St. Paul daily globe., 1888-10-19
REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
Secretary Mattson Gives His Construe-
ton of the Law.
POWERS OF THE BOARDS.
Separate Ballots and Boxes Limited to
Cities Having Over Five Thousand
Inhabitants.

Questions having arisen frequently as
to the duties of the registration board
under the new election law. said Secre-
tary Mattson, desire to call attention
to the provisions of the statute govern
ing the registration of the names of
the voters in cities of over 1900 inhab-
itants. Section seventy-twO of said law,
being applicable only to cities of such
size, provided that the board Of-regiS-
tratiOn ''shall proceed to make regis
tratiOn as hereinafter prescribed, of all
persons entitled to vote at the ensuing
election in such election district" Sec
ton seventy-three prescribed form of
register which is to be substantially"
and not necessarily strictly adopted by
the board. As to what names boards
shall place upon the registers, my con-
structiOn, indorsed by that of the office
of the attorney general, is embodied in
the following rules:
They shall enter in said registers the
names of all persons qualified voters
residing in their election district whose
names appear in the poll lists kept in
said district at the last preceding elec-
ton, as having voted thereat, except
such as are known to the board to have
since died. removed from the district,
or become disqualified. The foregoing
is nearly the exact language of the
statute. 1t implies that the board may
possess knowledge as to the death, re-
mOval, or disqualification of former
residents of the district, but does not
confer upon the board power either to
arbitrarily omit any name. or to act
without sufficient and reliable infOrma-
ton.
They shall enter in said register the
names of all the persons, qualified vot-
ers, who shall personally appear before
them for registration. NOperson whose
name does not appear on the register is
entitled to vote at our next annual
election. Provided, however, voter
whose name has been accidentally
omitted, may, upon satisfactory proof.
have his name inserted and theTeupOn
be entitled to vote. The board of reg
istratiOn is required to meet the present
year. for the purpose registering the
names of voters, at 9 O'Clock In the
morning, at the lawfully designated
polling place in their district and con-
tinue in session until o'clock in the
afternoon. Tuesday. Oct. %, at the
same place, at between the same
hours, as at their first session, and
uCoudls OCl' .OOli, az IiC ollHC PIoCOt
but the hours for their session are fixed
from twelve O'Clock noon until nine
o'clock in the afternoon. Every person
whose name is not on the old poll list,
desiring to vote at the coming election,
should present himself before the regis
tratiOn board on one of the above dates.
As the form of register prescribed in
section 70. and the facts therein to be
entered, are designed largely to fore
stall fraudulent voting, it follows that
any immaterial variation as to form or
substance cannot impair ones right to
vote.
The law providing for separate ballots
and separate ballot boxes is limited in its
operation to cities of over five thousand
population, and has no application
whatever to any election held outside Of
such cities.