The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-01-31

Il
the "act Of voting" without anv refer.
! ence to the manlser OF voting or n
lother words, that ito ballot" NAV mesT
rto'vote 0tva voce" Or ITO vote by ballot i
T. that the true meaning is to be- derjvrd
not so much from the word itself as fro,n
ne context and the objec. in view. n
! this be SO, could not section /. article q
on the right Of suffrage, which reads. ''In
, all elections by the people tho eIectoTs
shall vote by ballot Be construed 10
{ mean "vote vivG uocs ~
Il 1t is argued, however, that the mean.
ling Of section 13, article 4, il limited by
section "a Of article 2, which 1t is claimed
is an universal rule, and controls all cleo.
tions by the General Assembly, aud an.
nuls any subsequent Nprovisions which
may not be in accord with it. The
proposition, then, is that the word "bal-
lot" In section 13, article 4, is either q
nullity, because in conflict with the rule
set up as universal, or must be made to
harmonize Herewith by constituting the
word, If 1t be possible, to mean "yote. !"
! I see no difficulty in the co.existeuce and
operation Of the two provisions, even al
though the 6rst be an universal yule and
the second an exception thereto.
The first occurs in the article Oh the
legislative department., and define. and
limits the power of the General Assem-
bly, with regard to elections in that body.
In article 3, the executive department,
it will be found in section (, that when
the election of Governor devolves upon
the Legislature by reason of 1.-TWO or
more" OF the candidates being "equal and
highest in votes" il is provided that "the
General Assembly shall, during the same
session, in the House of Representatives,
choose one of them Governor viva voce. d
| In article 4, judicial department., Sec
ton 2 provides that the Justices OF the
Supreme Court "shall be elected by q
joint vote of the General Assembly," "and
section 13, Circuit Judges "by joint bal
lot of the General Assembly,
While it might be argued, and perhaps
with force, that section 24, article 2, re-
lates only to elections of officers of the
General Assembly, and to elections
created by legislation, there can be but
little doubt as TO its having relation
specially to that class of elections, for in
only three cases does the constitution
order elections by the General Assembly,
and in two of these it specifics the man.
ner of voting, and leaves only the third
the election of Justices Of the Supreme
|Conrt-subject probably to the provis-
ions of section "a, article 2. And if we
were undertaking to 60 behind the words
of demonstration to interpret its mean
Jog, it might be very forcibly shewn why
a difference is made in the mode of yot-
ing for Governor and for Circuit Judges
by tho General Assembly-the former
having been previously voted for directly
by the people, aud tho election of FIJI I'll .
latter having originated in the General
Assembly. .s
This, however, is irrelevant, and 1t, is
unnecessary 60 do uIore than lay down
the proposition that any general or uni
venal rule is subject to exceptions, when
the exceptions emanate at' the same time
from an equal or the same power and
that is the present case; Tko oath Sec
tion, article 2, is Of force in SO far us it is
not, varied b. .nbseqgent provisions in
the same instrument. fo-t
1t appears to me to be clear that the
convention 30 understood it, and adopted
that section to define the power of the
Legislative branch of the government, and
then provided by succeeding sections for
the specific modes of conducting certain
elections, which confer Offices of great
Importance. y ii'
! ~
the last proposition, which Is the strength
of the case. Can the words "by joict
ballot" be construed to mean "by Joint
vote" that thereby the two apparently
conflicting sections may DC made to con.
form, and the election be copducted by
voting Viua roce? This depends solely
upon the meaning Of the word "ballot.n
If "a ballot" or "to ballot" can be con-
sidered to mean 90 vote'0or ito vote, /"
that meaning should be adopted, for it
would give the fullest force and effect to
/ both sections of the constitution.
will say here that while the argument
was able and ingenious, it did not i'm
press my mind, and subsequent reflection
has strengthened the CT nviction that the
word "ballot" has q fi4ed, distinct and
clearly defined meaning, 30 absolute and
so well understood IS not to admit of q
| doubt. ra
The learned counsel for the defendant
base their construction of the word "bal-
lot" upon two grounds. a .sc Z,
I. That the theory Of the State consti-
tuition is "that in all elections by the
Legislature, the action, of each mesubeI
should be open to the scrutiny Of his CON
stituents, SO as to preserve the .acco, \.
bility of the legislator to the people. :: 4
1 q. That the word "ballotn must be
taken in its popular sense, and in that
sense its meaning is the "act of voting.
without any desigIation of the manneI
of voting. t,,a5 t,;i' q,;l b
However plausible may be the policy
of the principle set forth in the first
Iground-and strong, had it been argued
In the conyention-iti is ofne avail .a.s .a.s
When we go to say what is the Law II
land. we must take the law as it is sd
not as it may have been. The rules oil
Interpretation are we'll stated rs follows
'.The way TO ascertain = u y our obliga.
tions as they arise from instituted laws
is to collect the meaning and intention o.
the lAT -Flake9 from soma outward aigni
or marks-the collecting such intent --or
from such signs or marks is called inter
pretation." .a
"Words are the common signs iha
j Inanaiiiid make I,5o Of IL droiire their in
tention to one another; and Vhen tht
words of O man express his meaning
plainly, distinctly and perfectly, we hayi
no occasion to have recourse to any ottei
means of Interpretation" ~ RitthertofF
Rules, PoHer'S Digdris, 1876. t''is,
| And it is only where the. words fail Il
o;, :i;- -,cs::: :s, s,is:.i; ,s, a;e.sc:..i:
| and perfectly, that we can have recoursi
to conjecture, whether rational or proba
bic. Tho first ground, therefore, is re
moved, unless :he second is maintain
able. "~fi'as' -'s spi
TO ca: any obscurity over the word
"by joint ballot it must be shown tha
1 - 81 L.