Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-12-28
Can Not Be Used at Primary
Election, According to At
torney General
ON ANNOUNCEMENTS
Possible That Law Will Be Interpreted
in a Way to Prevent General Use
of Newspaper Advertising by Can
didates-SeveraI Phases of Primary
Need Interpretation.
Special to r,mes-repupllcan.

Special to Tlmes-repuplican.
Des Moines. Dec. 2S.-The attorney
generals office thru George Cosson,
assistant attorney general, has given
the opinion that voting machines can
not be used in the coming primary
election The law as to voting ma
chimes provided that they can be used
in all elections including primary cleo
tions but the attorney general holds
that the primary election law makes
this impossible. Some little inquiry
was made and 1t was discovered that
there is no voting machine in exis-
tence that will register so as to show
the full ticket that any one man has
voted The primary election law pro-
vides that Il voter going to the polls
must be given the ballot OF his party.
If he is republican he can vote at
the primary only for republican can
didates. If democrat he can vote
only for democratic candidates
There is no voting machine made
that is so arranged that voter at
primary can vote only for men OF one
party. All the voting machines are
arranged so as to be used for the gen.
-eral elections, at which time the voter
has the privilege of scratching ana
can vote for members of all political
parties. There is only one way in
which the voting machines could be
used at primary election and that
would be to have a machine for eacA
political party. Since this is entirely
impractical because of the machines
being SO expensive, voting machines
cannot be used at the primary cleo
ton.
1t is more than likely that before
the day of the primary election ar
rives, Attorney General Byers will be
called upon to give an exhaustive opln-
ion on number of other phases OF
the primary election law. Among these
is the expenditure of money. 1t mas
been taken for granted by politicians
that they could spend as much money
on newspaper advertising as they
wished and many of the county news
papers have been rubbing their hands
with glee and the thought of the r1cn
harvest in advertising they were soon
to come into when the campaign got
fully started.
one of the best versed men Of the
state, a state official. stated today
that his Interpretation of the law
limited candidate to a bare an
nouncement of his candidacy in
newspaper and to only one announce
ment in each newspaper. 1t has been
supposed that a mans friends could
spend as much money as they wished
in the interests of their friend. This
officials says not.
The paragra phi Of the primary cleo
ton law, which covers this matter Is
paragraph 80 and reads as follows:
"Any person who shall agree to per-
form any services in the interests or
any candidate in consideration of any
money or other valuable thing, or who
shall accept any money or other Valu-
able thing, for such services performed
in the interests of any candidate, or
any person paying or offering to pay
or giving or offering to give. money
or other valuable thing, for such serv-
ices shall be punished by fine of not
more than $500 or by Imprisonment IN
the county Jail, not exceeding ninety
days, but nothing herein shall be con-
strued to prohibit any person from
making contracts in good faith for the
announcement of his candidacy in the
newspapers and for securing the names
of voters required to file preliminary
nominations, papers and the payment
of any reasonable compensation for
such services"
Il is pointed out that the paragraph
is as broad as 1t would be possible to
draw it. 1t does not limit the matter
to the candidate at all. If a person is
prohibited from performing or agree
ing to perform services for hire in the
interests of candidate he is pro-
hibited alike from making any such
contract with candidate or any 9TH
er person. Then can a candidate hire
a stenographer to write his letters?
Some of the candidates are already
sending out printed matter. Some
newspaper printed the matter for hire
ing an announcement.
Or course the primary electlon law
in the very nature of this paragraph
prohibits any candidate from buying
up the columns Of a newspaper to the
exclusion Of all other candidates or to
the exclusion of any other candidate.
But can candidate, accompany his
announcement in the columns Of
with a full page advertise
ment containing carefully prepared
arguments for the selection Of this