The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1910-07-02
BECAME effective.
PRIMARY LAW AND COMMISSION
GOVERNMENT ACT IN FORGE
JULY I.
important Provisions of Former That
viii Govern Voters in Sep
tember-Defects in
Latter Law.

OF lDe acts Indl were passed di Tue
special session of the assembly with
out the emergency clauses.
Nineteen acts were passed by the
; special session which convened Dec,
II, 1909. and adjourned March 2,
1910, but the greater part of them
! we're emergency legislation and be-
! came effective upon being signed by
I, the governor
i The new direct primary legislation
is in two separate acts. One. the
lIamilton-Staymate measure, or the
big act, gives direct plurality pri-
tmaries on state. congressional coun-
lty and judicial offices. The second,
known as the Gibson little" law ap-
plies to legislative nominations. In
their entirety the two laws are al
most a. replica OF the old Oglesby act
which was knocked out by the su-
.preme court last spring, the flaws
pointed out by the court, however,
having been patched up. The legis-I
latiye nominations are considered the
vulnerable part OF any primary law
THAT could be framed so they were
wrapped up in separate package in
the hope that, no matter what the
courts might do the small act, the
main act would stand
Main Features.
The general outlines of the main
measure are as follows:
& II gives mechanical direct plural
ity primary to candidates for all
state, congressional, judicial. county
city and village officers and sanitary
district trustees. but not to univer-
sity trustees Ton which there is wom4
an suffrage). nor to presidential cleo.
tors, nor town or school district Off
GERS.
Primaries OF all parties are to be
held on the same day
This year the primaries are to be
held September Is.
Judges and. clerks Of regular cleo
ton polling places are to be used,
An advisory vote on United States
senator is provided for, the vote cast
throughout the state to be taken asI
the basis OF instructions.
In each precinct each party elects
q precinct committeeman The pre-
cinct committeeman in county make
up the county convention, which
chooses delegates to state and con
gressional conventions. which in turn
nominate presidential electors and
choose national delegates.
In each congressional district each
party elects state committeeman.
Go On Ballot Mechanically.
I Candidates for office go upon the
ballot by petition and candidates get;
ting plurality Of the. vote cast gol
mechanically upon the election bal
lots
To vote at a primary electors must
declare their party affiliations.
Registration is required where
there are election boards, but vote s
not registered may vote by filing att
davites with the election board TWEEN
ty days before the primaries.
After the primaries, Sept. Is. al
voter cannot vote at the primaries i'll
he has voted at the primaries OF au-
other party within two years. He
cannot vote this time II he signs the
|petition Of a candidate of party
with which he does not affiliate or i'll
he signs the nomination papers OF an
independent candidate for an office
to be filled at the election.
The little" act in substance pro
vides:
Candidates for the general assem-
Ibly shall be nominated and sena-
torial committeeman shall be elected
under a method similar to that fol
tlowed in the main act.
Each voter may cast three votes
Tor one candidate or may distribute
the votes between two or among
three candidates.
/ Flaws in Commission Act.
/ The commission form of govern.
ment act is regarded as more OF On
opening wedge than anything else.
and the probability is that 1t would
have to be amended before any Hi
nois municipalities vote to adopt it
III Is applicable to all cities al vii
ages and incorporated towns outside
tChicago 1t provides that the voters
Iof any municipality by special cleo
ton may vote to abolish the present
system Of government and to come
lunder the commission form, mayor
and four commissioners to govern.
In its passage through the assembly
several flaws were slipped in, the
main faults OF the measure being:
An initiative section so worded
that, IT Is argued, 10 per cent OF the
voters and the commission could
pass public utility ordinance.
| A section that appears to provide
that the old officers elected under the
present system shall go out of office
Thirty days before the commission
| elected under the new scheme goes
Unto office