The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1939-04-20
New Election Laws Will
Greatly Change Primaries
Repeal Absentee Use In Pri-
maries. Restrict Marking. ~

It is generally conceded that
! the most far-reaching measure
enacted by the 1899 assembly is
the So-called election reform law
which grew out of the charges
of fraud" and irregularities
in recent North Carolina cleo
tons.
AS enacted the new laws repre-
sent numerous compromises be-
tween feformers and their. op oIS
nents and lack of attaining the
ideal as laid down by the state
board of elections in its biennial
report to Governor Hoeyii re; j
However, those interesteds:in re-
form readily admit that they ac-
complished a great deal more
than ever dreamed could be- ac-
complished. They see an end at
last of the professional marker,
of the wholesale misuse of absen-
tee ballots, and of registration
books which contain names of
thousands of persons long since
dead or moved away.
COMPARISONS GIVEN
Here are the new laws as thew
compare with suggestions of the
state board of elections:
Absentee ballot: The state
board recommended either com
plete abolition of absentee voting
or a new law requiring rigid safe
guards around its use. The gene
raj assembly enacted a law abol-
ishing the absentee ballot in pri-
maries and providing rules for
absentee voting in general cleo
tions almost as rigid as the cleo
tons board suggested.
Markers: The elections board
recommended a strict law on
markers which would permit a
voter to get assistance in marking
his ballot only after taking an
oath that he was illiterate or in
capacitated, that would allow a
marker to mark only one vot-
er's ballot and would apply to
primaries and general elections.
The bill enacted into law applies
only to primaries, does not re-
qulre the voter to swear he is il
llterate or incapacitated and al
lows election officials to mark
ballots if no other marker is
available. 1t does prohibit a
marker, other than an election
official, from aiding more than
one voter.
New registration: The elections
board asked for law requiring
a new registration before the
next primary in every county in
the state except those which
have had new registration in the
past two years. The general as
sembly enacted a law providing
for complete purge" of regis
tration books. In addition the
law allows county boards of
electins to call new registrations
and gives the state board enough
authority to force new registra-
tons in a number of counties.
Division of precincts: The state
board asked for a law to require
splitting of all precincts with
more than 500 voters. The legis-
lature refused to pass this mea-
sure after opponents contended
it would be too expensive.
OTHER CHANGES
Also enacted into law were
bills to permit split voting,
increasing the pay of elections
officials, and moving the first
primary from the first Saturday
in June to the last Saturday in
May, thus avoiding having the
second primary fall on the
Fourth of July weekend when
large numbers of voters are away
from home.
The most important develop
ment in the long elections law
struggle was decision of these IA
voring complete repeal of the alb
Sentee ballot and these favoring
its abolition in the primary to
join forces. Their union was pri-
marily responsible for the absen-
tee ballot law and facilitated en-
actment of other measures.