The Lincoln County herald., 1872-03-21
Hrinary Eleesisss.

Dary e!ectioss for the selection Of csbdi-
dates BY political parties The systee 10
ssid BY sese 10 Be more visbis The
boueds Of jassice thso the general nom
inatisg eopveniions. OF course il 10
strictly eosssed to eosssy. sssssbip ssd
ussieipsi sesisasiops, beisg iupsscsi.
esSls 10 the ssieetios BY The di1sress
political parties Of candidates for state or
goverbnens of6eisls, on account Of the
nsltiplieitT Of precisess that voald nee
essasily have to be oPss although dele
gsiss 10 state and national cenven.ion.
might be chosen BY this system, which
soald be pretty uueh the same thing.
Primary elections differ from the gen
erai elections 10 that tB. one political
party participates. The candidates for
aouination annlupee ibeasslres-asd
,hert are always plenty of them; place
i. named By the central GO onnitiee in each
Of the township. where thcs. desirous o!
bringing on, any preferred candidate n,y
cas-, their votes for bin Jai.es AID
clerks may te sproinisd by the tosDsh;P
.eso@ittees, or, in The tss pcs Of these, BY
the county central commute Of the party
holding the ele:iioa, wto shoali be
obiigsiei TO make fair rsoori Of The
votes east. Everybody participating in
these elections, ard The candidates vb3
have declared ;hsi, intention to abide the
result, are obiigs.el to snpYo,, the DOM
inees for Office d ,se gesersl election, the
same e members Of nouiratins con
rension are pledged TO support the sas-
cessfuT candidates, whose claims they
have decided apon, 90 matter uho u,y
b their personal preference. II there
is doubt that any one applying TO e.s,
his vote is not . mem Der Of, or r,,hsr
eiN not act 1uh, tie PARTY ID the ersEiug
election and vote for its nominees. be may
be reqaesied to make such pledge b
fore being allowed TO east his vote Thi.
for prudential reasons: Enemies Of the
party might Aock 10 the place Of voting
aud cast their votes for come emf
neatly unpopular candidate and secure
bis nominaiion, in order tha: more pop
ular man who nigh, be brough; ont By
their own party would stand q better
chance Of defeating him 10 The general
election.
The expenses Of primary elections,
such as the fees Of the judges and clerk.
the publication Of rotices naming the day
Of election, and few other incidental ex.
penses that might accrue, should be paid
BY the successful candidates, each pay ing
IN proportion to the emoluments Of the
Office for which be is nominated. This
of course, would be but very small
item when apportioned equally among
them, say about five or ten dollars.
These are some Of tie most important
rules for the government Of primlty elec
tions. Whether more failne.. is showr
the competitors by this mode than is gen
orally accorded to nominating couven
tions, We are not prepared to say tbers
msy be = great deal Of cbicanery il
either. It would be difficult matter tc
devise any means by which the chronic
Office seeker would not take every advan
tage, either fair or unfair but on tn,
whole. primary elections, We believe, hav,
generally given better satisfaction thar
conventious.
In Ohio, this system has been reduced
to Law, and some Of its provisions ar
very stringent. Itprovides among oibe
things that the judges and clerks, who il
that state are chosen BY the electors as
ssmbIed BY the call of the published 30
ticss Of the committee, aod the supervl
sor of election, shall all be sworn. before
some one qualified to administer oaths
that they will correctly and faithful.
conduct such election, protect it agsios
all frauds aud unfairness, and CAREFUL
and truly canvass all votes cast therest !!
1t further provides that all persons VII
act frauduleutly with the party conductiu
, the election may be "6usd one hundre
dollars and Imprisonment in the count
Jail. and BE- fed on bread and water only
J.. not less than ten nor more than thirt
days" This Ohio law handles the matte
with too much seriousness, sceor ding I
Z our way of thinking, and We have merel
e neatiooed the matter to give our reader
!. an idea Of the manner 10 which primar
' elections are conducted 10 some places.
. AT the township meetings that may, q
. At least should, convene for the purpo.
Of organizing for the csmpsigu, this ma