New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1916-06-10
THE PRIMARY BILL.

pcIlulnH DeIOre the DemOcratl
caucus Of the General Assembly.
The bills were prepared by Jas
{ G: Henriques and Hugh Cage, O.
New Orleans, in conjunction will
some others. The primary bill
has been submitted to the caucu!
and stands approved by that body
except for typographical anc
grammatical corrections, with the
single addition Of section cal
ling for the arrest Of drunken
men appearing at election polls
The drastic misdemeanor section
OF the bill, which makes it a Jail.
able offense, to oppose even one
of the candidates nominated in a
party in which the offender voted,
was put through the caucus with
only South Louisiana Directing.
North Louisiana and the twenty
four members from New Orleans
voted solidlv together.
Past Legislation 0utdone.
The bills 60 further in the line
of partisan election legislation
than any measure ever proposed
in the state. In some respects
they are unique in America. As
far as has been disclosed. the
primsrv hill clause to send a man
to Jail for "n~osir" a partv nom-
. inee af+"r voting in the primary,
is without precedent as far as has
been disclosed.
The provision reads:
"That any voter who partici-
pates in the primary election Of
one political party is prohibited
from, directly or Indirectly, aid
ing or assisting in the election of
any person in opposition to any
candidate nominated in the pri-
mary in which he took part; that
any voter in any primary is pro-
hibited from contributing money
towards the election Of any one
in opposition to the candidates
nominated in any primary in
which. he took part; that any per-
son violating the provisions of this
act shall be guilty Of a INSIDE
meanor, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be punished as pro-
vided for in Section 81 of this
act; and that, in the event of any
prosecution under this act, the
poll list showing the vote of the
primary shall be prima facie evil
dence that he voted in same. It
il hereby made the duty of all
clerks Of court to preserve all
4Ap lists delivered to them for
/ BIZ years after each election. !"
Section 81 provides the penalty.
Il reads: "Upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less
than $50 and not more than $500,
and be imprisoned for not less
than two months and not more
than one year in the parish Jail,
and shall be ineligible for four
years to hold any office of trust or
profit in this state"
The general election law chang
es, except the section aimed at the
Proeressives, are briefly as fol-
lows: |,
Abolishing conventions except
tor the nomination of presidential
electors, delegates to national con-
etc.
No party nominations by other
than primaries.
Independent nominations only
On petition of men registered as
affiliated with no party. The
nomination papers must be filed
With the secretary Of state on or
before the date of the general
primary election.
Provision is made for the organ q
1etion OF a new party on certifi-
Ute Of 1000 voters or more. +
This provision is included in =
he next section: candidates d
nominated otherwise than by po- 4
itical parties, which at the pre-
'edin" state election, or at the :
'receding congressional election, /.
'olled at least ten per cent of the Il
ntire vote cast in the state. shall n
lot use the name of any such po- =
itical party in the political or c
'arty designation of their candi- d
ates so otherwise nominated. p
The present provision that "the ::
.me Of no candidate shall ap- d,
ear on the official ballot in more t.
han one place" is re-enacted. 81
lits at Progressives. g. :.
The section Of the general cleo B
ON law aimed to put the Pro-