The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-11-19

Immediately after election 10 Sumter county,
8. g., all the Republican candidates united in
q protest, which was fled with the county
canvassers. The latter, however. declined to
take any action upon it, and counted all the
votes to which objections were made A copy
of this protest arrived today. It sets fourth in
detail the methods of fraud. At four precincts
enough tissue tickets were secretly put into the
boxes to change the result. At four others
there was general violence and intimidation
and the colored voters were thus prevented
from voting. Three polls were opened be fore
six o'clock. and at each of these boxes were
stuffed in advance, or crowd of Democrats
present from other parts of the county were
allowed to vote. At one precinct the Demo-
cratic managers deliberately stuffed the box
after the close of the polls. At one place the
Democrats who were absent were allowed to
vote by proxy. At one precinct, upon the
close of the polls, the Democratic manager
substituted a suited box for one in which the
votes Of the day had b4en received. This SUBJ
stitute contained large number of regular
Republican ballots with many of the names
scratched of and the names of Democratic
candidates inserted. At one precinct persons
under age were allowed to vote by The Demo-
Gratis AT one precinct two hundred and
eleven names were added to the poll list after
voting hours to tally with the same number of
fraudulent ballots put into the box. The follow
ing extract from the formal reports of the
United States supervisors for Sumter county
are fair specimens of many already received
Supervisor Andrews, at Privateer, presents
report that the Democratic managers of
election refused to allow him to enter the room
where the ballot box was until after the polls
had closed He also reports more votes cast
than there were names on the poll list, and the
finding of tissue tickets when the count was
made. The following is the report from
Providence precinct:
NOVEMBER, 1878.
named poll and reached within fifteen OF twenty
steps of the door of the house IN which the ballot
box was, about four O'Clock a. m, this day, when
was surrounded by large crowd of white men who
were unknown to me, and prevented me from reach
ing the poll till after some $50 to 200 white had
voted. The poll was opened before six O'clock and
till long after sunrise and after the above number
of voters had voted and rode of. All these were
privilege of taking the names of voters from the poll
list. large number of tissue-paper tickets were
found in the ballot-box that believe to be illegal
votes. AL were Democratic tickets.
j. j. MoCREA, o. S. Supervisor.
Supervisor Singleton at Swimming Pens pre-
ciuct, Sumter county, reports as follows:
hereby certify that there were 15S more ballots
in the ballot box than there were names on the poll-
list at the close Of the polls and that there were in
said ballot-box two three packs of tissue tickets
stuck and packed together in such manner as to
make it impossible for them to have been voted by
legal voters who voted at said precinct. They could
only have gone into the box by being put into it by
or with the knowledge and consent of the managers
OF the election at said precinct The said tissue tick
cts all had the name OF the Democratic candidate
Congress printed on them. At the opening Of the
polls demanded the privilege to look into and ex-
anime the ballot box, to see that clear of tick
cts, but Managers N. S. Mcleod, A. III. Martin and
J. E. Pembert refused and denied me that privilege
l was also denied the privilege to take such posi-
tion at the polls as to enable to see the voters
when they voted. could not keep the pol-list of
voters in consequence thereof.
Supervisor Murray at Spring Hill precinct
says there were cast 260 votes for congressm an
at this poll. There were found on the opening
of the ballot box and comparing the votes
therein with the poll-list of the managers as
well as my own, 137 more ballots than there
were names on the poll-lst These ballots
were fraudulent tickets known as kiss or tissue
tickets, inclosed in other tickets These tissue
tickets were all Democratic. There was no
violence at this poll that saw.