The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-10-30
common
SENSE LAW
The Governor Strongly
Advocates Strict
Inspection.

COMMON sense Is the authority
| Governor Carter exclaimed with EN-
! phasis when one of the lawyers aske'
f! him. at the meeting of election in
| spectors, to quote law for his position
What the Governor was driving at
against a bunch of lawyers. was il
/ effect that the inspectors of election
were judges of the qualifications O.
voters, having the duty of preventing
anybody from voting whom they knew
| did not have the right to vote.
| If the inspectors knew that mar
| who came up to vote had not been {
| resident for the time required by law
or that he had lost his civil right:
| through conviction for crime between
| the time he was registered and election
| day, or had registered under false
statements of qualification, they should
| not allow him to vote.
90 a fair ballot and a straight count,
was the Governor s keynote.
The Governor s contention was sup,
ported by Attorney General Peters, as
well as by several inspectors of much
experience in the Office
Abram Lewis, Jr., headed a contrary
position, backed by E. A. Mott-Smith,
and, to some extent, Louis Warren,
these attorneys holding that the office
of inspector was a purely ministerial
one. They argued that the inspectors
could not go behind the official lists of
voters prepared by the Board of Regis
tration, and that if the right of the
owner of name on the register to
vote was challenged the inspectors
would have to refer the case to the
Board of Registration.
Nothing was said about what might
be done respecting any such disputes
over purported voters IN distant pre-
cincts, on the other side of the island
for instance, as the Board of Registra-
ton sits in the Secretary Office on
election day to straighten out errors
that may be discovered on the register
at the city polls.
The argument of the opponents of
the judicial theory seemed to run on
the sole qualification of a voter in
stead of being one of several in the
law, and the emphasis that was laid on
the strict letter of the rules in the
hands of the speakers appeared to place
that little pamphlet above the Organic
Act in authority.
However, the DIRECTORS at last re
luctantly gave up, when the Attorney
General had stated his readiness to
put his opinion in writing for the in
struction of the inspectors
So much time was consumed in set
thing that particular point that the
of other questions were
rather hurried.
Governor Carter with pad of sam !
pie ballots in hand elected the views
of inspectors on various forms of MAX
ing the \ which had caused disputes
in the past. The general sense was
that any variation from a print stand
ard which was not obviously intended
for identification should not invalidate
the ballot.
An inspector having asked if it was
lawful for a voter to carry a sample
ballot into the booth, the answer was
general that there was no law to pre-
vent one from doing so. Governor Car
er on this point thought the inspectors,
f they suspected a ballot about being
deposited to be bogus, had right to
hold the ballot up to the light to see
f it bore the water mark proving it's
commences. The thing to be avoided,
he starting of an endless chain of
fxed'' ballots with one genuine bal
OF taken outside of the booth, was i'm
,ortant enough to require such testing
# any suspicious looking ballot.
Nj. Peters, however, held that the
Inspectors could not handle ballots any
more than was necessary to see If two
we're not folded together.
There followed a chorus of voices
aying the watchers should be able to
prevent any false ballot depositing.
The meeting was held in the Secre-
airy s office yesterday afternoon. Gov
,rnor Carter informally presided and
'hief Clerk BuckIand had all the ex-
libits on hand which were required for
About forty inspectors
we're in attendance
Some merriment was raised now and
hen. The Governor was answering
question about allowing inspectors on
uty in other than their own precincts
cave of absence long enough to cast
heir votes. He spoke of the chance of
lack hours. and instancing lunch time,
aid:
IAN inspector may go to a house
cross the street for glass of milk, {
r a glass of beer-oh, no, ] must not
ay that he suddenly checked him 1
elf with hand over mouth. :
The subtle alIusion to campaign ,
caused an instant roar ,
f laughter from Republicans and
Democrats alike. 7
While Archhishon Trench vas dean