The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-17
NINTH WARD VOTES
ARE TAMPER[D WITH
Referees in Judaeship Contest
Discover Crooked Work in
Seventh Precinct

Ten Democratic ballots. all evident
ly marked for O'Brien and one other
candidate for judge, and later appar-
emily tampered with, were found in the
ballot box of the Seventh precinct Of
the Ninth ward in the Hallam- 'Brien
contest yesterday.
While the ballots in this precinct
were of the same fraudulent .charac-
cinct of the Seventh ward, there was
one distinction of note Instead of the
judges counting these particular votes
for O'Brien, to have them thrown out
by the referees, the tally sheets and
returns show that the alleged fraud
was perpetrated before the ballots had
been counted.
This left the returns of the precinct
on the recount practically as they were
received by the county canvassing
board, but it was clearly evident that
the ten votes had been intended for
O'Brien. AS in the Second precinct of
the Seventh, where the twenty seven
! votes We're for Hallam, it was evident
in this instance that the ten persons
had intended to vote for O'Brien and
that the marking of the third or coun-
terfeit x had enabled the election
judges to throw out the ballots.
- VOTES Are MOT heTSfreQ
Realizing that it will be useless to
refer such ballots to the court and ex-
pect favorable decision, in the alb
sence of absolute evidence of fraud,
Charles A. Hart, acting for the per-
sons making the O'Brien contest,
waived his right to have these votes
referred. Along with the other fraud
ulent votes, however, these ballots will
be sent to the grand jury that an eff
fort may be made to trace the respon-
sibility.
An inspection of the back of the bal
lots in this instance showed plainly
the extra mark or marks. While the
one or two legitimate marks were ap-
parently made on hard surface, the
second, in a few instances, and the
third in all instances was made on a
soft surface. The counterfeit x can in
each instance be easily distinguished,
being more apparent than in the case
of the Second precinct of the Seventh
| ward.
In the recount of the precinct, with
out considering the ten ballots invali
dated by the extra mark, Hallam made
a loss of three and O'Brien one. But
two unquestioned O'Brien ballots were
referred to the court, making a clear
gain of fifteen for O'Brien if the in
validated votes were considered, and
! a net gain of five without considering
them. About half the number of votes
were cast in this precinct as in the
Second of the Seventh, and the fraud
apparently perpetrated is fully as great
in extent as the one that attracted so
much attention when discovered when
the ballot box of the Second precinct
OF the Seventh ward was investigated
The judges of the Seventh precinct
of the Ninth ward, in which the dis
covery of yesterday was made, were
M. L.. Hahn, l.. w. Fetsch and James
| L. Brennan. The regular clerks were
| L. Ascher and F. J. Lambrecht.
Mistakes in the Third
Although the recount of the Third
precinct Of the Ninth ward showed a
peculiar result it could hardly be
charged to dishonesty. AS compared
with official returns Hallam lost six
votes and O'Brien lost nine, making a
clear difference of fifteen from the Off
cial returns. In ordinary recounts this
feature would have attracted some at
| tention, but in view Of the startling
revelations that have occurred the in
cident was passed over as having no
| Significance.
The referees made the most notable
| speed yesterday that has resulted dur
| ing the recount. A total of fifteen pre-
| cincts were counted, making it ap-
parent that the work of the contest
will be almost complete when today's
| sessions are over. So far as the un-
| contested ballots were concerned
| O'Brien lost eleven votes, although
| there were almost that number ballots
| that will doubtless be counted for
| O'Brien that were referred.
According to the best estimate that
can be made Hallam is now in the
| lead by about fifty votes, showing that
his election is assured unless another
| tremendous change should be made in
one of the precincts that are to be
counted. This is not expected, of
course, although the count will be pro-
| ceeded with. Barring such discoveries
| Hallam's election is conceded.