Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1911-05-25
One Hundred and Fifty Wit
nesses to Give Testimony
in Ballot Scandal
THE JURY IS SECURED
Nixon and Taylor Make Opening State
ments and Several Officials
Are On the Stand.

1t required nearly all of yesterday
10 secure a jury to try the First Ward
Election fraud cases, which were
called in the Jefferson circuit colrt
and which will probably be on FOR
several days. One hundred and fiji
ty witnesses we're sworn, including
more than one hundred voters from
the First ward, who have supplied
District Attorney Nixon with affidav-
its. declaring that they voted for Nixon
In the primary election in this coun.
ty on March 80, 1911. After the jury
was completed, a number of WITNESSES
will be resumed this morning at 8
o'clock. The circuit court was
crowded and it is expected that inter-
est will increase as the hearing pro-
ceeds.
William Miller, DIR. S. D. Wilson,
John H. Dellmon and Jack Kerwin ar
the defendants. They are being tried
Jointly on indictments charging them
with falsifying the RETURNS of the pri-
mary, and other indictments, involv-
ing similar charges and perjury are
pending against them. Fully fifty
local citizens were examined before
the jury was secured. All of the de-
PENDANTS were in coure with their at
torneys, S. NJ. Taylor, w. D. Jones and
S. J. Hunt.
Members of the county election
board, county officials and others gave
testimony during the afternoon. Those
who testified we're: County Clerk J.
H. Shelby, Deputy County Clerk
George w. Lindsay, Deputy Circuit
Clerk A. M. Barrow Jr., Chairman Joe
P. Alexander and Secretary F. H.
Walker, of the Board of Election Com
m~issioners; Magistrate J. A. Frazier,
Gabe Meyer, foreman of the jury that
indicted the defendants; Arthur Muir
ray, W. c. Hudson, cashier of The
Bank of Pine Bluff and custodian of
the tainted ballot box" and Arthur
Murray, member of the special COM
mittee from the County Convention
that inspected the ballot box before
the returns were officially reported.
The testimony of THE several witnesses
during the afternoon was along the
line Df showing what became of The
ballot box after the election, how it
was cared for and what it contained.
1t was shown that the ballot box had
been turned over to Clerk Shelby and
later taken by Secretary F. III. Walker
and given to Cashier Hudson of the
Bank of Pine Bluff, to be placed in
the vault for safe keeping. The box
was opened in court yesterday and
the poll books and tickets introduced
as evidence. They are now in POS
session of Circuit Clerk Lytle.
In his opening statement District
Attorney Nixon informed the jury that
he would show that he and S. ]. Hunt
were the only candidate for prosecut
ing attorney; tina. when the ballot box
box was delivered to the judges on the
morning of the election it contained
500 ballots; that at room, when only
125 votes had been cas-, the judges
sent out for mare ballots and that
Chairman Alexander took them 100
additional tickets. Only three hum
bred votes We're cast in the First
ward during the day When the cleo
tom was w the returns we're cerIi-
fled to and showed THAT Hunt had re-
ceived 239 votes and Nixon 40, when
as a matter of fact, said Mr.. Nixon
1872 voters made affivdavits ON the day
of election that they voted for Nixon
in the First ward. Eight, he said,
have since died; Is have moved out Of
the state and 20 are away on their
vacation. He said that mare than 100
voters of the First ward. a majority Of
whom are property owners and tax
payers, are ready to testify that they
voted for Nixon and would be called
during the trial.
Mr.. Nixon said the sta.e would fur
ther show that the ballots and the box