The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1919-04-12
MUST ANNOUNCE By MAY s.
Law Requires This to Get Name on
Ticket-May Cause Rush Of
Candidates.

Under the old law, If candidate
filed his name with the county exec
utive committee, he could get his
name on the ticket, but a change in
the law does not give him that much
time now. as the following sent out
from Jackson last week will show:
A most important and significant
official opinion to the Lauderdale
County Democratic executive COM
mittee, rendered from the office of
the attorney-general on Saturday,
discloses an apparent conflict in the
laws pertaining to the time which
the names of candidates to be voted
for in the primary elections are to
be in the hands of the executive
committee of the party to which
candidates maintain allegiance, prior
to the date of the primary. This con-
fiict is obvious as between the Miss
issippi Code of 1906, which declares
that such names shall be in the
hands of the proper executive COM
mittee Is days before the election in
which the names are to be voted on,
and chapter 184 of the laws of 1918,
known as the absent soldiers, voting
act.
This latter statute, in section 2, p.
204, declares that:
"The chairman of the county ex-
ecutive committee shall give notice
through some newspaper published
in the county. in some issue publish
ed at least two weeks prior to and
within 1ive weeks prior to the frst
Monday in May of the year in which
any primary election is held, that all
prospective candidates to be voted
for by the electors in that county
shall mail or tile written notice with
the chairman of said executive COM
mittee on or before the first Monday
in May of his intention to be can
didate and for what office"
According to the construction of
the two provisions Of the law, taken
together after careful study by AS
sistant Attorney General Floyd, a
sharp conflict is here presented.
1.-The act of 1918 contains no re-
pealing clause.
"That repeals by implication are
not favored by the courts, at the
same time it is equally well estab-
.lished that statutes much be given
such a construction as not to make
them vain, meaningless or inconsis-
tent"
After citing a decision of the state
supreme court in Mckenzie VS.. Roy
kyn, II Southern 2S2, Ill Miss. 256,
bearing on this point, Gen. Floyd
concludes:
II confess that your inquiry pre-
sents a rather difieult problem and
one that is, perhaps. not free from
doubt, but, viewing the purpose and
express provisions of chapter 1S4,
laws of 1918, and especially section
2 thereof as set out above, am i'm
pressed with the fact that the legis-
lature intended to preserve the uni
formity of our primary laws in re-
spect to the time required of candi-
dates to get their names on the bal
lot and that it is the duty of the
county executive committee to give
notice by publication at once that
all candidates must have their names
filed with your committee on or be-
fore the first Monday of May, as
provided by said act"
This construction of the laws in
plain terms, is likely to create con-
siderable confusion and cause gem
eral rush Of prospective candidates
to get in the swimming pool while
the water is good. For the next
week or SO political advertising
space may have to sustain consid-
cradle rush, and all contests will
manifest themselves clearly and en-
phatically.