Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1910-10-13
80 PER CENT CLAUSE
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
DECISION OF THE SUPREME
COURT ON THAT MUCH DIS
CUSSED QUESTION OF
THE PRIMARY ELEC-
TION LAW

Politicians candidates for office
and citizens generally have been
! looking forward with considerable
interest to the decision of the state
supreme court in what is known as
the thirty per cent case. The courts
decision was announced late Saturday
afternoon at Bismarck, and the de-
cision holds that the thirty per cent
clause is unconstitutional. The re-
suit is that wherever there is one or
more candidates who received num-
ber of democratic votes, but not e.
nough to equal thirty per cent of the
democratic vote cast for secretary
Of state at the general election two
years ago, the candidate having the
highest number of votes may have
his name printed on the democratic
ballot this fall. If there is only
one candidate, having less than the
thirty per cent, his name will be
printed on the official democratic bal
lot.
The decision is favorable to the
democratic candidates around the
state, many of whom did not receive
the necessary 80 per cent. The deci-
sion will not increase the size of the
ballot as some have imagined but will
allow the names of numerous demo-
cratic candidates to be printed on the
ballot, and will no doubt change the
results of the election in many in
stances, in various counties Of the
state.
The case was brought to test the
constitionality of the thirty per cent
clause of the primary law, the case
coming up from Cavalier county and
was brought by candidate for coun-
ty auditor who received BAL votes
when the necessary thirty per cent
would require 345 votes. He asked
that the auditor of the county be
mandamused by the court to compel
him to place the name Of the candi-
date on the official ballot The case
was argued at Grand Forks, in the
interests of the above candidate by
Attorneys Engerud and Dickson.
The court held that in view of the
practical operation of the law during
the past two years the standard pro-
vided by the primary law for determ-
lining the party strength, this year was
unreasonable and fallacious; and on
that account the thirty per cent pro-
vision of the law, not having uni
form operation, in the state, was un-
constitutional and void.
The decision will not affect any
other part of the primary law.
1t is not given out how the judges
stood on the decision, which has not
yet been handed down and will pos
sibly not be for some little time. The
court took the view that the thirty
per cent clause requiring that per-
centage of the vote for the office of
secretary of state was not fair
standard by which to measure party
strength. The intent of the primary
law is to require a certain repre-
sentation of party voters to take e.
nough interest in the party principles
and candidates to appear and register
such presence at the polls. It has
been charged freely that many demo-
|crats participated in the republican
primaries and voted for republican
candidates. This Of course the court
had no proof concerning, and took no
cognizance Of, but never the less it
is known that any person can vote
for the Office of secretary of state
and IL democrats voted for other re-
publican candidates they might vote
for the republican candidate for sec
retary Of state also. This would not
give a fair test Of the democratic
candidates support.