The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-08-23
Attorney General Advises Secretary
of State Concerning Registra-
ton Law

In communication to the secretary
of state in reply to an inquiry from
him, Attorney General T. F. West ex-
presses doubt Of the validity of that
portion of the primary election law
which provides that the registration
for primary election shall be sufficient
registration for general election and
he advises that the safe course for a
voter is to see to it that he is duly
registered on the general election reg
istration books.
Attorneys Letter.
The letter which explains the mat
ter follows:
Honorable H. Clay Crawford, secre-
tary of state, capitol.
Dear Sir: l am in receipt of your
communication containing the follow
ing inquiry:
The question as to what the legis-
lature intended should be done by the
supervisors of registration in making
the registration for the primary cleo
ton a substitute for registration for
the general election has been repeat
edly asked this department.
=" The particular statute requiring
a construction is the second and
fourth paragraphs of section g. of
chapter 1859, Laws of Florida as
amended by section l, chapter 6474,
which reads as follows:
That all persons who have here
tofore registered or who may here
after register under the provisions of
chapter 1859 of the Laws of Florida,
acts of 1913, in election precincts
which are not located wholly or in
part within city of more than TWEEN
ty thousand population shall be
deemed duly registered for all gen.
eral primary elections and all gener-
al and special eections so long as they
continue to reside in the election pre-
cinct in which they so registered and
their names shall be carried upon the
registration books as electors duly
registered for such elections.
That in all election precincts To-
Gated wholly or in part within city
of more than twenty thousand popu.
lation biennial registration shall be
requested, as provided by the provis-
ions of chapter 1863, Of the Laws of
Florida, acts Of 1913, and all persons
SO registering shall be deemed duly
registered electors for the general
election next following the primary
for which they registered, and for any
special election held subsequent to the
general primary for which they reg
istered and prior to the next following
general primary, and their names
shall be carried on the registration
books as duly registered electors for
such elections.
The problem confronting the Su-
pervisors of registration, as they
seem to see 1t, Is "a whether they
should substitute the primary regis.
tration books for the general election
or transcribe the names from the pri-
mary books to the general election
books, and (2) il the latter construc-
ton prevail whether under such con.
struction the electors who have regis.
tered for the primary, but whose
names are not registered in the gen.
eral election books, should be required
to make a separate and independent
registration for the general election;
in other words, would the transcript
ton from the primary books to the
general election books be sufficient
registration for the general election :?
l would be pleased for you to
give me your opinion as to a proper
construction of the statute above
quoted
Two Sets of Books.
Under existing statutes there are
two systems of registration as a pre-
requisite to voting in this state, one
for the registration of electors in pri.
mary elections, the other for the reg
fstration of electors in general cleo
lions, and two separate and independ-
ent sets of registration books are kept
in each county for this purpose.
IF the provisions of the statute
quoted in your letter are valid, l think
the registration officer of the county
would be warranted in transcribing
the names of electors appearing upon
the registration books for primary
elections upon the registration books
for general elections, having in mind
always, of course, that each elector