Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-14


tended that Il depends entirely upon
the good faith Of the states, and that II
they do not prevent electors who hold
such positions from voting, no. other
power can. Congress hAs not definitely
passed upon 1t, although It hao counted
votes Of men who were under this In
hibition. Others assert that IL this
view 10 taken, Il naturally follows that
tionally Ineligible. there IL nothing lett
for the house to do but to count him In
~ president
The constitution provides that al;
electors shall vote on the same day.
But on one occasion. In 1867, the cleo
tors Of wisconsin were prevented from
voting on the day fixed because of a
snow storm. Congress- lodged the is
sue when 1t came up, AZ 1t afterward
did when Georgia got mixed on the
date and voted on the first Wednesday
OF December. as was provided under
the old law instead Of the second Mon
day of January. as was later provided.
Indiana and Missouri had electoral
colleges before they were duly admitted
as states. and congress sidestepped the
issue of determining when a state Is
"a state"
1t has been pointed out that an cleo
tor could betray his trust without
openly violating even the custom Of re-
flecting the will Of the voters who chose
him. For instance. 1t is provided that
where member Of an electoral col
lege resigns, the college itself has the
power OF filling the vacancy. Suppos-
ing there should be an election in
which one Of the parties won by a
single vote, and that in one OF the
states one elector of the successful
party should happen to pull through
when all Of the others were of the OPP
position. 1t would be easy for the lone
elector to get sick and resign. The
others could fill his place with an cleo
tor after their own mind, and the re-
suit would be reversed. Or suppose
there should designedly be made a
mistake in filling out the certificates
who could say definitely that some-
one had Intentionally turned his coat?
Many have been the protests against
the electoral colleges. Some have pro-
posed as a remedy that fictitious
body of electors be created. in which
each state would have as many mem
bers as 1t has in the senate and house.
Then, If the state went Democratic in
the election the entire electoral vote
should automatically be counted for
the Democratic candidate, while IL Il
went Republican on a popular vote 1t
should automatically be counted in
the Republican column. Under that
plan the people would simply vote for
their candidates for president and vice
president, and a more canvassing of thu,
returns would determine which side
should have the vote Of the state. This
IL in effect what Is done today, except
that the cumbersome machinery of the
electoral colleges has to be operated to
accomplish 1t.
While all but a few Of the electors
had resigned their deliberative rights
and permitted themselves to become
merely automatic registers of the peo-
pies will almost with the first vote
cast, there We're some who did not en-
tirely recognize the new order of
things. In the election of 1900 several
Virginia candidates for elector an
nounced that while they would give due
weight to the verdict of the people
themselves, and would as matters then
stood, II elected, vote for Patrick
Henry and John Adams, they still re-
served the right to vote as seemed to
them most wise when the time came.
In the second Washington election
even, most OF the electors felt bound
by their party ties. although the pa
pers of the time abounded in appeals.
after the electors were chosen, that
they should vote for Adams or Clinton.
Tomorrow-Presiden Elections.
lV-When Congress Counts the Votes.