Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-03-08
Caucus Law Made Plain.

respect to the same, deem it my dt
ty TO have published as concise an
intelligent an Interpretation Of tn
law as possible for the guidance Of K
cal committees and voters.
In doing this it is Of course manda
tory that | should follow the letter G
the law chap 81, laws Of 1899 !
far as possible and practicable bu
where it appears inconsistent and am
biguous | shall advise such procedur
as is compatible with common reason
and fairness. Though this may seen
presumptuous, take it that gooC
common sense is good law in the alb
sence Of anything more definite Ii
the following Interpretation OF III,
statute. | shall not take it up section
by section, but merely outline til,
method of calling and conducting
caucuses dlsregarding legal dictior
and pbraseology.
The county committee shall fix the
date on which all polit cal party eau
cuses shall be held throughout the
county, notice of the date being given
through the local newspapers. All
caucuses must be held on the same
day and in the cities of Lancaster,
Boscobel and Platteyille during the
same hours. as fixed by the county
committee; in towns and villages, eau
cuses may be held at any hour Of the
day. All caucuses must remain open
not less than one hour. The caucuses
for each city, town and village, rs
am advised by the chairman Of the
state central committee, shall be
called by the local committee, the
chairman of whice shall be the repre-
sentative of his city, town or village
on the county committee. In making
the cali for the caucuses, the chair
man Of each local committee shall
designate the time, naming the hour,
place and purpose, Of such caucus,
stating in his call the number Of dele
gates.to be elected or officers to tie
nominated. Ten days notice of such
caucus shall be gwen by the local COM
mittee iy publication in newspaper
if there be one in his district; if not,
then notice shall be posted in three
public places in his precinct.
At the time for opening the caucus
the same shall be called to order by
the chairman of the local committee,
or in his absence, by chairman chos-
en- by the electors present. A secre-
tary and two tellers shall also be chos
en- by the electors The chairman
and secretary shall be the inspectors
of such caucus, and shall, on taking
their places, make oath that they will
faithfully, honestly and correctly con
duct the election at such caucus. and
protect it from all fraud and unfair
ness. Such oath must be subscribed
to before a notary public, Justice Of
the peace, or town clerk; but if no
such Of. GER is present, then in the
presence Of the electors and witnessed
in writing by at least two Of them
The inspectors, assisted by the tel
lers, shall canvas the votes cast. Vot-
ing shall be by ballot; ballot to BE
printed on plain white paper, or may
be written by the individual voter:
and shall be deposited in a box or 9th
er receptacle provided therefor by the
caucus officers, which box o. recepta-
Gle shall be in full view of the chair
man, secretary, tellers and voters at
such caucus, and shall not be removed
until the ballot shall have been de-
clared closed, when the contents
thereof shall be removed and votes
canvassed. Immediately after the
close of the caucus and after the can
yass of the votes, the chairman and
secretary OF the caucus shall certify
to the chairman of the county com
mittce, the names of the delegates so
chosen, giving the vote for the several
delegates, and the persons receiving
the highest number of votes shall be
elected as such delegates, according
to the number to which the precinct
is entitled under the call of the c5un-
ty committee.
In case of n0miRotioR Of caHdi,iatcS
for office, the person receiving a ma
l0rHY OF all the votes cast shall be the
nominee of the caucus. Should no
person receive majority upon the
first ballot, the caucus shall not be
closed as provided in the case of the
election of delegates, but the ballot
ing shall be continued until all officers
shall be nominated by majority
vote. The chairman and secretary
shall certify to the chairman Of the
county committee the names Of the
candidates so nominated, to be placed
upon the official election ballot.
No person shall vote or Cffer to
vote more than once during ballot
for any candidate or delegate or set OF
delegates i'll any one caucus, nor III
any caucus held in any caucus district
in which he shall not at the time be Z
resident and elector, and no person
shall vote or offer to vote in any eau
Gus where candidates and delegates
are to be chosen, if he has already
voted ut the caucus Of any other 20.
litical party for candidates to be
voted for, or for delegates to be chos
en- to convention to nominate candi.
dates to be voted for at the next en-.
suing election.
The secretary of the caucus witt
the aid Of an assistant, if necessary
shall make true and correct poll lis
OF the voters who cast ballot at sucl
caucuses. giving name. and in cities
residence, street and number. anc
such list shall be filed with the city
town or village clerk The commit
tee having charge Of the caucus shall
have authority to maintain order anC
to enforce obedience 10 the Lawful
rules during the caucus.
Caucuses for the nomination q
city, village or town officers. wher
party lines are drawn, must be held
N the same manner as caucuses fol
the election Of delegates to conven
tlons or nomination of candidates t.
De voted for at general election. II
caucuses where party lines are no
drawn the caucus law does not apply
and the political committees have n,
jurisdiction.
In the cities Of Lancaster, Boscobe