The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1909-11-09
The Bordentown Case

The case of the refusal of the Demo-
cratic members of the Bordentown board
of election to register or receive the votes
of certain men living in that township was
again brought to notice on Thursday As
was reported in last weeks News, several
colored men appeared before Judge Hor-
neT on Monday of last week and, after
being examined by him were given GER
tifcates on which they were entitled to
be registered. Other certificates of like
nature had been issued by the County
Board of Elections on the previous Sat-
urday.
When the men went to vote on Tuesday
the Democratic members of the local
Board refused to receive their ballots, so
they were brought before the court and
after a thorough investigation, Judge
Horner issued orders that entitled the men
to vote. These orders were addressed to the
Board of Registry and Election of the
Township of Bordentown, and read as
follows: "The Court of Common Pleas In
and for the County of Burlington hereby
certifes that -- has applied In person
to said Court, and the Court having in
quired whether such person is entitled to
vote In said election district at the general
election to be held November 2, 1909, and
1t appearing that said person is registered
and that his vote has been refused or re-
jected by the District Board of Election
therein. and the Court being of the opinion
that such person is entitled to vote In such
election district, it does hereby certify,
under Its seal, that such person Is entitled
to vote therein, and for that purpose de-
livers this certificate to such person, pur-
suant to the statute in such case made and
provided; and the Board of Registry and
Election is hereby directed to receive and
file this certificate and to allow such per-
son to vote at such election"
The last few words of this order by the
Court would seem to be sufficient for any
reasonable man, but the Bordentown
Board appears to have been higher than
the Court and refused to allow the votes
to be cast. The action of Judge Horner
in granting the order was under section
305 of the election law, and section 3O8 of
the same law says that eff any board of
registry and election or any member Their
of, shall fail or refuse to comply with the
order of the said court made in any pro-
ceeding taken under this act, such refusal
to so comply may be dealt with and pun
ished as for contempt of court.
Just before the voters had reached the
court house there was a telephone call
from Bordentown and the voice purported
to be that of Mr.. Murphy, one of the in
spectors of election. He said that some
colored men had hurried toward Mount
Holly in automobiles and wanted to know
what it meant He was given the infor-
nation and then he asked what course the
board had best follow. The man at the
Mount Holly end of the telephone replied
that he had no advice to offer. that the
election board ought to know its duty and
the law, and ought to act accordingly.
The men who were given orders by the
court were taken back to Bordentown In
, time to vote. but when they reached the
polling place there had either been some
advice given or the Democrat members of
the board had received new ideas, for they
declined to accept the orders or the votes
and seven of the men were DISTINGUISHED.
The Republican members insisted upon a
vote and wrote a minute of the affair on
the register. " Claude Palmer visited Bor-
dentown, on Wednesday, and after care
fully investigating the case, decided that
there were just grounds for asking for a
rule to show cause why the election board
Of Bordentown township should not be
brought forward on the charge of contempt
of court. This request was granted and
the rule was made returnable next Thurs
day The entire board will be compelled
to appear and each one will be given a
chance to purge himself of contempt.
This is very serious matter and 1t is
not likely to stop on the present proceed
ings. There appears to be evidence that
there was wilful refusal to register voters
and to receive their ballots and this is an
indictable offence. This phase of the
situation will be taken up later.