The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-25
THE POP WILL STAY in
DEMOCRATS CANNOT CROWD HIM
OUT OF FOURTH DISTRICT RACE.
Attorney Generals Opinion in Re-
Spouse to the Protest Filed with
Secretary of State.

There has been filed with the secretary of
state a protest against the placing of the
name Of Browder the Populist candidate
for Congress in the special election in the
Fourth district to elect a. successor to the
late Mr.. Holman. The protest was based
on an act which provides that where a
political party allows an election to go by
without naming ticket without cast
ing l per cent. of all the votes cast it
shall be considered no longer a political
party and San nominate a ticket only upon
formal petition. 1t was argued that, in
asmuch as the Populist party in the Fourth
district fused with the Democratic party,
it could be no longer regarded as a party
Secretary Owen referred the matter to the
attorney general for an opinion and yester-
day received the following:
Il have received your letter of this date
Section Is of an act approved March S.
1889, is the nominee of the Peoples party
entitled to place on the ballot in each
county of the Fourth congressional district
without the filing of a petition, that party
having cast, as shown by the records of
this office, more than L per cent. of the
total vote in the State at the last pre-
ceding general election? The whole mum
Der of votes cast in Indiana for Governor
at the November election, 1896, was $50 193
OF that number the Peoples party cast
S626 votes
TT appears that the Peoples party in the
election of 1896 nominated for electors the
same candidates as the Democratic party,
but made separate nominations for Cover
nor and other state officers With regard to
printing the names of candidates of politi-
cal parties upon the official ballots the
statute says:
" The said board of election commission
erS shall cause to be printed on the re-
spective ballots the names of the candi-
dates nominated by the convention of any
party that cast 1 per cent. OIL the total
the n o
general election as certified to said board
by the presiding officer and secretary of
such convention etc.
"Inasmuch as the Peoples party, in the
election of 1896, nominated a state ticket
and cast for their candidate for Governor
and such other candidates as they nomi-
mated more than l per cent Of the total
vote OF the State, that party is entitled to
have the name of it's candidate for repre-
sentative in Congress printed upon the
ballots of the several counties IN the
Fourth congressional district of Indiana at
cancy caused by the death of William S.
Holman, upon the certificate of the chair
man and secretary of the convention which
nominated the candidate for representative
regardless of the fact that the Peoples
party may have nominated no candidates
for elector at the general election of 1896
or may have cast less than l per cent. of
the total vote of the Fourth congressional
district for nominee for representative in
Congress. The vote of the party is the
vote cast by the party for the highest Of
tlcer separately nominated by that party at
the last general election and the highest
officer voted for at the election of 1896, UNI
der the decision of our Supreme Court
was the Governor of the State. MASSEY
vs. Dunlap, "A N. f. 644.)
The statute does not regard or consider
the right of a political party according to
the political subdivisions of the State but
according to its vote in the entire State
and a party which has a sufficient vote in
the entire State to entitle 1t to recog-
milton as a political organization, for the
purposes of nominating candidates by CON
ventions has a right TO nominate by con-
Vention in any political subdivision even
though at the last general election it may
have cast no votes at all in that political
subdivision.