Court Opinion

ID: 9704337
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:31:40.382115+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:31.153292
License: Public Domain

*195DISSENTING OPINION
DeBruler, C. J.
Following a recount of the votes cast in the 1967 city election for the office of City Judge of the City of New Albany, Indiana, wherein the appellee and appellant were the sole candidates for said office, a recount commission, appointed by the Judge of the Floyd Circuit Court, declared the appellant to be the winner by a margin of three votes. The recount commission reported that the appellee had received 7736 votes and the appellant had received 7739 votes. Following trial the said judge entered judgment to the effect that the appellee had been elected by a majority of the votes cast. The court adjudged that the appellant had received 7747 and the appellee had received 7750.
On appeal the majority in its opinion has awarded the appellant an additional seven votes which had been declared void by the trial court. The majority further awards the appellee one additional vote and declares one vote for the appellee void which the trial court had awarded him. The majority, therefore, declares the appellant the winner of the election by a margin of four votes, the appellant being awarded a total of 7754 votes, and the appellee being awarded 7750 votes.
I dissent from the opinion of the majority on three grounds, namely: (1) the majority incorrectly cites the statutory rules as contained in a publication of the State Election Board entitled Town Election Laws of Indiana, 1967, as being the controlling standards governing the validity of the ballots in the case at bar; (2) the majority fails to apply the standards for invalidating ballots for failing to have initials of the poll clerks endorsed upon them contained in Burns’ IND. STAT. ANN. §29-5201; and (3) the majority applies liberal rules validating certain votes cast for the appellant, which were invalidated by the trial court and then does not apply the same rules to the votes cast for the appellee which were invalidated by the trial judge. I concur with the majority opinion in that it validates additional votes for the appellant *196which had been found void by the trial court and concur in the majority opinion wherein it validates an additional vote for the appellee and then invalidates another.
My first concern is that the State Election Board publication does not incorporate the important amendments made to Burns’ IND. STAT. ANN. § 29-5218 by the Acts of the General Assembly of 1965. All of these amendments are clearly set out and explained in the compiler’s note to Burns’ § 29-5218, supra, and I only copy the following which is the present Rule 7, which in my judgment is indicative of the tenor of all of these amendments by the Acts of 1965.
“Rule 7. The intent of the voter shall be the primary factor to be considered in determining the voter’s choice on a ballot, and if such intent may be determined on the ballot or part of a ballot then the vote shall be counted as to the candidate or candidates effected [affected] thereby: Provided, however any part of a ballot, from which it is impossible to determine the elector’s choice of candidates, shall not be counted as to the candidate, or candidates, affected thereby.”
Since the Town Election Laws of Indiana, 1967, does not incorporate or refer to the amendments made by the Acts of 1965, it should not be cited as controlling in this case.
In the second place, there are fifteen (15) disputed ballots in this case upon which no initials of the poll clerks appear. These are ballots numbered 7, 8, 18, 19, 21, 31, 32, 34, 38, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 and 67. Nine (9) of these were found valid by both the majority and the trial court and counted for the appellant, and six (6) of them were found valid by the majority and the trial court and counted for the appellee. All fifteen (15) of these should be declared void and not counted for either candidate under the clear mandate of Burns’ § 29-5201, supra.
“. . . And in the canvass of the votes any member of the election board may protest as to the counting of any ballot, or any part thereof, and any ballot which is not indorsed *197with the initial of the clerks, as provided for in this act [chs. 28-60 of this title], . . . shall be void, and shall not be counted....”
The policy of invalidating such ballots should be maintained by this Court as it is an effective guard against election fraud and insures that the will of the majority will prevail. This policy was upheld by this Court in the case of Sims v. George (1968), 250 Ind. 595, 236 N. E. 2d 820, wherein this Court stated as follows:
“Ballots D 85 and D 86 were official ballots purporting to be absentee ballots voted without poll clerk’s initials on the back. They were enclosed in an absentee ballot envelope. Exhibit D 85 had an application enclosed with it for a voter’s ballot signed by one Bernard W. Carrico. There are other defects with reference to distinguishing marks on these exhibits which we need not go into.
“ ‘The whole ballot is void if the voter (a) does any act extrinsic to the ballot such as enclosing any paper or (b) makes any mark thereon other than a cross X mark on or in a voting square or circle . . .’ Burns’ Ind. Stat. Anno. § 29-5218 (Rule 1) [1967 Supp.].
“ ‘Any ballot on which an elector shall write his name ... or special symbol, such as a star, circle, parallel lines, circle, dots or any combination thereof shall be void.’ Burns’ Ind. Stat. Anno. § 25-5218 (Rule 8 [1967 Supp.].
. . And in the canvas of the votes any member of the election board may protest as to the counting of any ballot, or any part thereof, and any ballot which is not indorsed with the initial of the clerks as provided for in this act, and any ballot which shall bear any distinguishing mark or multilation shall be void, and shall not be counted, . . .’ Burns’ Ind. Stat. Anno. § 29-5201 [1949 Repl.].
“ ‘. . . Before mailing any ballot, the clerk shall affix his official seal and place his signature near the lower left hand corner on the back thereof leaving sufficient space on the margin of such ballot for the initials of the poll clerks.’ Burns’ Ind. Stat. Anno. § 29-4907 [1967 Supp.]. (Our emphasis.)
“The trial court erred in counting Exhibits D 85 and D 86 for the appellee. Exhibits D 87 and D 88 are envelopes *198in which the ballots were contained.” (Emphasis added.) 236 N. E. 2d at 822, 823.
Finally, the majority validates certain votes cast for the appellant even though the X mark made on them by the voter was “irregular,” “unartfully made,” was an “imperfect cross,” was made “in an unsteady manner” and even though there were some smear marks on the ballot made by folding while the ink was wet, and even though an unartfully made X had been retraced.
Upon the basis of these analyses made by the majority, Exhibits No. 25 and 60, which were voided, should be counted for the appellee. Exhibit No. 25 is a vote cast for the appellee signified by a retraced X mark. This X mark is formed by the intersection of six separate lines. It is indistinguishable in any relevant aspect from the X marks on Exhibits No. 6,11,15 and 30, which in each case, was formed by the intersection of more than two lines. On each of those ballots the lines making up the X mark did not all intersect at the same point, but intersected at very irregular intervals. The majority validates Exhibits No. 6, 11, 15 and 30, and should likewise validate Exhibit No. 25.
Exhibit No. 60 is a ballot containing a vote for the appellee. On this ballot is a plain X marked in the circle containing the party emblem. This mark is superimposed over a faint line through the center of the X. This is obviously a case where the voter first drew a line to make an X which resulted in only a faint line; and he thereupon made a clear X mark over this faint line. This ballot is almost identical to Exhibit No. 40 and cannot be differentiated from Exhibit No. 40 in any relevant aspect. The majority validated Exhibit No. 40 and counted it for the appellant and should, therefore, in order to be consistent, validate Exhibit No. 60 and count it for the appellee.
I would conclude that nine (9) votes counted by the majority for the appellant are void under Burns’ IND. STAT. ANN. *199§ 29-2801 and would determine that appellant received a total of 7745 votes. I would also conclude that six (6) votes counted by the majority for the appellee are void under Burns’ § 29-2801, supra, and would determine that two (2) votes voided by the majority are valid and should be counted for the appellee and that appellee received a total of 7746 votes.
The trial court judgment that appellee received a majority of the votes cast for the office of City Judge of New Albany, Indiana, in the 1967 town election, should be affirmed.
Jackson, J., concurs.
Note.—Reported in 247 N. E. 2d 61.