The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-05-27
FORM Of BALLOT
CAUSES DISPUTE
At HAGERSTOWN
Vets May Protest Dry Ma
jOrity of Four Votes Be-
cause of Placing of Words
Yes and NO"

A dry majority OF four votes over
the Jefferson township vets with a
technical error on the ballots for
hinge, may result in the instituting
by the wet leaders, of a contest of
the election yesterday which made the
township dry.
Lee J. Reynolds, dry election COM
missioner, Gates Davis, wet election
commissioner, and Auditor Bowman,
neutral commissioner, met with the
attorneys Of both sides, Alonzo Gard
ner, for the drys, and William H. Kel-
ley, for the vets. at the court house
today and the election was declared
legal
Inc error was in the position Of the
Yes and NO" on the ballots. The
legal form of ballots as prescribed by
the form of 1911 places the Yes" at
the top and NO" below, but the bal
lots voted on yesterday were as fol-
lows:
NO. Shall the sale Of intoxicating
liquors as beverage be pro-
les. nlolted In jefferson township"
Wet by Mistake.
The vets contend that their voters
were instructed to mark the lower
square to vote wet but that MANY of
tnem voted dry by marking the lower
word according to their instructions.
feature Of the election was the dis.
covery by two ministers that they had
voted wet by mistake after they had
been leading a fight against the wet
element
Auditor Bowman contends that the
question in itself is misleading and if
IS necessary to read it over several
times to get the sense of it and vote
properly. He also makes the charge
mat ballots of local option elections
since 1911, including the one of last
march IN Richmond have not been &C
cordlng to the full form prescribed bv
law which is as follows:
Snail the sale of intoxicating
liquors as beverage be prohibited in
there inserting the particular territory
IN which such election is held)o All
ballots marked with a cross in the
square containing the word Yes shall
be counted in favor of prohibiting the
S~AS "a iHboAIdtluS llQuOES DIS Il DoN
erage in such territory, and all ballots
marked with a cross in the square con-
tanning the word NO shall be counted
opposed to prohibiting such sale there
in.
There were $50 ballots cast in the
Jefferson township election, 2S2 for the
idTyS and 27S for the vets On each
side four were cast out as invalid and
ithe final result stands 27S for the drvs
and pa for the vets, a majority Of
four votes.
May Go to Court.
Wet leaders say that the election
Shall not stand as it is but their form
of protest has not been announced 1t
Is said a Hagerstown resident and
former saloon keeper will apply to the
county commissioners for liquor
license, which will be refused The
matter will then go to court for de-
cisiOn and the form of ballots will be
used as the wedge to have the election
declared void
Should the election be declared lille
gal, Hagerstown and jefferson town
ship will be wet at once. as the town
went dry by remCnStrance two years
ago The duration Of an election or re-
mOnstranCe Is only two years and at
the expiration Of that time, without
further action. any community auto
matically goes wet
The mistake on the ballots was one
easily made, but a mistake which has
never come up before in this county.
There is a big question among those
interested as to whether or not this
would nvalidate all ballots cost since
the sample ballots distributed before
the election We're of the same form as
the ballots used in the election.
Drys had expected defeat up to the
time the polls closed last night and in
side residents Of the township pre-
dicted a week ago there would be an
overwhelming wet vote which the
drvs would be unable to overcome. AS
usual in jefferson township on the
liquor question there are many who
declare themselves "neutral' and re
fuse to vote.