The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1894-10-27
Hon. Ebert D. Weed.
THEY CAN, OR THEY CANT.
Some Opinions by Attorney General
Haslal1.

Attorney General Haske III has
written an opinion to one of
the county officers of Valley coun-
ty, giving the status of residents of
Indian reservations in regarding to
voting at the coming election. The
opinion which covers a number of
points raised, says that all land en-
braced within an Indian reservation
is withrawn from state control and
placed under government control.
The state has thus no jurisdiction
over that land or the persons resid-
ing thereon. No person can there
fore, while living upon an Indian or
military reservation acquire citizenship
in the state for the purpose of voting.
Under the general laws of Montana no
election precinct can be established upon
or include any portion of an Indian or
military reservation, nor can any regis
t%ration district include any part of such
reservations. The opinion furthur
says;
GAS no person in Montana can gain a
residence in Montana for the purpose of
requiring citizenship while residing upon
an Indian or military reservation, so the
converse of this proposition is true
that a person who had acquired a res
idence in Montana, in any county there
of, going upon an Indian or military
reservation would not lose his residence
in the county in which he resided prior
to going upon such reservation. The
deductions or conclusions from these
premises would be that, in case a party
living in another state should come to
Montana and should go upon al Indian
or militury reservation without having
first acquired a residence in some county
in Montana, could not possibly obtain a
residence in Montana while living upor
such reservation.
"You are therefore advised that any
person living upon a reservation in Mon.
lana must, in order to be entitled tC
vote, have acquired a residence in thi:
state before going thereon, and tho
time that he has lived or remained upor
a reservation cannot be considered as &
part of the time he is required to live ir
Montana in order to gain IA residence
therein for the purpose of voting"
On another point the opinion says the
fact that one of the judges of election
does not possess the qualification of al
%elector is not sufficient for itself to re,
ject the legal votes cast at such pre-
cincl. ''If a judge of e%letlon, who il
disqualified from voting, should vote and
contest be had," says the attorney gen
eral, "the legal votes would be thrown
out or rejected, but only those thai
were illegal would be thrown out upon
the hearing of the contest" Continue
ing the opinion says that county com
m~issioners cannot reject the returns from
an election precinct, provided the judge
of election fill out the returns which are
furnished them by the commission
ers.
"The supreme court of Montana" the
attorney general says, 'has decided tina
where the election returns presented tt
the county canvassers were correct upo1
the face hat is to form and substance
the board has no right to reject them
but such returns should be counted ant
canvassed in accordance with the law
and that the right to investigate and in
quire into the legality of the votes cas-
in such precinct must be left and in
q%uiring into by a court of common Law
jurisdiction.