The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1919-04-11
Must Declare Candidacy by May
1cf

The following from the Jackson
correspondent to the Commercial
Appeal is apt to get hustle on all
who contemplate becoming candi-
dates for any office this year:
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 party 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 primary. This
conflict is obvious as between the
Mississippi code of 1906. which de-
clares that such names shall be in
the hands of the proper executive
committee ID days before the cleo
ton in which the names are to be
voted on. and chapter 1S4 of the
laws Of 1918. known as the absent
soldiers voting act.
This later 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 pub
lished at least two weeks prior to
and within five weeks prior to the
first Monday in Nav 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 file written no.
tice with the chairman of said ex-
ecutiye committee on or before the
first Monday in May his intention
to be candidate and for what Office"
According to :the construction of
the two provisions of the law. taken
together after careful study by AS
sistant Acknowledgement Floyd, a
sharp conflict is here presented.
The act of 1918 contains no re-
pealing clause.
That repeals by implication are
not favored by the courts, but at
the same time it is equally we'll es-
tablished that statutes must be
given such construction as not to
make them vain, meaningless or in
consistent.
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 concluds:
Il confess that your inquiry pre-
sents rather difficult problem and
one that is. perhaps. not free from
doubt. but, viewing the purpose and
express provisions of chapter 1874.
laws of 1918, and especially section
thereof as set out above, | am i'm
pressed with the fact that the Leg
islature intended to preserve the
uniformity of our primary laws in
respect to the time required of can
didates to get their names on the
ballot 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 before the first Monday of May,
as provided by the said act
This construction of the laws in
plain terms. is likely to create con-
siderable confusion and cause a
general rush of prospective candi-
dates to get in the swimming pool
while the water is good. For the
next week or so political adyertis-
ing space may have to sustain a
considerable rush. and all contests
will manifest themselves clearly and
emphatically.