Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-07-01
GOLDEN VALLEY
COUNTY CREATED
New Civil Division Declared
Legal IN Decision Of
Supreme Court

~N~
ty have won their case and Golden
Valley county may now be said to be
officially created.
Billings county voters ballOted up
on county division at the general cleo.
ton of 1910 and the proposition car.
ried. Opponents Of division carried
the case into court alleging irregu.
larities in conducting the election.
Judge Templeton of Grand Forks sat
IN the case. Opponents of division
carried their case through to the su-
preme court where a decision was
handed down Saturday declaring that
Golden Valley county had been Great.
ed. The syllabus Of the supreme
courts opinion is as follows:
State of North Dakota, In the Su.
preme Court, April, 1912, Term.
Christ Peterson, Plaintiff and Re.
spOndent, VS.. Board Of Commissioners
Billings County, ct al, defendants,
and ]. r. Waters, appellant.
I. Upon q vote for county division
six precincts made returns Of their
respective votes upon state and cOun.
ty officials, ETC., upon the printed
blanks furnished for that purpose and
attached thereto by means of metallic
fasteners the tally sheet used by them
in counting the county division votes.
However, the tally sheet SO used CON
tanned enough writing and figures to
conform to the law as q certificate Of
the vote. Held, that it was the plain
intent Of the precinct officers to make
a certificate Of the votes SO counted,
and the case is distinguishable from
cases where the tally sheet Is merely
returned with the ballots and other
papers, and no attempt made towards
certifying the result.
the county board and those were not
counted. Upon this contest, however,
the trial court examined enough of
the ballots Of said precincts to show
that the result of the election could
not be changed II every vote uncount.
ed were conceded to be against county
division. 1t q therefore useless to
continue the count of the ballots.
3. Upon the election, friends of
county division caused to be printed
and distributed at the polls a large
number of sticker ballots, being ident-
ical in reading with the official bal.
lot. excepting that the sticxer ballot
was marked with the cross for divis-
ion instead Of leaving the marking to
be done by the voter. This unofficial
ballot was to be attached by q gum.
med portion to the Official ballot. Held,
that such procedure Is q violation OF
the plain purposes Of our election
laws and renders all such ballots void.
Held. further, that the contestant has
the burden of showing the number Of
stickers so used, and that enough
were counted by the ca~nvassing board
to change the result Of the election.
In the case at bar the evidence pro.
duced does not show enough OF such
void ballots to change the result. Evi.
dence by bystanders or election ofic.
ials that there were many Of such
stickers" is too indefinite to be acted
upon by the court.
Alter % a0cting all ballots shown
to be illegal and all ballots not pro.
duced from those precincts not can.
vassed there still remains a majority
for the creation of the new county Of
Golden Valley, and the trial court will
so find.
(Syllabus by the court.)
Appeal from the district court OF
Billings County, Templeton, J..
Reversed, and Golden Valley County
found to have been legally created.
R. M. Andrews, OF Beach, N. D.,
and Bangs B Robbins Of Grand Forks,
N. D., for appellant.
w. F. Burnett Of Dickinson, N. D.,
and 1Engerud, Holt & Frame, Of Fargo,
for respondent.
Opinion Of the court by Burke, j.