Mower County transcript., 1902-09-10
APPLY lAW
From the Minneapolis journal.

1llz - IL Es1y1 @5. &
From the Minneapolis Journal. q .s .a 5aFEs
& One Of the provisions Of the primary
election law which is now evoking
much discussion and difference Of
opinion as to its application in practice
is that which directs that tho voter
shall receive "a ballot Of the political
party with which he then declares (un-
der oath, If his right thereto is chal-
Elenged) that he affiliated, and whose
candidates he generally supported at
the last general election, and with
which party he proposes to affiliate at
the next election. %@.r. ssss :=s .=:..-z
This provision was designed to meet
one of the most generally made crit
icisms of the Hennepin county primary
law, viz, that it placed no obstacle in
the way of democrats nominating re-
publlcans and vice versa. ;:ss !. S. I
It, was and is widely and justly felt
that only members of party are en-
titled to participate in the selection Of
it's candidates for Office. It is true that
under the Hennepin law the voter re-
ceived the ballots of both parties and
that under the new law he is to receive
only one. But if he were not required
to make statement of party afi1ation
before receiving that ballot there
would be nothing to prevent democrats
taking and voting republican primary
tickets ~: @>e-:-
T.. It is also true that the law if strictly
applied, will keep an honest and sincere
convert from voting the. primary ticket
Of his new party and also of his old
party. In. fact it disfranchises him 30
far as the primary election is con-
cerned. ~ sz.& ~~*< j.
If the voter counts himself repub-
lican,a but scratched" to such an ex-
tent two years ago that he voted for
more democrats than republicans he
must, if,he is perfectly honest, vote the
democratic ticket at the primary this
year and announce his intention to
vote it at the final election, if he votes
at the primary at all; :. :. 2
At first glance it seems unfair and
unjust to exclude any voter from the
primary election privilege.
But the primary is a party affair,
merely placed under state regulation
by the new law.
The republican primary ticket is for
republicans and the democratic for
democrats. A &% s
If a man changes his politics let him
give evidence Of his change Of filth by
his works. AS noyitiate he can hard
ly expect to exercise the privilege of an
old member before he has undergone
probation.
1t is very essential that party lines be
maintained in primary elections. For
if they are not, the party feeling will
eventually assert itself in the destruc-
tion Of the new system.
AS the spirit and the letter Of the law
are in perfect accord it is plainly the
duty of election judges not to give a
voter a ballot until they have ascer-
tanned to their satisfaction that he is
asking for the ballot of the party which
he generally supported at the last cleo.
tion and which he intends to support
at the approaching election. Only by
such vigilance on the part of the judges
and if need be Of party challengers can
the new law be given fair test and
such perversions of it avoided as that
which permitted the democrats to help
make Ames the republican candidate
for mayor two years ago.