The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-11-01
REPEAL STATUTES
RELATING TO PRIMARIES

That these statutes relating to pri-
mary laws are useless is now fully
demonstrated by the fact that:
1st. We had state primaries be-
fore we ever had any statutes relating
to same and such primaries were less
complicated and more satisfactory
when controlled simply by the demo-
cratic organization rather than by
statute.
End. If party primary were left
wholly to be governed by our rules
and not statutes, the candidates in
such primaries and the nominees
thereof would have no standing before
the courts and our overburdened
courts would not have to adjourn all
public business in order to listen to
suits brought by dissatisfied candi-
dates, because, in the absence of a
statute giving a man vested rights il.
virtue of his nomination, the courts
will not entertain any suit.
Without the primary statutes, the
committee on credentials quickly de-
cides all such matters and if not
rightly done, nevertheless the matter
is ended there.
3rd. If all primary statutes were
repealed it could not happen as in the
/ case of the tax collector of Duval
county now, and as several times has
been the case in the past, that a man
accused of high criminal offense could
enforce his rights before the courts
to remain on the ticket as the party
nominee and be entitled morally to
receive the vote of every democrat
even though it has been developed that
he has fagrantly disqualified himself
from holding such position. This now
happens in Jacksonville and has hap
pened in Tampa and other places, but
there is absolutely no machinery pro
vided to take the name of such can.
didate off of the ticket and he has the
right under the primary statutes to
j enforce his rights in the courts.
4th. That all the penalties in the
primary statutes are useless, has
been fully demonstrated by the fac,
that in seventeen years nobody has
ever been convicted of violation Of
them and yet, presume that no one
could be found who would contene
that these statutes were not frequent
lily and fiagrantly violated.
5th. The evil effect of these statute:
is shown in the recent Catts-Knot
contest which occupied almost exclu
sively the attention of the courts fol
four or five months with the resul
that S25, 1000 or $4,000 of the people,
money was wasted, important litiga
ton was tracked, the court
dockets were allowed to become con
gested with other business, while th
court in pursuance of it's statutor.
duties, was forced to decide in piece
meal the various and sundry suits re
lating to this one matter as it Nigh
happen to suit the attorneys for tn
parties to present to the court; tn
. court, of necessity in case being re
stricted to a consideration only o
particular precincts or counties whicl
happened to be made the subject o
special complaint by the attorneys fo
the parties. The courts don't want t
wash the dirty linen of the democrati
/, party, but these primary laws fore
: them to do so, because they give tn
: nominees the legal status entitlin
5 them to suit, while without the pri
3 mary law party candidate has n
such right. 1t could probably neve
S happen that any one suit could b
e brought to review the proceedings @
d all the boards of canvassers in tn
3 state of Florida in any one state elee
t ton, and if such a suit could b
i brought it is improbable that it coul
o be terminated in the lifetime of on
ordinary individual. 1t is equally oI
vious that court when called on t
g review the proceedings, at the il
e stance of candidate for a state Of
r flee, for alleged errors committe
n against him in one county, will NJ
be able to do complete justice unles
it has the means of re-canvassing Ii
: vote of the whole state Therefore,
. is the foregone conclusion that an