The leader., 1895-10-17
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MAKES N. .IsEHiSsA
STRONG. WzissiN
WHO CAN VOTE.

What the Constitution and Election I,v.
Say on the Subject.
Editor Port Gibson Reyeille:
DEAR SIR:-There seems to be oon
siderable lack of information resnont
ing the qualifications of an elector in
this State In order that the nnbl;o
may be informed, state these, in sncb
manner as to show what is NECESSARY
to make legal voter in Mississippi
Section 241 of the State Constitution
fixes the qualifications. They are as
follows: 1st., The elector must ba a
citizen of the United States. Ind. He
must have resided in the election dis.
trict or incorporated city or town in
which he offers to vote, one year. 4tb
He must be twenty-one Years of ACE.
he must neither be an idiot, an insane
person nor an Indian not taxed. 9Th
He must have registered according 70
Article II of the State Constitution
It'll. He must never have been convict
ed of bribery, theft, arson, obtaining
money or goods under false pretenses,
perjury, forgery, embezzlement or big,
amy. Sth. He must have paid, on or
before the 1st day of February of the
gear an acltich he offers to cote, aUtares
which may haze been legally required
of him and ,Ulich he has had an opoor.
tu'eity Of paying according to lar, for
the taco preceding gears 9th. And he
shall produce to the officers holding
the election, satisfactory evidence that
he has paid said taxes, within the said
time. So much then for the law fixing
the qualifications of voters in the State
of Mississippi. No one who does not
possess all of the above qualifications
is legal voter in this State, nor can
he participate in the general election
for officers, State, district or county
Various questions arise in the prac
tical application of the foregoing tests
of qualification some of which | name
here for public information. LIST. Sup.
pose A carries list of tax payers to
the sheriff, requests the sheriff to call
on him for the taxes due from the per-
sons named in his list, and the sheriff
agrees to do it and issues his receipts
dated either before or on the LIST day
of February, will, under such circum.
stances, the person whose name APP
pears in the tax list be entitled to vote
if A does not make payment of the
money until after the LIST day of Feb
ruary? The answer is yes The date
of sheritf's receipt is final. End. 1.-THE
sheriff issues receipt to taxpayer
dated on or before the LIST of February,
will such persons be entitled to vote?
The answer is, yes. The date of the re.
ceipt governs. The moment the sher.
if issues receipts dated on or before
the LIST day of February, he has made
himself liable to the State for taxes,
and it matters not whether he receives
payment upon the 1st day of February
or not.
Another question arising is this;
If A resides in district one and
leaves district one and goes into dis
trict two with the intention of remain
ing in district two and does remain
there for 6 or months, can he vote in
district one? The answer is founded
in intention. If he leaves district one
with the intention of removing from it
permanently and residing in district
two, he loses his citizenship in district
one, and cannot vote in district two
unless he has resided there one year.
Another question which arises is. Ii
A offers to vote and his name does not
appear in the poll books, but he makes
oath he is registered, that his name
has been inadvertently left off and
that he is in every way qualified &C.
cordiug to law, would he be entitled
to vote? The answer is, yes.
By section 242 of the State constitu-
ton, the registration of an elector is
provided; and the registrar is required
to administer the following oath to the
person applying for registration, towit:
Il, "a, do solemnly swear, or affirm,
that am 81 years old, or that | will be
q years old before the next election in
the county, and that / will have resid-
ed in this State two years and the cleo
ton district of the county in which l
reside one year next preceding the en-
suing election unless he be minister
of the gospel, in charge of an organized
churchl, and am now in good faith
resident of the same, and that am not
disqualified from voting by reason OF
having committed any crime named III
the constitution of this State rs dis.
qualification to be an elector: that VIII
truly answer all questions propounded
to me concerning my anteoedents, SO
far as they relate to my right to vote.
and also as to my residence before my
citizenship in this district; that will
faithfully support the constitution OF
the United States and of the State OF
Mississippi, and will bear true and
faithful allegiance to the same. SO
help me God" And it is further pro-
vided, in the same section, that "any
wilful or corrupt false statement In
said affidavit or answer to any material
question propounded as therein au-
thorized, shall be perjury"
have simply epitomized the law in
this form in order that the public may
be inteiligently Informed respecting
the qualifications of electors. mas
much as there has been so much talk
on this subject, it seems to me that the
only true way to inform the public is
to quote the law in simple manner.
Very truly yours,
j. MCC. MARTIN,