The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1900-11-02
A QUESTION
OF THE LAW
Shall the Voting Time
Be Extended.
COOPER NOT AUTHORITY
Secretary Says He Merely Gives Ad-
vice. Democrats and indie
pendents Shy.

by what authority Mr.. Cooper. 60
you claim the right 20 give directions IA
the judges OF election ms to keeping tn,
polls oreE after ) o'clock, or otherw SO
concerning their methods OF holding tn"
election, was, asked of Secretary Cooper
yesterday by an Advertiser representa-.
tive.
II do not claim any authority of thu
Snd," replied Mr.. Cooper. II have re-
reatedly stated that / had no power to
direct or Instruct, but only to advise. aud
| propos" to do nothing else. 1t Is within
the power of the judges of election to act
Gu my advice, or not. as they. choose"
As 40 the relative merits Of providing
additiond. polling booths or keeping open
alter O'clock, Mr.. Cooper stated that
original" he favored the additional
booth solution of the difficulty, and still
| thought ii the best method from u prac-
| teal standpoint; but he said that he had
sought additional advice upon the subject
and this advice had been III favor of keep
tlg the polls open. This was the reason
Cor his now suggesting this method.
/ Asked If he would adopt the additional
booth plan If 1t met the approval of the
| central committees of the three parties.
he said that he WIS inclined to think thai
he would, as he personally preferred this
! method to the other. t.
| Referring again TO the authorities upon
| he subject of keeping open after hours
he said that he had found no authoriti IS
against Its validity except two Kentucky
cases, while there were Il number in al
dition to those already quoted supporting
the right SO to do.
The suggestion of the Republican Cen
trail Comm. ttee that attorneys for the Re
publicanH, Democrats and Independent ;
| confer together on the subject of keeping
Tie polls open after the regular hour o.
| closing-o o'clock-or providing more
booths, Goes NOT strik" the leaders OF the
| democrats and Independents Just r!gh:.
They are a tritle shy of meeting the Re
l?hblican' in legal conference. AS Cpi-
onel Mccarthy of the Democratic Cen
trial Committee, expressed 1t yesterday
afternoon. I'VE don't know what the Re
IpNbllcanS have up their sleeves and We
want time to think the matter over"
| Chairman Kennedy of the Republica
| Executive Committee said yesterday that
while the Republican Committee had not
passed formal resolution requesting a
conference with the representatives, of the
democrats and independents, yet thay
eiieved that such conference would hc
for the good OF all. as all parties were
undoubtedly DESTROYS of polling all Their
votes.
| Robert Wilcox, for the Independents.
laid tha, they had received word from
the Republican Central Committee of the
dc2irability of a conference. and had
considered the matter. Kaulia had been
Instructed to talk it over with the Demo
Icrats. AMI had gone to Democratic head
quarters for that purpose. Colburn and
| kaulla had agreed to abide by whatever
The Government or Secretary Cooper DO
lciied on. They didn't care one way or
| me other. If the polls were open after
l n oil px ha,r y.tlI L t,,lr
closed on time, we'll and good. Wilcox
said thar they We're confident Of carrying
Oahu, Hawaii. Kauai. Molokai. Lanr
Maui ana all the other Islands. and their
voters We're early risers.
kaulia agreed to meet the Democrat
Committee at o'clock. said Colonel Nc.
,nrthy for the Democrats. and did not
show up. They had had a meeting aud
had discussed the subject carefully AMI
lad concluded to wait
There are several days yet before cleo
| ton" said Mccarthy, land we will think
il all over slowly. The Republicans may
have something up their sleeves. and we
don't know what 1t is"
| Lorrn Andrews, chairman of the Oaha
Board of Registration, was asked IDS
opinion on the matter. He said. This
morning ! spoke to Secretary Cooper IN
regard to his decision as to extending the
voting hours. He Is undoubtedly SINGER .
IN his belief that the time can be extend
"a without invalidating the election. am
unable to agree with him.
| Careful study of the authorities show
me no legal basis for his belief In the
first place, the question of what are man
datory provisions of the present Hawaii
an election law and what are directory
provisions might differ with anyone's In
| depreciation.
zone OF Secretary Cooper's authorities
Parrin against Weinberg. in the Indiana
Reports. volume 100, page 561-holds tha:.
| III statute provides that certain things
snail be done within a certain time an I
does not declare their performance shall
| 'e essential TO the validity of the election
| hey Will be regarded as manda tory II
| they affCct the merits OF the election
! Certainly an extension of time within
| 5hlch to vote, when our statute distinctly
rays the hours SHALL be from s until
clock affects the merits of the cleo
| ion. In none of the decisions cited bV
GecrctarY Cooper IL the question OF time
an element cwcep. In the New York d.
,islon. whcl~he states Is his strongest
Authority. In that the law was that thu
polls should be open from sunrise to sun
set, no hours being mentioned. and the
Court held that ms no hours were mem
toned. md rs sunrise and sunset varied
with the seasons, the lapse of few min
utes between sunset ard darkness would
not inyal,date an election.
THE only decisions that know OF "
nm able Ia fnd In the United States WHORE
an election had been declared To he valid
after an extension OF tho voting time 3
where "a IKE lnw-that IL, "A sunrise To
sunset qualification as to tlme-prevailed
md reyer where there IL distinct pro-
vision IN the Organic Act that the polls
shall close az a certain hour Moreover,
a. there II special provision that In
certain eases the polls may be- closed he
! ORE that hour and none EXTENDING
tie time, I do not see how any provision
tuld be- more mandatory than the sef-
ton as ~ The tins for the openinf ami
siosing - the polls"
yfddO JACOHaER's PLAN