Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-12-23

IL snail be the duty OF the Supervise
of registration, within twenty-foG
hours after the receipt of all the +,
} turns for the different polling place
: to consolidate such returns to be eel
tilted as correct by the clerk Of tt
District Court, and forward the conso
} idated returns, with the originals re
ceived by him, to the returning Officer
J provided for in section two of this &C
. and said report am fsturns to be il
, closed in an envelope of strong pape
or cloth, securely sealed, and forwar
copy of any statement as to violenc
or disturbance, bribery or corruptior
or other offenses specified in sectio
twenty-six of this act, if any there bt
together with all the memoranda an
tally lists used in making the eouu
and statement of the votes"
Section 2 declares that:
within ten days after the the clos
ing of the election said returning off
GERS shall meet in New Orleans t
canvass and compile the statements 0
votes made by the commissioners o
election, and make returns of the elec
ton to the secretary of State. The,
shall continue in session until such re
turns have been compiled. The pre-
siding officer shall at such meeting
open, in the presence of said returnin,
officer, the statements of the commits
sioners of election, and the said re
turning officers shall, from said state
ments canvass and compile the re
turns of the election in duplicate; one
copy of such returns they shall file II
the Office of the secretary of State, ,anC
of one copy they shall make public
proclamation by printing in the ofiicial
journal and such other newspapers az
they may deem proper, declaring the
namessof all persons and officers voted
for, the number of votes for each per-
son and the names of the persons who
had been duly and lawfully elected. The
returns of the elections thus made and
promulgated shall be print fdcie evil
dence in all courts of justice and be-
fore all civil officers, until set aside
after contest according to law, of the
right of any person named therein to
hold and exercise the Office to which
he shall by such returns be declared
elected. The governor shall, within
sions to all officers thus declared elect
ed, who are required by law to be COM
missioned.
SEC. 3. Be it further resolved, &c.,
That in such canvass and compilation
the returning officers shall observe the
following order: They shall compile
first the statements from all polls or
voting places at which there shall have
been fair free and peaceable regis
tration and election. Whenever, from
any poll or voting place, there shall be
received the statement of any super
visor of registration or commissioner
of election, in form as required by
section rs of this act, ON affidavit of
three or more citizens, of any riot, tu
multi, acts of violence, intimidation,
armed disturbance, bribery or corrupt
influences, which prevented, or tended
to prevent, fair, free and peaceable
vote of all qualified electors entitled
to vote at such poll or voting place,
such returning officers shall not can
vass, count or compile the statements
of votes from such poll or voting place
until the statements from all other polls
or voting places have been canvassed
and compiled. The returning officers
shall then proceed to investigate the
statements of riot, tumult, acts of vio-
lence, intimidation, armed disturbance,
bribery or corrupt influences at any
such poll or voting; and if, from the
evidence of such statement, they shall
be convinced that such riot, tumult,
acts of violence, intimidation, armed
disturbance, bribery or corrupt inhu-
ences did not materially interfere with
the purity and freedom of the election
at such poll or voting place, or did not
prevent sufficient number of quali-
fed voters thereat from registering or
voting to materially change the result
of the election, then, and not other
otherwise, said returning officers shall
canvass and compile the vote of such
poll or voting place with those previ-
Ously canvassed and compiled; but if
said returning officers shall not be full
ly satisfied thereof, it shall be their
duty to examine further testimony in
regard thereto, and to this end they
shall have power to send for persons
and papers. IT, after such examina-
tion, the returning officers shall be
convinced that said riot, tumult, acts
of violence, intimidation, armed dis
turbance, bribery or corrupt influences
did materially interfere with the purity
and freedom of the election at such
poll or voting place, or did prevent
sufficient number of qualified electors
thereat from registering and veting to
materially change the result of the
election, then the said returning Off
GERS shall not canvass or compile the
statement Of the votes of sucn poll or
voting place, but shall exclude it from
their returns; provided, that any per-
son interested in said election by reason
Of being candidate for Office shall be
allowed hearing before said returning
officers upon making application with
in the time allowed for the the for
warding of the returns of said cleo
tion,"
Under section two of the foregoing
provisions, it will be seen that the duty
of the Board of Returning Officers is
similar to that of State Canvassing
Boards In most of the other States In
the Union-simply ito canvass aud
compile the statements of the COM
missioners of election" and proclaim
the result and this is the whole duty
of the Returning Board, unless the
commissioners of election or the su-
pervisors of some parish impose upon
it further duty, as provided in sections
26 and 43. In commenting upon the
powers of the Returning Board we
avail ourselves of the able agument of
Judge Spoford, made before it.
No one has the right to attack the
returns from any poll, ward or parish
In the State on account of undue in
huence, intimidation, or other acts of
violence, unless the foundation there
for be FIRST laid by the statement of
the commissioners Of election at the
particular poll, if the acts occurred on
election day, or Of the supervisor of
registration of the parish if they oc-
CURED during registration, as provided
in section 26 and 43. The board has
no legal authority to receive or give
effect to statements of outside parties
till the proper commissioners OF cleo
ton and supervisor have spoken.
Nor has the board been invested
with the power to institute complaints
against any poll, er-OfictO or of its own
motion. 1t can not blot out or fail to
count solitary vote returned, unless
legal foundation has been laid for in
quiry by the supervisor of the parish
where the vote was cast, or by one OF
the commissioners OF election reporting
through such supervisor; and even