Evening star., 1952-03-16
Wrife-In Vote Ruling
Adds Significance 10
Minnesota Primary
By Gould Lincoln


Minnesota's presidential pri-l
mary on Tuesday takes on un-
expected interest because of the
State attorney generals ruling
that write-in votes cast for any
candidate must be counted. Sup
porters Of Gen. Eisenhower on thel
Republican side and Senator
Kefauver on the Democratic SideI
are reported to be planning driveSl
to have as many preference votes
cast for their candidates as pos
Sible.
In the Republican primary. the
only formal entrants are Harold
e. Stassen, former Minnesota
governor, and Edward Slettedahl,
q pro-MacArthur favorite-sonl
candidate. On the Democratic
side. Senator Humphrey of Min
nesota is entered as a favoriteI
son. ready to throw the delegates
to President Truman. All three
have entered states of delegates
to their parties national conven-
tions.
There Is considerable Eisen-
hover sentiment among thel
States Republicans, and at one
time a slate of Eisenhower dele
gate candidates was entered. I'll
finally was removed with the
blessing of Senator Lodge of Mas
sachusetts, Eisenhower campaignl
manager. who opposed entering
delegate candidates against thel
Stassen slate. The drive for Eisen-
hover write-ins now is being un-
dertaken by the Generals local
supporters and not by the ma
tional Eisenhower organization. til
could result in show Of strong
Eisenhower support.
Taft Forces Back Slettedahl.
The Minnesota Taft group.
headed by Republican National
Committeeman Roy E. Dunn, has
been inclined to support the
, Slettedahl slate in an effort to
weaken Mr.. Stassen and perhapsl
even take some delegates away
from him. Their desire is to lessen
Mr.. Stassen's prestige and so make
him q weaker candidate in Wis
consins primary, where Mr.. Stas-
sen has a complete set of dele
gates entered against a Taft slate.
The Wisconsin primary, which
falls on April l, is regarded as a
crucial test for Senator Taft-aI
test the Ohioan conf1dentially ex-
poets to win.
There has been talk that Demo-
Gratis would move over into the
Republican primary and vote for
the Slettedahl slate. There is no
contest in the Democratic primary.
Senator Kefauver refused to enter
the race against the favorite son.
The suggestion that the Democrats
might enter the Republican pri-
mary has brought from Senator
HUMPHREY q letter, addressed toI
his delegate candidates, urging
them to do all In their power to
keep the Democratic voters in the
Democratic primary. in order to
make a good showing. He is
particularly interested in this
since the threat Of a Kefauver
write-in vote.
Delegates To Be Chosen. ~
In addition to the presidential
preference vote. the Minnesota pri-
maries involve election of % dele
gates to the Republican NATIONAL
Convention and 26 delegates to
the Democratic National Conven-
tion. Mr.. Stassen must win this pri-
mary If he is to remain in the
running at all, and he is expected
to do so.
Senator Taft, after his week in
the Southwest, is moving into Wis
cofisin tomorrow to campaign un-
til the eve Of the primary. putting
in two weeks of intensive work
in all parts of the State.
Taft headquarters has released
q statement prepared by Henry
zweifel, Republican national COM
mitteen1an for Texas, in which
Mr.. zweifel predicted that the
Ohio Senator would have more
than 80" Texas delegate votes on
$ the first ballot taken in the Re-
publican National Convention
next July. Texas will have a total
of 80 delegates at that convention.
Mr.. Zweifel said the Senator had
'helped himself materially by his
three-day tour of Texas last week.
"While I'm for an uninstructed
delegation" Mr.. Zweifel said, II
do think that Taft and Macarthur
win make the best team to carry
the fight against the Truman ad-
ministration to the public"
Mr.. Zweifel added that the re-
suit of the New Hampshire pri-
mary. where Senator Taft lost to
Gen. Eisenhower, will have little
effect on the vast majority of the
people of the country" He said
that all the leading Republicans
In New Hampshire had been lined
up for Gen. Eisenhower. The vote,
he said, showed the rank and file
of the people are for Senator Taft.