Los Angeles herald., 1892-11-07
BOGUS REGISTRATION.
DETECTIVE A. B. LAWSON MAKES A
STATEMENT.
He Claims that His Investigations Have
Been Regardless of the Party.
Some of the Results of Hunt
Ing Would-be Voters.

Chief Federal Supervisor of Elections
Flint was engaged nearly all day yester-
day in making out complaints for fraud
ulent voters. Two of Detective Law
sons men were at the supervisors Office
arranging the reports sent in by the
agency.
Mr. Lawson made the following state
ment last evening to HERALD reporter /:
"Chief Supervisor Flint has received
large number of reports on crooked
registrations from our agency. The
registrations in most of the cases are
false and the only explanation to be had
is that the intended idea was to beat the
new ballot system by malicious as well
as fraudulent means, or the deputy
county clerks who placed the fictitious
names and addresses on the register did
80 out of their eagerness to swell their
pocketbooks, or that outside influence
was brought to bear.
"It appears that the majority of regis
trations made outside of the clerks Of
fee, by the members of the two great
parties, are very honestly reported. OF
course, all of the clerks are not sus-
pected, but there are few whose work
is very suspicious, and their registra-
tions were very loosely made. In great
register, as large as the one just issued,
errors are bound to occur, as mans
name may be changed by the omission
or insertion OF a single letter, or his in
itial may be wrong, his address perhaps
mixed, or he may have registered from
one precinct, moved to another 80 days
before election, and not giving notice to
the clerks Office of the change, his ad
dress ia printed in the great register as
he gave it. He cannot be found by the
party canvassers and detectives en-
ployed for that purpose, and he is re.
| ported as non-vOter.
"But where deputy clerk will regis
ter the same man twice in few days,
there is a very suspicious odor Of fraud.
A man registers with clerk, gives his
name, address, age, occupation. height,
etc., swears it is correct, goes away and
returns two or three days later, to the
same clerk, gives the same name, differ
ent address, one or two years difference
in the age he gave before, swears it is
correct and departs. Sometimes differ
ent name is given, but how clerk can
| TeXlsl6I tlC EdllC AIdA tWlCC3 w uO RiNC6
his name and description the same, can
which is begun as soon as the facts are
found out.
"But about those who register under
assumed names, the legal and respecta-
BILE voters of this county cannot under
stand the extent to which this has been
carried on. There is no way to catch
| ho totrFar, nboY, ho raoioforc rndor
an assumed name but to wait for him
at the polls on election day. 1 have "a
party under surveillance that has
dropped" that he registered twice un
der assumed names. He did not register
his true name because a number of par
ties know that he has not been here
long enough to vote.
"If every lodging house, some saloons,
stores, dwellings, not to speak of the
vacant lots from where some of the un-
wise and not posted suffers registered
from, contained the full allotment as
accorded them in the great register, it
would remind one OF Sacramento dur
ing fair time. There would be q cot in
every hallway and on the roofs.
'Some people are not contented with
assumed names, but use all the infu-
ence in their power to lead the unsus-
| pecting and ignorant on until trouble ia
incurred, and then forsake their dupes
as quickly as possible and let the law
deal with those that are foolish enough
to come within it's grasp. The following
will show how some men can mislead
others in the matter of registering: A
father and son arrived from the east in
September; they had never been in
California before. Both are old enough
to vote, but being ignorant OF our laws.
and, being led on by certain party,
they registered. Of course, they
will not be allowed to vote, but the
party that induced them to register
should be punished. An investigation
has been started in the matter.
"The Investigations have been care
fully made, and have not been confined
to any particular party, as developments
in the next few days will show"