Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1903-12-10
The opinion OF The court by CHIEF

Justice FTear says in part.
This is a proceeding to contest the
election for officers of the County of
Oahu held on the third day of Novem-
berthe first election under Act 81 Of
the Laws of 1908, commonly known as
the County Act. One of the respond
ents demurred and most Of the others
fled pleas to the jurisdiction of this
court. The remainder were given leave
to answer If the jurisdiction of the
court should be sustained.
The laws on the subject OF elections
in this Territory are in general: %
the provisions Of the Organic Act upon
that subject; 90 the rules and regula-
tions for holding elections &C.. L., APP
pendiX specifically continued in force.
with certain notifications by Section
"a of the Organic Act (3) Act S OF the
Laws of 1915, as amended by Act II
OF the Laws of 1896, (relating to cleo
ton frauds and contests) continued in
force by the general terms Of Section
b Of the Organic Act, I'm so far as II is
not inconsistent with the Constitution
VI lshNo VI Nht NllNtN oNuNto VI Nht
Organic Act; and "a the provisions of
the County Act, above mentioned, upon
the subject of elections. consisting
mainly of Sections 427-i7O of that Act,
which in general purport to make
previously existing laws, with various
notifications, applicable to county
elections.
| This proceeding is brought under
Section and following sections Of
Act Of the Laws OF lS94-5 &c. L..
Sec. 1892 ct seqD in so far as those
sections are made applicable TO county
elections by the terms of the County
Act. There are two portions of the
latter Act that bear upon the question
The first is Chapter SO entitled Con
tests" and is portion of Title I,
which relates to county elections in
general. II consists of two sections, as
follows:
| Section 454. Save as herein other
wise provided, any candidate for any
County Office may contest any election
therefor in the manner provided by
law.
Section i55. In all contests rela-
tive to County officers. the petition re-
Quired by law to be filled in the Su-
preme Court shall be filed in the Cir
cult Court in such County, and such
Circuit Court shall have such juris-
diCtion relative to such contests as is
given to the Supreme Court by law.
II shall report its findings and judg-
ment relative thereto to the Board of
Supervisors of the County, which shall
have the same powers relative thereto
as are by law vested in the Minister
OF the Interior"
II is clear that these sections fur
nish no authority for this proceeding,
because, among other reasons. the pc
tition is brought by thirty voters, not
10y a candidate as required by Section
Asa. and II brought in the Supreme
Court, not in the Circuit Court as re-
,quired by Section ass.
/ The other portion of the County Act
bearing upon the question consists of
Sections 465-iG6. which are portion
OF Chapter SO lin Title 81, which pro-
vides for this first election under the
County Act. These sections read as
follows:
, Section iG5. All OF the provisions
of law relating to general elections
are hereby declared to be applicable
to such election.
Section 46G. All of the provisions
OF law are hereby declared to he ap.
pliCable to such election, except that
all records or information thereby re.
IQuired to be forwarded to any sheriff,
shall instead be forwarded TO the Sec
rotary of the Territory"
The first question naturally suggest
ed by those sections is whether the
provisions of law" which they make
applicable to this first election refer
to or include the provisions contained
In the County Act itself upon the sub
ject OF elections in general or relate
solely to the provisions of law previ-
ously in force upon the subject of cleo
tions. II they relate to the provisions
In the County Act itself they include
the provisions of Sections 454-455,
dDbNt set lOIll' III WHICH Cdst tue
latter provisions would require con-
tests as to the first election as well as
&c elections in general under this Act
to be instituted only by candidates and
only in the Circuit Courts. But in our
opinion the provisions OF law" men
toned, refer only TO provisions previ-
ously in force. This would be natural
The next question is whether. II the
words provision Of law" in sections
465-466 refer solely to the laws pre-
viOusly in force relating to Territorial
elections, there are any such laws pro
yiding for contests of this kind that
could be made applicable to county
elections. There are two provisions
that are relied on.
Whether any portion Of said Section
100 remains in force or not We need
not undertake to say, but in our opin
ion the provision therein relating to