The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-24

ties shall be completed Under the opin- ion of Attorney General Martin, only g working days are allowed to complete the work, and Registrar Ray points out the fact that Jefferson county has 52 precincts and each precinct is entitled to one days sitting by the registrar, and therefore it is a physical 1mpossibility to comply with the law as interpreted by the attorney general
 LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION
 MT. Ray states the supreme court has given a more liberal interpretation to the bill than has the attorney general, who ruled that change of residence from one precinct to another would require regis tration The supreme court he states, held that the bill only contemplated change of residence from one county to another.
 MT Ray states he will continue to reg ister the voters of the county at the times and places mentioned in the official sched- ule issued by him at the beginning of the registration period. His statement fol- lows:
 RAYS STATEMENT
 An opinion was handed out by the at torney general yesterday holding that all registration of electors since January 5. 1916, was without authority of law and, in effect void. This is an important mat ter, especially to Jefferson county. Since January I have registered about 400 men, Two hundred of these registered Saturday in Bessemer. According to the ruling, these men are disqualified for two more years
 Section 15 of the registration act pro- vides that the registrar shall visit each precinct between November 15, 1915, and January l. 1916, and each two years thereafter" Excluding Sundays and legal holidays, there were 39 working days between November 15, 1915, and January l. 1916. Jefferson county has 52 pre- cincts The law does not provide for any assistance for the registrar, except in case of sickness. How, then, can one man reach 52 precincts. one on each day, in 39 days?
 l have read the law carefully and found at the end of the above mentioned section b this clause: But the time consumed in completing such registration shall not exceed 40 working days in any county. except that in counties having more than 5O,00O population the time shall not exceed 60 days Thinking this clause was added especially for large counties like Jefferson, I advertised to complete the rounds, giving one whole day to each pdecinct The best that could be done was to extend the regstra- tion until January 2S, and this I have done.
 I do not mean to say that the attorney general is wrong in his opinion, but 1t seems to me he has taken away the meaning of the clause giving 60 days to a registrar to complete his rounds in the large counties. The supreme court has been liberal in construing such laws here tofore Section 26 of the new laws reads as follows:
 No person registered as an elector shall again be required to register unless his place of residence is changed" The supreme court held that change of res ldence' in this case means a removal from one county to another and not from one beat to another. This seems to be a reasonable construction and, with this idea of the law in mind. advertised and undertook to accommodate the voters of Jefferson county.
 There are, therefore, some four h,,n dred men in Jefferson county, who think they are legal voters, who are not legally registered, according to this ruling from the attorney general. Nor is this all. for the same thing will happen again each two years, inasmuch as the time limit is not sufficient to accommodate the large counties like Jefferson.
 Since I have started, I expect to con- tlnue until l have given one day to each precinct. There are only rour more in the schedule.
 It is my hope that all the men who reg istered since January 5, 1916, may vet find their status a legal one. and that there will be no confusion on this subject when