Iditarod pioneer., 1915-04-10
REGISTRATION
 NOT REQUIRED

The qulet and tedlum of electloh uay was somewhat relieved for the members ot the election board by controversy which arose over the right of citizens, otherWlse quail fed, to vote in spite of the fact that they had not complied with the city ordinance which prescribes registration as prerequisite to exercise of the franchise in munlclpal cleo tions After much contention the matter was submitted to the members Of the local bar for an opinion, and the judges thereafter acted in accordance with their views, al though far from satisfied that they were justified in pursuing course which practl- caIly ignored municipal ordinance without the formality of court proceedings Tn the premises. The opinion of the attorneys was as follows
 'Iditarod, Alaska, April 6, 1915. ''To the Board of Election, lditarod, Alaska
 Dear Sirs: Re Ordinance No. 32, under Section 625 of the Compiled Laws of Alaska, the qualifications to vote at q munlclpal election are as follows
 "'Every male person 21 years of age, who is a citizen Of the United States, or has de clared his intention to become such, and who has resided continuously one year next preceding the election in the district of
 
 election within the limits of the proposed corporation, shall be qualified to vote at | said or any subsequent municipal election
 Section 1 of the Acts of the Legislature for the Territory of Alaska, approved March 21 1913, provides:
 "That in all elections which are now or may hereafter be authorized by law in the Territory of Alaska, or any subdivision or municipality thereof, the elective franchise is hereby extended to such women as have the qualifications of citizenship required Of male electors
 There is no right given to the municipal corporation to alter these qualification and our opinion Is that anyoneaeffering to vote who has the above qualifications is entitled to do so whether registered or not, and the ordinance in that respect IS invalid. Tn addition to the foregoing, it is further our opinion that inasmuch as the other con ditions of the ordinance have not been com piled with, it would be inadvlsable at this time to pick out one section of the ordl- nance and insist upon literal compliance with it. Respectfully,
 "CHAS. E. TAYLOR. "E. NJ. STANTON. FIRED HARRISON.
 'It is the further opinion of the under signed that there IS nothing in Ordinance 32 which prohibits an elector from voting be- cause he has failed to register, if under oath, he shows that he has the qualifications set forth in Section 625 of the Compiled Laws of Alaska and the act of the terri torisl legislature above set forth. The pro- q +bo in, opinion, are directory and not mandatory, and the election board must accept the bal lot of an elector who, though not registered under oath shows the required qualifica tlons. Y. M SIAN JUN. FIRED HARRISON.
 "The foregoing opinions are rendered in answer to your request of this date How the Contention Arose The contention arose over the attempt ot certain citizens whose names did not ap- pear on the registration list furnished by the municipal clerk to vote. In some cases 1t was urged that the would-be voter had been out of the city during the time the registration books were open. Others made no excuse but claimed the right to vote Tn spite of the fact that they had not regls- tered, while others maint tained that they had been unable to register even though | they had been in the city during the regis tration period It was also contended that l 1t had been customary in previous elections to swear in all qualified voters whose names did not appear on the register.
 The board unanimously refused to allow l any person to vote whose name was not on the registration list, asserting that they were prohibited by the terms of the ordi- nance from accepting such votes The posi- ton taken by the board was that as the ordinance prohibited them from accepting such votes it was incumbent upon the wouldbe voter to produce authority for the exercise of the franchise contrary to its terms; it was not the duty of the board | to find excuses for disobeying the mandate of the municipal ordinance. This ruling was later modified, however to permit those who had been out of the city during the entire registration period to vote, upon making oath to that effect. This was con trary to the judgment of the board, and was done in order to meet the popular demand, backed by legal opinion.
 1 Contentious of the Board
 The only authority in the possession of the board to guide their actions was copy of Ordinance No. 32 of the Town of 1dta- rod, which provides regulations for holding municipal elections. Section of that or dinance provides that "all persons voting at any special or general election in the town of Iditarod must register as hereinafter pro vided."
 Section s of the ordinance provides an oath to be subscribed to by the judges which contains the following: q will not receive any tickets, ballots or votes from any per son other than such as 1 firmly believe to be entitled to vote at such election, according to the laws of the Territory of Alaska and the ordinances of the Town of Iditarod, etc
 Section IS provides that "when any per son offers to vote at any election the in spector shall announce his name in an audi ble voice. and if there be no objections to his qualifications as an elector, and if his name appears upon the registration books he shall receive from the inspector or one of the judges the ballot" etc.