The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-04-09

0x4MGl LIZA w.
The North Dakota primary election
law at section 4 provides that a petit
tiop signed by "five per cent of total
vote cast for the party which it rep
resents" etc. and therein provides
that said petition shall be presented
receipt of such petition and the pay
I ment to him Of an amount equal to
two per cent Of annual salary" ETC.,
the county auditor shall file the same.
In the case of the state, VS.. Drepel,
105 N. w. ia, the supreme court Of
Nebraska in constituting clause which
provides for the payment of one per
cent of such salary, among other
things says:
The more serious objection to the
law, as we view the act as q whole, is
the requirement of section 5 with
reference to the fees to be paid by
those who become candidates for
office at the primaries therein provid-
ed for. It is declared that the fees
to be paid for filing nomination papers
shall be computed at per cent of
the emoluments authorized by law for
the office to which such candidate as
4pfres during the term for which he
would serve If elected. =" It
is to be observed that the amount thus
required to be paid before one can
have his name submitted to the voters
at such primary is fixed arbitrarily
and wholly regardless of the value of
the services performed in filing the
nomination papers. A person aspir-
ing to be nominated for clerk of the
district court would be required to
pay perhaps 5000; candidate for the
nomination of county clerk probably
$40; other candidates for county Of
fces different sums. ranging between
the two extremes. Is 1t competent for
the legislature to impose burdens OF
this character on those desiring to
become candidates for public offices,
the nominations for which come with
in the provisions of the primary law?
Can a test of ability to pay fees Of
the magnitude mentioned be made as
to ones right to be voted for at
primary election? 1t is at first glance
apparent that these enormous fees
prevent many from becoming candi-
dates for party recognition who other
wise would be willing to yield to a
public demand that they become can.
didates for nomination for public
Office. 1t is said the fees required to
be paid in the manner Stated are tor
the purpose of defraying the expenses
of the primary. It is not so stated ID
the act. 1t is expressly provided the
expenses of the primary are to be paid
out of the public treasury. It Is not,
therefore, required of us to pass upon
the question of the power Of the legis-
lature to require those submitting
their names to be voted for at prim-
AIRY to pay the expenses thereof It
appears from the act itself that there
is no relation sbetWeen the charges
made for filing nomination papers, as
therein provided, and the expenses an
cident to primary election, nor to
the value of the services rendered in
filing such pape,S. The charges are
arbitrary and unreasonable. They
make the pecuniary ability of person
to pay the same test as to his quail
fication to become candidate for
party nomination. The law is as OBJ
iectiOnable as if the test was based
on a property qualification, or the
! amount the elector had contributed to
the public revenues. The primary
election contemplated in the act may
not in and of itself be an election
within the meaning of the constitu-
tional provisions which guarantee that
"all elections shall be free; and there
shall be no hindrance or impediment
TO the right of d qualified voter to
exercise the elective franchise" Sec
tion %, art I, Const. 1t is however,
means to an end. 1t is part of the
election machinery by which is de-
termined who shall be permitted to
have their names appear on the Of
fetal election ballot as candidates for
public office.
To say that the voters are free to
exercise the elective franchise at a
general election for nominees, in the
choice of which unwarranted restric-
tions and hindrances were interposed,
would be hollow m0ckery. The right
to freely choose candidates for pub
lie Office is as valuable as the right
to vote for them after they are chosen.
Both these rights are safeguarded by
the constitutional guaranty of free
dom in the exercise of the elective
franchise. Says the supreme court of
Pennsylvania: 1.-THE Importance of
the relation of the primary to the
general elections must be apparent
Primary elections and nominating con-
yentions have now become part of
one great political system, and are
welded and united into 1t so firmly, as
to be difficult OF separation. The law
is as much an election law when it
strikes at the fraud in the primary
election as when 1t arrests the fraud
ulent ballot just as 1t Is ready to be
dropped into the box at the general
election" Leonard VS.. Commonwealth,
112 Pa. 607. 4 Att. 220. Nominations
y for public Office are to be. considered
Z in a dual aspect. There is involved,
first, the right of every eligible person
to be voted for by any elector who
desires to do SO, and, secbnd. the right
ssof each elector to exercise choice
among those who are eligible. "The
two rights may be protected by the
same legislation. but 1t is important