The Mena weekly star., 1916-10-19
DO YOU LIKE THIS LAW?
Act No. I, to Regulate Primary
 Elections in Arkansas.

| lHueE tue iDiIidtlNe qua heieFtu-
 dunn the voters of Arkansas have Ethe power to largely make their own
 laws. For years the need of a new
 law governing primary elections has
 been deemed urgent Following IS a synopsis of Act. No |, t0 be voted upon at the November election. It was prepared for The Star by Judge Wright Priekett. Other Acts and Amendments to be voted on will be given in forthcoming issues.
 Study Act No. 1 and decide if 1t IS
 what you want.
 There are two acts and three amendments to the constitution of
 the stale to be voted on at this elec-
 tion
 | Act No is "An Act to Regulate
 Primary Elections and for other purposes"
 section 1 provides that all organ ized political parties selecting their candidates for office thru primary elections shall be subject to the pro-
 visions of this act Each party shall pay the expenses of it's own | primary election. It provides that nominations can still be made by petition as at present.
 The date is changed to the last Tuesday in May preceding the gen. eral election.
 The County Central Committee shall place the names of the candi-
 dates for delegates to the county convention and candidates for Coun-
 ty Central Committeeman on the primary ballot, when 10 or more voters in the precinct shall petition said committee that said names be voted for these places. In case this | is not done then the County Gen. tral Committee shall appoint said delegates and members.
 The judges and clerks of the pri- mary election shall be selected by | the County Central Committee at
 an open and public meeting of the | Committee after due notice to each
 member of the Committee. At the same time the committee will ap- point an alternate for each judge and clerk and in case of the absence of both judges and alternates the voters at S:30 a. m. shall fill such Ivaeancies.
 In case a voter is unable to read or write and requires assistance | to mark his ballot. all the electors 1 in the polling booth shall be re- quired to withdraw from the poll ing room. One of the judges in the presence of all the judges shall read
 to the eector all the names Of the
 candidates as they appear on the ballot, when the voter shall desig- nate the one he wishes to vote for and one of the other judges i'll the lpresence of all shall mark his bal- lot as designated by the voter. No judge or clerk shall express any preference. Any election officer vi-
 plating this section shall be guilty
 of misdemeanor.
 Each party holding a primary shall of the Monday following hold la county convention
 1 No candidate for office or office holder or deputy shall be eligible
 to membership on the County Gen. | tral Committee. delegate to coun- ty or district convention or judge or clerk of a primary election.
 Each voter signs his name to the
 bottom of his ballot.
 Section il provides for the meet | ing of the County Central Commit
 tee and canvassing the vote which is done on Friday following the pri- mary election and places several re- Istrictions around the ballot Sec | ton i2 confers the right of a can | didate to contest the certificate of nomination and provides the man. her it shall be done and the court l that has jurisdiction. Authorizes
 criminal prosecution for ali illegal acts both as to voters and candi-
 dates as well as officials of the elec- | ton.
 l A poll tax certificate or a certi- fled copy of the receipt or the vot-
 ers's name appearing upon the list
 of voters certified to the judges is required
 Persons becoming 2l after the as- sessment of taxes are entitled to
 vote by submitting to the judges written affidavits that the voter has
 the necessary qualifications and
 these aflldavits must be left with
 the judges and filed with returns, ballots. etc.
 When the voter pays his poll tax | it is his duty to state and the duty of the collector to record and certi- fy in his receipt. the color, resi- dence, postoffice address (rural lroute. town or street address, vot- ing precinct and school district of such person and all poll tax receipts | that do not contain such requir- ments shall be void and not recog- nized by the judges of election. The County Election Commissioners shall supply the judges with a cer- tiiied list of the voters with all the ! above reqiirments For each err TOT rendering void the poll tax re- ceipt, in the transcrihing. certiiica-
 tion or printing of the names. color. residence, poStoffice address. school district or voting precinct of such person the collector clerk or printer making the same. shall be assessed Si.00
 Violations of this act are misde- meanors and punished by fine not less than Si00 nor more than $500 and Imprisonment ia jail not less
 than 3o days nor more than i2 months
 All contests are to be tried at once. even to the adiournment of court in ether counties. And all acts and parts of acts in conflict are repealed.
 More Favor to Mead Fentress. i Special to The Star,
 Little Rock. Oct. l5.-Governor Hays remitted the fine and 60 days