Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-02-24
REGISTRY LAWS.

1t would seem that tome efficient sys-
tenn of registration could be adopted,
which would be an effec:ual stop to ille-
gal voting, and at the same time protect
every legal voter in the exercise of his
right. Yet our State law is sadly defect
i've in some respects, as the late investi
cation at San Francisco has shown. liz
that city some II 900 votes were cast up
on certificates of registration, issued after
the Ward Registers of that city had been
given into the hands Of the printer As
the county has but one Great Register,
which was used both for entries and can
cellations, it became matter of impossi-
bility for all these names to be entered as
the certificates claimed, while at the same
time every man wishing to vote who
made the required showing, was certain
ly entitled to do so. In this emergency
the Clerk seems to have adopted the
course of taking the affidavit and issuing
the certificate, leaving the entry to be
made at some future day.
In this, the Clerk violated the letter,
out complied with the spirit Of the law.
To have taken each in turn and insisted
upon making the entry before issuing the
certificate would, in the short space OF
time during which the major part of these
applications for registration came in, have
disfranchised many who put off applying
until the last minute. Perhaps no one
would really have been to blame so much
as the applicants themselves, who should
have registered at the earliest moment.
But that is neither here nor there, the
amended law required the Clerk to keep
his office open on the day of election for
that purpose, instead of keeping election
day public holiday as in former years.
But undoubtedly, by this course the door
for fraudulent voting, on large scale
was opened. Men whose names were
printed in Ward Register could, after
copies had been placed in the hands of
the printer, obtained transfer to some
other ward and then vote upon the certi-
| fcate issued to them and vote again, in
the Ward where their names appeared
in the printed list. We have no reason
to believe that this was actually done to
any extent, but it opened the way for the
exercise Of repeating" and the history
of our elections show that there are al
ways enough ready to carry an election
by improper means.
We need such protection to the ballot
box as will guarantee us that none but
strictly legal votes will be admitted, and
men must be made to understand that
they cannot daily away their time up to
the last moment with safety to their right
to vote. One object in the printing of
the Great Register is to give citizens in
formation Of who claim the right of suf-
lrage. When man offers his vote upon
IA certificate, this information is not Civ
en- until he offers his vote, defeating one
purpose of the law. In majority of in
stances the voter can as we'll be register
ed one month before the election as at
any later period, and the law should bo
80 amended that no man can be allowed
to vote upon certificate Of registration
or rather that no such certificate shall be
issued unless accompanied by outside
proof both of citizenship, and of the rea-
sons why registration is thus delayed
AT the last election in this county three
names were placed upon the Great Reg
lister and certificates issued on election
day.
We need that our laws governing the
ballot-box be such that not even the sus
picion of fraud can attach to the conduct
of an election. The right of suffrage is q
sacred one-one not to be off or over
come by fraudulent exercise of the
right by parties without the color of title
to do so. 1t is perhaps hard to make a
law of this character which shall apply
or well to one part o! the State as to an.
other, and here is where the great diff
Guilty comes in. Laws of general ma
ture must be uniform in their operation
as they will be speedily set aside by the
courts. let it seems to us that safe
9 guards can be thrown around the exer
else of the ballot, sufficiently 20 slenc,
, the cry of " fraud" which comes up from
f the defeated party after every genera
, election.