Morning journal and courier., 1880-01-02
The Maine Complication.
Eale Questions Submitted 10 the SU
 preme Court by the Cs0yernOr.

Eale Questions Submitted 10 the SU- preTne Court by the Governor. Following is the list of questions prepared
 by the Governor of Maine with the advice and assistance Of his legal counsel, to be submitted to the Supreme Court:
 When the Governor and Council decide that there Is no return from city on which re- presentatives can be summoned to attend and take their seats in the Legislature, is it their duty to order new election or is 1t compe- tent for the House of Representatives, if it shall appear that there was an election of such Representatives toadmit them to seats, though no return thereof was made and delivered to the office of the Secretary of State? 1tN competent for the Governor and Coun- oil to allow the substitution of other evidence i'll place of the returned copies of such lists as are provided for in article f. part 1, sec tion of the constitution, to enable them to determine what persons appear to be elected Representatives to the Legislature by plu- rality of all the votes returned? It return signed by a majority of the Selectmen of town, or the Aldermen of acity, valid within the requirements of same sec tion2
 Is return by the aldermen of city which does not give the number of votes cast for each person voted for as Q member of ths Legislature, and does not show what persons were voted for such member in any one of the several wards of such city, valid re- turn within the requirements of the same sec tion
 Arc returns from towns or cities which are not attested by the Town or City Clerk valid within the same section?
 Have the Governor and Council right to reject the returns of the election of members of the Legislature, required by the same sec- ton from the officers of towns, which were not made, signed and sealed up in open town meeting2
 Is tho return of two persons purporting to be the Selectmen of a town valid and sufficient evidence of the vote of the town when it ap- pears that there were at the time of the meet ing at which the election was had but two Selectnen of that town?
 Can person who is not citizen of the United States at the time be legally elected or | constituted Selectman of the town? If a ballot box has distinguishing mark in | the judgment of the Governor and Council, such as would makeit illegal under the statute have they authority to disregard it in their | ascertainment of what persons appear to be l elected, where il appears ny tho ol1ei-l rotu.E
 received by the Selectmen, subject to the ob- l jection, and its legality referred to the Gov 1 ernor and Council for decision? If the names of any persons appear i'll the | return without any number of votes being | stated or carried out against them, either in ! words or figures, is it the duty of the Govern
 l or and Council to treat those persons as hay l ing thessame number of votes as another per | son received for the same office, and whose
 name is placed first in the return, if they find
 ! dots under the figures or words set against
 l such other persons name? Have the Governor and Council the legal
 l right to decide what kind of evidence they
 I will receive, and what the mode of proceeding
 | before them shall be to enable them to de-
 | termine the genuineness of returns required
 by the article and section of the constitution
 above mentioned?
 |
 ! them two lists of votes returned from the
 same town, differing materially from each
 l other in the number of votes returned as cast
 for the same persons, but identical in all other
 respects, both having been duly received at
 the Secretery's ofice and they have no evi-
 | dsnce to enable them to determine which is
 the true aud genuine return, are they required
 to treat them as valid, and if so which?