, 1875-10-10

and common country" With such senti.
nents, Nr. STEPHENS Will be sure to find q
hospitable and cordial reception On his visit
| to the Northwest
| ---@-=
THE Law OF ELECTIONS
J.. The Constitution of the State of Illinois
provides for the election of various officers,
State, county, district, and town, under such
laws aud regulations as may be provided by
law. The laws Of the State, therefore. with the
exception that they may be repealed or amend
ed BY the Legislature, have the sans force as
If written in tho Constitution
When we consider that tbs Iaw-making and
law-executug officers Of the Government,
including the Judiciary, ere chosen BY the
people at elections that these officers loyy
taxes, collect taxes, e1pend taxes, and con-
su1ne taxes that the rights of property and
OF person, and the protection Of person and
property, depend On the character and in
tegity Of the men elected to Office, it follows
that elections in this country are Of the ut
most Importance to the whole people. The
| depravity Of man has not spared the ballot
box Fraud has become 30 general that State
Legislatures have been compelled to surround
the ballotbox with every description Of re-
shsint and requirement to protect it from
fraud, and the statute-books are filed with
penal enactments providing punish1nents for
violations Of the honesty Of elections. In this
| State there have been such lawn from the
! foundation We have recently had the
| various election laws revised nnd re-enacted
in single law, 80 as to express in clear and
! straightforward way the manner in which
elections shall be held in this State to ba
legal The whoce law concerning elections
in Illinois may DO thus stated:
l. ALL elections shall be held on the day
appointed by law for that purpose.
2. The election precincts in each county,
or city, shall be established by the legal
authorities Of such city Or county, who shall
also designate judges Of election for such
precincts.
s. The judges Of election for each precinct
shall appoint two clerks; and both judges
and clerks shall be sworn
/. Thirty days notice shall b given Of all
general elections, and twenty days' notice Of
any special election
s. The polls shall be opened at a. n, and
close at p. H.
G. Each clerk shall keep poD-Ist, on
which the name Of each person voting shall
be entered, aud opposite his name the num-
her Of such voter, and the ballot Of such
voter shall be Endorsed with q corresponding
number.
Z. The result Of such election shall be re-
turned, which return shall be signed by the
judges and atteated by the clerfs
8. Two legal voters shall be allowed in the
room where the election is held, to act as
challengers, and the same may remain until
the votes are counted and the result declared.
These are requirements Of law for all legal
elections in the State Of Illinois, and have
tho same force and authority IS if written in
the Constitution. The distinctive features Of
a legal election are: Notice; sworn judges
and clerks; List Of voters numbered, and
numbered ballots; returns Of election cert-
fed by clerks, with the ballots and poll
lists; the presence Of challengers while the
election is progressing and while votes are
counted.
But it has been formally decided by the
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governmental machinery Of d community Of
half million Of people, holding several hun
dreds Of millions Of property subject to taxa
ton, that IN election held without notice,
without clerks, without sworn Judges, with
out any list Of persons voting, without any
record Of the number Of votes polled, with
out any returns attested by clerks, without
any return Of poll-lst, is just as legal, as val
id, and as conclusive, as If the Law had been
complied with.
We will not add that the election whose
validity was questioned in this judicil in
quiry Was marked by the grossest frauds
notorious stufdng Of ballot boxes with
ballots never polled, the destruction Of bal
lots polled, the prohibition Of challengers,
and the exclusion OF all witnesses from the
rooms where the votes were canvassed Over
whe1ming proof Of these things, it seems,
has no weight in viaating IN election, and
there is not apparently power enough in
the civil authorities to punish the criminal
violations Of law.
We do not Question tho purity the fair-
ness, or the legal ability, Of any of the
Courts, local Or supreme; We con cede that
they have in this matter acted with sc1upu~
1ous fidelity to both law and precedent, Our
purpose is simply to show that mort. legisla-
tive enactments to protect the ballot box and
secure honest elections are Of no legRl value.
II an election without a polLbook, without
sworn Judges, without clerks, With no List
giving names OF number Of persons voting,
be as valid as ono with thess thin gs, then
why ahould the machinery Of elections be
inc,,mbered with them any longer2 Why
have, for instance, in Chicago $50 derks Of
election to keep the list Of names aa1d the
number Of persons voting, when an election
is Just ~ valid without them7 Why sresort
to the useless detail Of duplicate p'2l-1sts
when thsy A1e uon~sssentsAla a svide1ace Of
IN alsotion, Why parsist in the form&Gty
II uoAdes Of khs tius. placss, sad obIehta of