The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1866-09-06
THE REGISTRY LAW.
The Power of the HseyisiOn-
important Legal Opinion.

the heglStratlOn OF tneY voters Vi StHe
State, in the fifth section requires the
registers to ascertain and register the
name Of every white male person resi-
dent in, OF temporarily absent from their
wards or election districts" 1t also
requires them to administer to each per-
son claiming registration, an oath Iof
allegiance, and an oathto answer ''such
questions as they may PROFOUND to him,
touching his right to registration and
voting" His age is to be given, his
birth place, the period Of his residence;
if naturalized, the dateo his naturali-
cation, and the designation of the court
which issued it. IF the registers find
the party disqualified, the cause is to be
ascertained to be one Of the causes spe-
officially set forth in the law. These are
non.rcsidence, homage, alien-age, infan-
cy, lunacy, or non-compos mentis, or
disloyalty aulder the 4tt section Of the
1st act Of the Constitution, or bribery, as
described IN ats 9Th section.
The law further provides that the
books of registration, amongst other
columns, shall have one in which the
entry Of disqualification shallbe made,
and one in which the names of the
qualified voters shall be entered, omit
ting from it those found to be disquali-
fed, and inserting Sin lieu thereof the
names of one CT more witnesses by whom
the disqualification was proven, if the
disqualifying cause arises from the pro-
visions Of the 4th or 9Th sections" of
the article ofthe constitution referred to.
By the 10Th section of the law pro-
vision is made for the correction, by
subsequent registers, of errors that may
have been committed by their predeces-
sors. They are directed to "sit for the
correction Of the list Of voters and the
register Of names, and by reference to
the 9Th section, it is made their duty to
register, as qualified "thc name Of every
person who shall apply to them to be
registered, and who shall satisfy them
that he is qualified to vote under the
provisions of the first article of the con-
stitution or the laws Of the State, or who
shall prove to their satisfaction that he
will be of age and SO qualified to vote
on or before the day of the next ensuing
election" Upon these provisions Of the
law two questions are submitted for my
opinions: First-What must be stated
in the seventh column of the books of
registration, when party is found to
be disqualified? Second-What are
the powers Of the subsequent board ;of
registers in the correction of errors COM
mitted by the first in the case of persons
found by them to be disqualified?
1st. 1t is to be assumed that the leg
islature did not intend to exclude from
the right of franchise any person to
whom it is secured by the constitution,
as to do sowould be beyond their power.
FIT is also to be assumed that if a mis-
take in this particular was made by the
first registers, they intended that it
should be corrected, and with that view
provided the means Of detecting the
mistake and setting it right 70 dis
franchise a legal voter purposely is a
gross outrage. Ills right toivote, when
constitutionally secured, is as sacred a
right as any other that he possesses. :
| When our present constitution was
adopted, and the law in question was
passed, we were in the midst Of civil
war, waged by those who were in hos
| tility to the government to effect its
| destruction. The purpose of tho con
stitution and the law, in this state OF
things, as regards the franchise, was to
deny it only those who had committed,
or should commit, certain specific acts
of disloyalty TO disfranchise, onsa gen
eral charge Of disloyalty, was not it's
purpose. What was disloyalty in that
crisis was question not intended to be
submitted as general one to the mere
discretion Of the registers. uN i
The constitution and the law, there
fore, defined with particularly what dis
loyalty was, and limited the registers to
an inquiry into such disloyalty. And
in order to guard against an erroneous
judgment in that particular, the law not
only directs that the other reasons for
denying registration contained in the
| 9TH clause of 9Th section, such as non
residence, homage, &C., shall be inser-
ted in the appropriate column; but that
the reason Of disloyalty under 4th sec
ton of the LIST article of the constitutions,
Or bribery, as described in the 9Th sec
ton of the law, when made the ground
for refusing registration, shall also be
inserted. The law further provides as
a means of detecting errors in the refu-
sal of registration on either of the latter
grounds of disloyalty, that the names of
the witness or witnesses by whom such
disqualification was proven, shall also
be inserted. a4a ~ ilt -
On the first question. then, L am
clearly of opinion that when party is
denied registration on account Of disIoy-
atty, it is not sufficient to insert in the
column that word alone, or any other
merely equivalent word. It should APP
pear that the disloyalty was disloyalty
under the fourth section of the first arti-
Gle Of the constitution, either by refer
ring to that section generally or by spe7
cifying all, or some of the particular acts
OF disloyaltywhicll the section describes,
and in such cases it is equally necessary
that proof of such disloyalty be made