Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-08
Virginia Democrats
Call for Revisions
In Election Laws
BY the Associated Press.

RICHMOND, Va, Dec. 8.-Aboli-
ton of precinct registrars .anc
establishment of q Statewide Sys.
tenn of central registration of voters
Tightening of the absent voters law
and statutory declaration of what
Is meant by personal payment" OF
poll taxes were recommended yes
terday by subcommittee of the
State Central Democratic Commit
tee.
These proposals, together with a
number OF other major suggestions
for revisions of the election laws
were submitted by Horace H. Ed
wards, State Democratic chairman
and head of the subcommittee, to a
special commission on suffrage laws
at an open hearing here. The COM
mission is drafting recommendations
for the 1916 General Assembly and
is headed by Delegate Stuart B
Campbell, Wytheville.
The printed report said that prob
ably the most serious abuses of the
absent voters law have been with
the connivance, IF not at the in
stance OF precinct registrars" and
declared the number of frauds of
this nature should largely be elm
mated by the proposed system of
general registrars and central reg
Etration.
Points to Wise County Vote.
The Democratic study group re-
ported it had examined the record
of the recent contest in the Circuit
Court of Richmond of the primary
contest for Lieutenant Governor of
Virginia, which resulted in the Wise
County vote being thrown out for
alleged fraudulent practices and the
Democratic nomination thereby 60
ing to L. Preston Collins, Smyth
County, instead of Charles R. Fen
wick, Arlington.
Mr.. Edwards, in orally summarize
Ing his groups report declared that
If there had been a system of desig-
mated responsibility, such as the
subcommittee proposes, the blame
could have been pinned definitely
ION some culprit" in Wise County.
1T seems to our committee highly
necessary that additional safeguards
be thrown about every stage of the
process, from the printing of the
ballots to the final canvass" he said.
Alexandria Leader Heard.
The Suffrage Commission also
heard Talbot Sinclair, Alexandria,
chairman Of a Committee on I'M
provements of Election Laws of the
State Junior Chamber of Commerce,
who recommended, for his commit
tee, that authority over all cleo
ton matters, except court contests,
be placed in the jurisdiction of BIZ
partisan electoral boards.
The recommendations for tight
ening the absent voters statutes
would require that all applications
for ballots be mailed to the general
registrar or be delivered in person,
accompanied by an affidavit sworn
to before some officer other than
the registrar or assistant registrar.
The application and envelope in
which it is mailed would be retained
for one year, open to public inspec-
ton; notation would be made on
the poll books that the voter cast
his ballot by mail, and any person
making any false statement, orally
or in writing, in connection with
mail voting would be held guilty of
a felony.
"The serious abuse of the laws
relating to payment OF poll taxes
Is the recognized practice of what
is called the block payment of poll
taxes" the report said. The prac-
tice has not been prevented by the
existing statutes and it is believed
that it can be prevented only by
amending these statutes so as to
make it more difficult for block
payments to occur without detection
and also to impose more serious
penalties upon persons who pay
the poll taxes of others and upon