The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1908-08-14
SECRETARY CRITICISED.
Democrats of the State Discussing
the Action of Secretary Wipf.

The refusal of State Secretary
Wipf to file the names of the demo-
cratic candidates for office, who were
nominated by the state convention
at Rapid City, to fill vacancies that
We're occasioned by, no candidates
being up for nomination on the pri-
mary ballot, is causing no end of
comment in democratic circles, and
no doubt accords republicans salts
faction. The section of the law I'M
der which Secretary Wipf rules as
he does is as follows:
Section ~. Vacancies, How Filled
-lf for any reason after nomina-
ton as a party candidate for an cleo
tive office has been made or party
committeeman elected, as provided in
this act, vacancy shall occur, the
state or county committee of the po-
lltlcal party as the case may be, in
which the vacancy occurs, is hereby
authorized to fill the same. Provided,
that party candidates for nomination
to fill the vacancy at any special ell
ectlon called to elect a member OF
congress or member of the legis-
lature caused by the death of such
member, or by any other event shall
be nominated in the same manner as
herein provided, except that in such
cases the time and place for holding
the primaries and convention shall
be fixed by the several party COM
mittees.
They are those who express the be-
lief that 1t was possibly an oversight
that no provision was made for all
lowing the state convention to fill
in the ticket where no names for
state office were filed for the primary
ballot, but the majority are of the
opinion that no oversight was com
mitted, and that the Injunction is
to encourage political parties to get
In at the primary election, or not at
all, thus preventing one party from
waiting until it sees whom the other
party has put up, and then going in
to convention and selecting men spe-
officially for the purpose of defeating
one or more candidates of the oppo-
sltlon, without the aim in view of
electing the ticket from ton to bot
tom.
Only one other section of the pri-
mary law has to do with the matter
OF vacancies and nominations-se
ton Ga portion Of which reads as
follows:
In all cases where no candidate
receives as high as thirty per cent of
the total vote cast by the voters in
his party for all the candi-
dates for the same Office for which
he is candidate, no nomination
shall result, Dut such candidates
snail submit to the decision of the
following state or county convention
as the case may be. Such conyen-
ton must decide among the candi-
dates whose names were submitted
to the voters at the primary and
cannot consider new candidates.
But while there is some contention
with regard to state conventions
ming vacancies, the county tickets
Will not suffer where the conventions
took action instead Of leaving va
cancies to be filled by the county
central committee. Section 66S reads
as follows:
All county conventions held I'M
der the provisions of section ~ of
this act shall have authority, in adj
dition to that of making nominations
IN cases where no candidate for coun-
ty office before the primary received
thirty per cent of the vote, to fill va
caused by failure of
candidates to file nomination petit
tons or by Withdrawals, death or
any other reason and to pass party
In some counties it has been taken
for granted that the county central
could deal with vacancies
but there is no provision in the South
Dakota primary law for such action.
The conventions must do business. If
done at ALL