El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-05
ANTS TAKE first
STEP IN THE CONTEST
Notices Of CONTEST Served on
the Ring Candidates
p Primary.

The ants took the first formal step
/ towgrd contesting the election when
% Saturday night at o'clock notice
of contest was served on Park Pit
1 man, county clerk; Joe Escajeda, nom
inee for district clerk. and J. ". Eu-
/ bank, county surveyor Tom Lea, re-
Gently nominated county chairman of
the Democratic executive committee,
was served with notice Saturday in the
Hotel Dieu, where he has been i'll for
some time.
The county chairman. in this in
stance. will fix the date for the hear
ing of contestants cause It is ex-
pected that Lea VIII be able to come
TO his office today. He has 20 days
within which to arrange the hearing.
The contestants, when the date has
been fixed, will appear before the com
mittee and urge the grounds on which
the contest is brought Should the de-
cision of ths' committee be adverse to
them. appeal will then be taken to
the districT court The ring candidates
against whom the contest is brought,
should tie executive committee decide
that th6 contestants are in the right,
also have the right of appeal to the
district court.
with the exception of R. V. Bowden,
c. L Vowel and Juan Smith, and pos
sibIy Charles Owen, all those who ran
on the anti-ring ticket are lined UP
for the fight. It was stated that they
expected to carry the matter to the
last court of resort.
IF il is shown by an examination
of the boxes that the ring won the
contest fairly. then we want them to
have the office was the expression
from the ants.
The boxes contested are from pre-
cincts Nos 1, ?, 3, 6, z, -, 20 and %
The grounds set out for the contest in
each precinct differ
Precinct One Point of Contest.
The contestant in each case claims
to have received a majority Of the votes
legally cast" The contestants charge
that there was fraud perpetrated'
ana Inat mere were many . LrSuuulellS
and Illegal acts Of certain judges and
other officers of the election"
One of the causes for the contest al
1eges that W. c. Bulger. presiding Of
ficer Of election, or his assistant, or
other election officers, prepared and
scratched votes for a number of voters
who were unable TO read, write or
speak the English language" 1t is
alleged that these election Officers did
not call off the names of the various
candidates to the men voting, so that
they could pick whom them wanted TO
vote for. In other instances, the charge
is made by those cOntesting that even
when their names were designated BY
the voter, they were scratched off. 1t
nOn-English speaking voters were rot
citizens of the United States
It is also alleged by the contestants
that Max Lucero, who holds some Of
fetal position either with the city or
county within the hearing aud Ires-
ence of election officers, stated to
number of voters that unless they
voted the ring ticket, he would have
them arrested"
1t is further alleged that numerous
police officers congregated and loitered
about the polling places during the day
for the purpose Of using their 1n1lu-
ence unlawfully and fr&udulently, to
influence the voters in behalf of the
ring ticket
Call Election esyVhOIIy illegal"
The election in this precinct is.
therefore, declared wholly Illegal,
but the complaint goes further and al
leges that the count Of the votes was
not correctly kept.
Each contestant alleges that ne had
a majority of the legal ballots in pre-
cinct 2, and says that throughout the
time of the election, fraudulent and IL
legal practices and conduct was in
dulged in and carried on by officers of
fraudulent intent to defeat the free
expression Of the will of the voters.
The charge goes so far as to ailege that
officers of election at this precinct
drank whisky and permitted those
who had no right there, to enter the
polling place and remain, giving away
WHISKY ana OLleE Intoxicating QIluAS
to the officers and clerks Of election,
and that during the day there was a
fight and disturbance of the peace in
the polling place. A number of official
ballots We're scattered or destroyed
during the fight" it is alleged; 9th
ers were carried away and lost" it is
charged In reading and counting the
ballots cast in the election, the same
were untruthfully and Wrongfully
counted" the charge says.
Wherefore contestants say that said
election was illegal, fraudulent and
void. and that the returns therefrom
should not be calculated and counted
in the estimate of the aggregate NUM-
Der Of votes received by contestants
and contestees."
In Precinct Three
As to precinct 8, it Is charged that "a
large number of voters in said pre-
cinct were deprived of their privilege
Of casting their ballots and which said
voters would have cast their ballots
for contestant and against contestee,
but were prevented from voting upon
the false and fraudulent pretext and
pretence upon the part Of the officers
conducting said election that said
voters could not in due order be ad-
mitted to the polling booths for the