The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1916-01-14
ELECTION Law
Of 1874 IS
HELD VOID
STATE SUPREME COURT CON-
llCATES INITIATIVE AND
REFERENDUM LAWS - MEAS
URES AFFECTED BY OPINION.

URES AFFECTED BY OPINION.
Oklahoma City, Okla, Jan. 13.-
The supreme court, in an opinion by
Justice Hardy, has complicated the
initiative and referendum laws of
case is that of p. J. Smith VS.. the
Sheriff of Oklahoma County for ha-
beas corpus. Smith was convicted of
violating the gaming law that was
ratified by the people at an election
held in August, 1914, on referen-
dunn petition. The law had been
passed by the Legislature in 1913, and
its operation suspended by the fill
ing of a referendum petition. Action
was taken by Smith through his at
torneys, McAdams 4 Haskell, of this
city, for release on the ground that
the election on the referendum pc
tition was void because of noncom-
pliance on the part of the state
election board with number of pro-
visions of the law in submitting the
question. This opinion holds that
the state election board did not COM
ply with the law in sending out ar
guments on the state question in
volved as provided by law in suffi-
cient numbers or within the time
provided by the law so that the
voters were not advised as provided
by law of the matters involved in
the election. The opinion holds that
the election was void and therefore
the law was not in effect, having
been suspended by the filing of the
referendum petition. The relator
was discharged.
Five Questions Voted On.
There we're five questions submit
ted at the election in question. One
other was a referred law of the 1913
legislature which prohibited race
horse gambling. Two of the ques-
tions were initiated petitions, which
were rejected. The fifth was an
amendment to the constitution pro-
posed by the legislature. The cleo
ton having been void, the question
that is now uppermost is whether the
questions that were submitted at
that election are still alive and must
be submitted at another election or
whether the law that provides the
election at which initiated and re-
ferred questions shall be submitted
must be the next general election
shall be construed into prohibiting
the questions from being submitted
at another election. This is a ques-
ton that is in the hands of the eX
ecutive. If he shall refuse to sub
nit the questions that were before
the void election there will be no
further vote on them.
The matters that were before the
August, 1914, election that has been
declared to be void were the gaming
law and the race track gambling law
of the 1918 legislature that were sls-
pended by the filing of the referen-
dunn petition, both sustained by the
voters in the void election; 4 levy
of taxes in aid of the common
schools submitted by the legislature,
which was rejected; initiative petit
tions to re-enact the direct system |
of taxation, this also being rejected; |
petition for amendment to
the constitution making drunkenness |
and excessive use of intoxicating II
quors cause for removal from office,
this having been adopted.
Provisions Of Gaming Law.
The gaming law that thus fails pro-
vided fines of not less than $500 nor
more than $4,000 for conducting
gambling houses and made the Of
fense felony with not less than one
nor more than ten years impriaou-
ment in the penitentiary. This law
also increased the penalty for patron
izing the gaming tables and made
the penalty for operating or permit
ting slot machines very severe. It
placed a ban upon dice games in
cigar stands, stores, hotel loD5les
and places where articles are kept
for sale and prohibited punch boards
in such places. It imposed penalty
Of not less than 500 nor more than
81 900 against persons renting build
ngs to be used for violating the
penal provisions of the act ard made
each day a separate offense. There
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