Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-02-25
.Arn,.,s,ent of Loren~o AEzis.

1fUNHtcHC VI A-OIC8t@O <1tteos
This is a contest between the plaintiff
and defendant in this action for the office
of sheriff of Ramsey county. It is not a
mere application for recanvassing of the
vote by the court, as the counsel for the
defendant in his argument seems to as
sumo, but it is regular suit in which the
contestant tenders certain issues of fact
which, if he can establish, will
entitle him by the Judgment of
this court to the Office. The
court is called upon to determine these is
sues. The ballots have been introduced
and counted as the best evidence upon
which the court must determine the issues
joined here.
Pine principal ground upon which the
contestant claims the right to recount of
the ballot is that the original count was
not made in pursuance of positive re-
quirement of the statute. The contestant
claims that by reason of this disregard of
the statute errors and mistakes were COM
mitted by the judges of election in the
count sufficient to change the result of the
count. The provision of the statute re-
speeding the canvassing of the votes after
the closing of the poles are in these words:
"And the ballots or poll lists agreeing
or being made to agree, the board shall
proceed to count and estimate, and publish
the votes; and when the judges of election
shall open and read the tickets they shall
read and announce each ballot
separately, and proclaim to the clerks the
name of each candidate voted for, each
clerk shall carefully mark down on the
tally list the vote SO proclaimed each can
didate received IN separate column pre-
pared for that purpose, with the name of
such candidate at the head of such column,
and the Office designated by the votes such
candidate shall fll.''
It will be perceived that the statute is
imperative in requiring each ballot to be
separately read and announced, and pro-
claimed to the clerk, and by the clerk reg
istered. The mischief which this law was
passed to remedy and prevent, is the occur
renee Of errors and mistakes always at
tending attempts to count ballots by
punches of five, ten, and even fifty. 1t has
always been very common practice for
judges of elections to separate all straight
tickets and put them in one pile for one of
straight tickets in another pile for the
other candidate for the same Office, and
then to put the mixed and scratched tick
cts in third pile. This is done because
it speeds the work of counting, but the leg
isiaGure has discovered that while the prac-
tice facilitates and speeds the work of
counting, it greatly multiplies the
errors and mistakes incident
to such counting, for the
judges after having for instance, placed all
the straight O'Gorman tickets in one pile
and the straight Richter tickets in another
pile, proceed to count the O'Gorman tick
cts by punches of five, ten or fifty, without
examining the names on these tickets any
further, and then they do the same thing
with the Richter ticket. 1t will readily be
seen that in separating these tickets
into those two piles IN the first
instance, Richter tickets are
liable to get into the O'Gorman pile and
the O'Gorman tickets into the Richter pile,
and if they do get there they will be surely
counted by this omnibus mode of count
ing for the candidate for which the pile
has been assorted. AS in the opinion of
the legislature it is more important to have
a correct count than to have speedy count,
the legislature has introduced the provision
above quoted in our statute for the very
purpose of preventing this mischief. Now
it is obvious that a count conducted in vi
olation of this law is illegal and invalid,
is in fact no regular count and any candi-
date interested where such an illegal count
had been had, would be entitled for that
reason al )ne to a recount of the vote.
Now the evidence in this case shows in
disputably that in all the precincts of this
city this law was violated with the excep-
ton of two, viz: the second precinct
of the Fourth ward and the first precinct