The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1944-06-01
DURELY
i Official
By BALLOT BOX


the Hagerstown Daily Mail, issue of
Monday, May 90, titled, "Dewey's
Soldier Cannot Vote Law"
The editorial was based on re-
cent New York statewide radio
broadcast by James A. Farley, chair
man of the New York Democratic,
State Committee, during which he
bitterly attacked the New York State
Soldier Vote Law, calling it, among
other things, a "monstrosity, a res
ervoir of antiquities and a perpeta-
ton of deception of the men and
women in the armed services
Needless to say, coming from
Genial JIM" whose position regard
ing the fourth term bid of President
Roosevelt is still very much IN
doubt, it was eagerly seized upon by
New Deal supporters, but / am sur
prised at the Daily Mail getting into
the argument, for the simple reason
that its editorial might just as well
have been titled, "O'Conor's Sol
der Cannot Vote Law"
Maybe the writer of the editorial
didn't know it. but the New York
Soldier Vote Law and the State of
Maryland Soldier Vote Law are al
most Identical! And to make the
joke all the more enjoyable, the
Maryland Law was passed by an
overwhelmingly Democratic Legis-
lature, at a special session, called
for that specific purpose by Dem
ocratic Governor!
Now, as Al Smith used to say,
let's look at the record.
Jim Farley attacked provision
in the New York Law that called
for the arrival of all absentee bal
lots in Albany by Nov Bird, four
days before election day.
On page Is of the Maryland Sen
ate Bill l. which is the Soldier Vote
Bill passed at the recent special
session, is the following:
''The Ballot may be marked and
mailed at any time after you receive
it, but it must be received by the
Secretary of State in time to be de-
ivered by him to the appropriate
Supervisors of Elections not later
than the closing of the polls on cleo
ton day."
In order to sort and distribute the
ballots to the various supervisors
before the polls close on Nov. z, it
is obvious that the Secretary of
State must have them in his office,
at least three or four days before
that time.
MIR. Farley also attacked a pro-
vision of the New York law that re-
quires absentee voters to make ep-
plication for ballot and also re-
quires that the absentee voter take
oath that he or she is voter, be-
fore an attesting officer.
Page of the Maryland law ceads
as follows:
"At any time before any election,
any Absentee Resident, who has
reason to believe that because of his
status as such he will be unable to
vote in person at such an election,
may make application in writing to
the Secretary of State of Maryland
requesting that he be sent State
Absentee Ballot. Such application
shall be signed by the applicant and
shall disclose the applicants full
name and last home address IN
Maryland, the address to which the
Absentee Ballot shall be sent, and
that he is in the armed forces of the
United States or otherwise has
status which entities him to vote
as an Absentee Resident"
And again; page 10 of the Mary
land law sets out prescribed form
of oath that must be made by each
service man or woman casting an
absentee ballot, said oath to be
sworn to before commissioned Off
Ger, a non-commissioned officer not
below the rank of sergeant, or
petty officer.
Finally, Mr.. Farley suggested that
the way to handle the soldier vote
was to send ballot to any service
man or woman whose name, home
address and military address was
furnished by any relatives.
All I can say to that one is, that
Jim must have thought it up before
the returns from the State Pri-
maries began coming in. In Wash
ington County less than per cent
of the voters at home exercised their
right to cast ballot Since they
weren't interested enough to vote
themselves, how many relatives
49, to- 4J,s,I~ xxrc.,II RI - Al