The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1876-12-28
ASubjugated A District.

Representative Lynch, of Mississippi,
has prepared a statement showing the
methods adopted to defraud him of his
reelection last fall. The district is
known as the Shoe-String District"
from its great length and slight width.
1t is arranged to take in all the heavy
negro counties in the State, with the
view of making it the only sure Repub-
lican district. After the complete sue
cess of the plan of terrifying the State
in 1875, the Democrats under General
Chalmers determined to wrest this dis
trict also from the Republicans.
Although the majority was nearly
18, 900, theyIaccomplished this without re-
sorting to much violence. Intimidation
was chiefly confined to two counties,
Claiborne and Jefferson, where no Re-
publican clubswere allowed to be organ
lied. In Claiborne County Mr.. Lynch
was informed he must hold no meetings
there. The Democratic frauds began
with the registration. In Claiborne
County over 1000 Republican voters
were denied the right to register, the
whites registering first, and the remain
der of the time allowed by the law being
consumed in putting nonsensical and
unauthorized questions to the colored
voters, so that only small part of them
were able to get their names on the list.
In Warren County, the Board Of Regis
try made affirmative answers to quos-
tions not authorized by law as condi-
tion of registration, and in this manner
disfranchised about 5000 Republican
voters. On election day frauds of the
most outrageous character were prac-
ticed Systematically throughout the
district. In Mr.. Lynch's own county
Adams-a change of over twelve hun
dred votes was made by taking Repub-
lican ballots out of the boxes. In Mr..
Lynch's own precinct he watched the
election carefully himself, and up to
two o'clock, when the election officers
took a recess for dinner, 361 votes had
been polled, of which number the Re
publicans had over 300. After dinner
1S6 votes were polled, 85 of which were
Republican but when the votes were
counted out at night there were only
85 Republican votes in the box, the
number cast after dinner. showing clearly
that the officers, when they went to din
ner, took out all the Republican votes
and put Democratic votes in their stead.
This is a specimen of many frauds of
similar kind of which Mr.. Lynch has
evidence.
In Issaquena County, at every pre-
cinct except one, the Democrats took out
Republican votes and put their own
party tickets in their stead. In Wiki
son County not only were the same
tactics employed, but armed bodies of
men went to the residences of leading
Republicans on the night preceding the
election, and demanded and obtained
the Republican tickets and destroyed
them, so that the next day, in many pre-
cincts, not a single Republican vote
was polled. In that county a Republi-
can majority of over 1000 was reduced
to less than 200.
Mr.. Lynch, in his statement, takes up
all the counties in his district and shows
how general and systematic were these
barefaced frauds. The above were ex-
amples only. Intimidation was practiced,
it seems, but only to a comparatively
small extent, the election being in the
hands of the Democrats, and they found
it much easier to simply destroy the Re-
publican ballots il the boxes aud SUBJ
stitute for them their own tickets.