The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1928-07-05
DOES THE PRIMARY
RULE CONFUSE YOU?
THEN READ THIS
Person May Vote for Candi-
dates on Only One
Party Ticket.

At every primary election, officials
are confronted with the task Of ex-
planning to a few voters that they
must confine their voting to candi-
dates of one Of the parties holding
state primaries and that only in gen.
eral elections are they allowed the
privilege of switching from one party
to another, according to C. E. Thomp-
son. county clerk and recorder.
In theory primary is a party af-
fair in which none but members of
the party take part Mr.. Thompson
exclaimed, although now supervised
by the state and county government
and all held on the same day, each
party still holds its separate primary
IN theory to elect its own candidates
to run in the general election. In
many states, voter must publicly
register his political affiliations
sometime in advance in order to take
part in the primary, although this
does not bar him from voting for
those on different tickets in the gen.
eral election. The Montana law does
not require this and there is nothing
to prevent person from voting in
either primary but the machinery of
the primary election does keep him
from voting in both primaries.
in going into the polls at a pri-
mary election, the voter is handed the
ballots, of all the parties who are
holding primaries, This year there
are only two, republicans and dem
ocrats. One ballot will contain only
republican candidates.
"The voter marks his preferences as
between candidates for the various Of
fees on one of the tickets He folds
up the two ballots separately one I'M
marked and the other marked. He
presents them to a judge who places
t the marked ballot in the ballot box
| after detaching the stub. The unused
ballot is also handed to the judge and
placed by him in another box kept for
that purpose" Mr.. Thompson ex-
claimed.
Registration for the primary closed
on June /. Those who have registered
since that time and up to Sept. p can
vote in the November election, but
their names will not be on the reg
itration list for the primaries.
Polls are open in primary election
day from noon until o'clock at night
instead of from 8 to o'clock, the gen
eral election hours. The polling places
are the same as in the general cleo
ton.
Absent voters ballots may also be
voted under practically the same reg
uiations as in the general election.
The voters must get them from the
county clerk and recorder, either at
| his office or by sending a request for
an application for an absent voters
ballot The application which is then
handed to or sent by mail to the per-
son making the request contains an
+ affidavit that the person expects to
be out of the county on the day of the
election.
The affidavit is signed and sworn
to by the proper officers and then re-
turned to the county clerk and re-
corder together with the place to
which the ballot is to be sent unless
!, the person is in the city until after
the ballots are printed when he can
get his ballot before leaving the city
and vote at the clerks office until
such time as the ballots are delivered
. to the polling places.
I When the ballot is sent the voter,
he must take it to an officer with a
> seal, show him the ballots in blank
so that it may be seen that the ballot
f Is not marked He then marks his
, ballot so that the officer can not see
, him mark it and then folds it as well
as the unused ballot and places them
in the envelope provided and signs a
sworn affidavit on the envelope COW
ering the requirements of the law.
The ballot envelope is then sent
back to the clerk who distributes all
such ballots to the proper precincts if
the ballots reach him in time before
the close of the polls for taking them
to the polling places. In the outlying
precincts they must be returned in
time so that the ballots can be mailed
and received by the election judges
, before the closing of the polls.
| FOURTH is QUIET IN RED LODGE