman Of the Managers at cac!, Count
House would draw up petition, portion r not
n majority of the managers could sign and have
their petitions before tho committee hv the Iili
Monday in November next. This would greatly
strengthen position and insure favorable
port, which is very desirable, for unless
law is passed then, change cai be .flc: ed ,ln-
der four years; for tho changes asked for in our
petition requires alteration nf the CONSTITUTIONS
which can only be done hy two Legislatures of
differnt sessions.
Any one that will examine the records of tic
Legislature for the last thirty years and see the
thousands Of dollars expended contested
elections, (niost if not all OF which may he al
tnbMted to the negligence and perhaps gmnr,ncc
Of n,anagcrS,) will he easily convinced. that some
change in our system Of conducting clcc,i;r:s is
needed. No reason can he found or invented
why managers Of elections should not he com
pcnsatcd i'll some way for their services, which
nrc required by law TO be rendered Oh certain
days, however inconvencnt or expensive il may
he 1" thcm. There nre. among the fifteen hun
died managers i'll the State, many poor men,
Whose absence from home two three dnvs is
M item OF Importance. When he has to ride,
from twenty to sixty miles, and pay the a,trn-
dant expense OH such trip, it becomes Il burden
which few are willing tn bear.
1t is needless to expect the purity "f the bal.
lot box to he rioidly preserved until sum" law is
passed that holds out an induccincut for men TO
"ni.
~ requests that Is. he appointed in his place,
whic, is accordingly done, Hom,rtr incn,p.fcnf
he Is, or how imconrcni"~t Il may Gc fnr him M
serve; he has never seen the laws defining the
duties and powers Of managers, and 1--WE think it
very doubtful whether one-tenth Of the mana,
gers have ever seen thcm) it is not probable that
hc cnn repeat the oa'h required to be taken he
fore the polls are opened. lie proceeds, there
fore, in an Irregular illegal manner in this most
important busi:icSs-scrvcs one tcrn las Mr. {.
appointed in his place; and thus the thing goes on
almost III regular rotation, every one anxious to
get out Of all office that brings neither honor nor
profit; but on the contrary attended Invariably
with trouble and expense.
There also many objections 10 til" manner
OF counting votcs-i. opens the door to fraud
aud corruption in the Most enticng munncr.-
We do not speak, Of course, for all the Districts
hut generally one manager takes charge Of the
box or bag when the polls close and thus has
every opportunity, without the possibility Of dc.
lection, of changing the votes before he reaches
the Court House, and no means is left of asccr-
tanning whether the true result is given or lot.
Perhaps. too, he may be assisted in counting the
ballots by some INSCRIPTIONS person, for instead
Of the counting Of the ballots being exclusively
confined to the managers, which is the intention
Of the law, strictly Interpreted, and ito perform
their duty correctly, il appears TO that al! the
managers who assemble to count The votes should
meet in the Court House, and there count the
votes aud declare the clecion,) il is tho custom
for each manager, on arriving ut the Court
House, to get any one he can tu assist Him to
count the ballots which hc has brought u;,, and
they retire to any convenient place, and in this
loose way most important duty is discharged
Under such circumstances, it is not impossible
for dishonest partisan, who may lie pecunia-iIy
interested, TO change The result of the election
We think 1t would be best for the ballots to he
counted &t each precinct Immediately after the
polls close when persons interested on both sides
%ould probably he present, and let the managers
certify the resait, and sign their names and ap-
point one of their number to take Abe votes and
the result certified to the Court House where
he should bc compelled, under penalty, to nJ,.
pear with the came rse day fo!ls wing, at
O'clock p. m.
Having set forth our views in our petition, we
frfrain from saying more nt present. The subject
is one of great interest, and we ask our brother
managers Of the otllsr districts to show some in
teresi in this important matter which will result
bencficaly to all
" ". SEIBEIS
PATRICK COLEMAN,
THOMAS GRAFTON
Committee.