The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-02-02
RICHARDS ELECTION
BILL DOCTORED UP
Not Enough Left Of the Original
to Give Its Owner a
Claim,

CALL HEADQUARTERS, sACRA-
MENTO, Feb. mot enough is left of
Assemblyman Richards general election
law bill for its author to identify. The
combined Election Law Committees of the
Assembly and Senate got to work on 1t
this afternoon and after an hours clever
surgical work pared it down to a fair
resemblance to the Australian ballot sys-
tenn, and in its reduced state it may
eventually be reported back as a part of
an omnibus election law bill that is at
present contemplated.
Richards original bill was decidedly a
unique effort in the line OF law-making.
In a number Of its clauses 1t was not
radically different from the present law;
1t made the usual requirements of the
voter as to age and citizenship, but re-
quired nothing more of him. 1t outlined
nothing unusual in the way of registra-
ton. 1t provided for precinct books with
the names and registration affidavits of
voters catalogued and ready for public
and 1t required that no matter when the
sun rose or set the ballot box should be
! opened at 6 in the morning and close at
3 in the afternoon.
These things were all right enough, but
the bill attempted innovations, and it was
at the innovations that the committee
by Carl Spelling, Max Pepper, Dan
Leary and William Hinton, who snoozed
through a term as Registrar of the city
and county of San Francisco, and other
purists. The first exception taken was to
Mr.. Richards plan of designating on bal,
lots the party utilization of nominees and
to tnaugurate the system of branding
each party with some insignia or artistic
emblem. Specifically this clause was as
follows:
when party nomination is made by
State convention of a candidate or can
didates to be voted for by the electors of
the entire State it shall be the duty of
such convention to select some simple
device or emblem to designate and dis
tinguish the candidates political party
making such nomination or nominations.
Such device or emblem shall be shown by
a representation thereof upon a certificate
signed and duly executed by the chair
man and secretary of said convention
which certificate shall be filed with the
Secretary of State, and such device or
emblem, when so filed, shall in no case be
used by any other party or Independent
BODY When an independent body shall
make ike nomination, as provided by
section 1l8S, it shall be the duty of the
person who shall sign and execute the
certificate of nomination of such candi-
GATE or candidates to likewise select some
simple device or emblem to designate and
distinguish the candidate of such indie
pendent body making such nomination"
one party might not use the emblem
OF another, and in cases of independent
nominations the Independent candidate
was required to have little party en-
blem OF his own which no one else could
use llISS IIOuSdHQ words were given
over to the regulation of that important
matter, and after reading it through and
discussing it the combined committees
ordered 1t cut out in it's entirety.
The second objection was to the change
which Richards plan would effect in the
ballot itself. He required that the Sec
rotary OF State should decide upon some
design, which would be water-marked in
the paper upon which the ballots were to
be printed, the design to be kept secret
until the day of election The ballots
were to be of size sufficient to accom-
modate the names of party nominees and
independent bodies. and blank column
IN which voters might write the name
OF any choice not printed on the ticket.
AT the head of .-.e party columns was to
appear the party device spoken of. and
also a circle in which the voter should
stamp one cross If he wished to vote the
straight party ticket.
1t was the ticket system to which the
greatest objection was made by those who
appeared before the committee this af-
ternoon, and after a good deal of argu-
ment a vote was taken on both clauses
and they were ordered stricken out py a
vote of to 2.
The bill was referred to a special com
mittee of three members, to which As
semblymen Belshaw and Richard and
Senator Stratton were appointed. They
will put the bill through the necessary
revision and send it back to the commit
tee to become a part of the omnibus dill
that Is projected, or go before the Senate
and Assembly as amended.