Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-04-03

| xAcSOtutiOuB 10 tIu LTChCht-
ing Fraud at Elections.
uppermost yesterday in the public mind,
and the movements at the Court house at
| tracted much attention. 1t has been known
for several days past that there existed
difference of views between the County
Clerk and the County Assessor as to the
proper method of making registrations.
and this eliminated yesterday in County
Clerk Hamiltons refusal to accept the reg
istrations made by the Assessor and his
deputies.
The law requires that the registrations
made by the Assessor shall be turned
over to the County Clerk at the close of
each thirty days. Under this requirement,
several hundred were yesterday handed
into the County Clerks Office by Deputy
Assessor McManus Mr.. Hamilton was
not in his office at the time, and had left
strict orders that if any such list of regis
trations were handed in during his
absence, not to receive them. This
was based upon the fact that he
had been informed that only the precinct
or wards was being taken down by the As
SCISSORS officer, instead of the number of
street, or eract place of residence of each
voter. The latter he held to be absolutely
necessary in order to prevent illegal regis
tration, and to enable the Board OF Super
visors to redistrict the county into new pre-
cincts of not exceeding $50 voters each, in
accordance with the law passed at the last
session of the Legislature.
Deputy McManus came in with the regis
tration lists while Mr.. Hamilton was at the
Board of Supervisors, and in his absence
Deputy County Clerk Guth declined to re-
ceive them, and sent for Mr. Hamilton.
Upon his arrival he found that the regis
tration submitted did not give the numbers
of residences and some of them were filled
in with black lead pencil. He therefore
declined TO accept them, and stated that he
had some time ago informed both the
County Assessor and some of his deputies
that be should require exact residence of
each voter registered TO be given.
a short time afterwards Mr.. Hamilton
sent the following notice py letter to the
Assessor, officially notifying him upon the
subject:
PROTECTION OF THE BALLOT.
A. L. Frost, ESQ, Assessor Of Sacramento county
DEAR SIR: The law makes me responsible
Great Register which has recently been ordered
by the Board of Supervisors. And as it is my
duty and for the interest OF the entire people of
the county, that the Great Register shall be as
complete and as near absolutely correct as pos
sible, when finished, it is necessary that the
exact location of residence of each person reg
istered be given.
This is made necessary, as l informed you in
our conversation some days since-first, because
the Board of Supervisors are required, under
the law passed at the last session of the Legis-
m 10 election
precincts SO that each precinct shall contain
not to exceed $50 qualified voters; and second,
that giving the exact residence will greatly deter
those who might otherwise attempt to register
illegally, and aid in detecting and Furnishing
any who may doso.
There is not the least shadow of doubt that the
law requires that in cities the number of resi-
dence of voters shall be given, and in addition
to this, the ward or precinct. If there were any
question, the legal presumption would be that
the intent of the law is that construction of the
section of the code 1rlsich lcould best protect the
inrioldbiity Of the ballots. That construction
would be, that the number of residence, to-
gether with the ward in the city be given and
the exact locality within the townships, outside
of the city.
The recent glaring commission of frauds at
the ballot boxes in this city calls special attention
to the necessity of greatest caution in making the
present registration, in order to exclude every
name from the Great Register not legally en-
titled TO be borne upon it.
/ have heretofore made these suggestions to
yourself and some of your deputies, in order
that no difficulty might arise when you came to
turn in lists OF those registered in your Office
and by the deputy assessors. Inasmuch, how
ever, as for some reason your Office has neg
lected or refused, to give the number of resl-
dence or other particular data, showing exact
locality of dwelling place of each voter, l can
not accept the lists of registrations sought to be
turned over by your Office to me this morning
OR those which deemed informal and incom
plete.
The actual place of residence must be given
| of each person registered, and to prevent any
tampering with the registration affidavits. they
must be written with ink or indeliple pencil
and not with ordinary lead pencil Very re-
| spectfully, VIM. B. HAMILTON,
County Clerk, Sacramento county.
| Sacramento, April 2, 1888.
| The members of the Board of Supervis-
ors discussed the matter Of registration and
approved the stand taken by Mr.. Hamil-
| ton and said they would sustain him in the
position, as they not only desired the Reg
lister to be as complete as possible, but also
! to make it as effective as was in their
power for preventing illegal voting in fu-
ture.
ACTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
| In the afternoon Supervisor Bates intro
duced the following resolutions
WHEREAS, The existing law makes it the duty
| of this Board to establish election precincts
| with such boundaries that not more than three
hundred and fifty qualified electors of the
whereas, it will be impossible to comply with
this requirement of the law unless the exact
locality of each electors residence is entered on
| the Great Register Therefore be it
| Resoired, First, that the County Clerk and
| County Assessor be and they are hereby di-
rected to require from each applicant for regis
traton and to enter on their respective rolls the
street and number of the street at which he re-
| sides in the city of Sacramento, or the particu-
lar location of his residence in the county out
side of the CITY, Second, that no bills for
4 registration will no allowed do
in compliance with this resolution.
| The roll was called and the resolutions
unanimously adopted.
This unanimous action on the part of the
| Board of Supervisors, together with the
positive stand taken by the County Clerk,
is pre-eminently right, and reflects credit
| upon those officials. 1t is loval promise
to the people of the county that no chicane
| shall be allowed TO enter into the work of
making the Great Register, and that so far
as possible no names. shall be entered upon
it that do not properly belong there. The
| people will warmly approve this action
| and appreciate it, for there is a strong pub
| lie desire that all necessary steps be taken
| to prevent every specie of election frauds
in this city and county.
After passing the above resolutions the
Board of Supervisors also passed the neces-
| sary order in allowing an additional assist
ant in the County Clerks Office to aid in
making up the Great Register. Mr.. Hamil-
ton thereupon appointed Fred A.
| Shepherd Sr., to the place, and no more
competent nor trustworthy selection could
possibly have been made.
s. Promising Outlook.
The following notice was posted on the
bulletin board at the City Prison yester-