The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-12-13
TO WRITE new
PRIMARY Law
REP. vERDIER OF GRAND RAPIDS
HAS MANY PLANS FOR MAX
ING ACT MORE EF-
FECTlVE.

Representative Leonard ID. Verdiel
OF Grand Rapids, will tackle the bip
Job or writing a new primary law ion
Michigan at the coming session of the
legislature. Every session sees a new
law enacted, and IL is admitted IL is
TAR from perfect yet. Mr. Verdier be-
lleVes he can see the weak points in
the present instrument clearly enough
to warrant his tackling the task. and
has declared his determination To dc
so.
One fundamental idea Of Mr.. Verdier
Is that the primary election should be
made as nearly like the general cleo
ton as possible. He believes, too that
there Is no necessity for the law being
so lengthy. He would separate the
various departments into separate
acts. For instance. he would have one
act tell the methods of election only.
Another would deal with the corrupt
practices and still another would deal
with enrolment and registration. BY
thus splitting up the present lengthy
law into three shorter acts he believes
IL would all be more ineligible and
more easily understood by all inter
ested
Mr.. Verdier would have the primary
election on Monday rather than on
Tuesday as now He thinks this would
enable travelling men to vote, where
now most of them go away on their
trips Monday morning and cannot
come back for the purpose of voting
Tuesday. He would also remove the
primary election in the fall from Labor
day, which it is admitted seriously in
terfered with the last state primary
and was largely responsible for the
light vote.
In making the primary law as nearly
as possible like the general election
law he would provide that the hours
for voting would be the same for both
primary and general election.
New Plan of Enrolment.
Another radical change would be in
the matter of enrolment. Mr.. Ver-
der accepts the plan of permitting
anybody to register and to enroll
whenever he chooses, at the city clerks
office, except for a period of, perhaps.
60 or 80 days Immediately preceding
the election.
Instead of making is necessary for
voters to go to the polls two or three
times in the year to enroll and regis
ter, he would thus make it possible for
voter to enroll or register whenever
he chooses, and at the city clerks Of
flee where legible books could be kept.
But the books should be done away
with. He would have the enrolment
kept by card index, so that when a
man changes his residence his card
could upon application be taken from
r1 ell In oil in,
other. This would do away with the
rapidly growing and cumbersome
books at present kept, and which are
filled with Implications and names of
dead persons.
He would have these cards so mr.
ranged in sectional boxes that they
could be easily transferred to the poll
ing places on election day, and if a
man were challenged his enrolment
could easily be looked up. Moreover.
the cards would be written in a hand
that could be read and not as the |
books are in many instances now writ |
ten, so that nobody can read them.
Mr.. Verdier also has an unique
scheme for giving each man a dupli-
cate of the card. which it would be
necessary only to present at the polls
when he asked his ballot, and would
be prima facie evidence that he was
He would have on this card
he mans personal signature and al
SO on the official card index his per
'onal signature, so that in case of
controversy the man could be asked
% sign his name and it would be easy
o distinguish whether the signature Is
genuine or not
These matters, If written into the
aw as Mr.. Verdier proposes to do,
would doubtless clarity the present law
greatly and would make more work.
lbe the principle which is so firmly
established in Michigan. The task
Mr.. Verdier admits, is a big one, but
lie is going to tackle it and believes
he can accomplish much toward maxi
NO the primary law effective.