232 Pa. 540 | Pa. | 1911
Opinion by
At the municipal election held in the fourth ward of the city of Erie on February 15, 1910, several ballots admittedly irregular were cast. We are concerned with a single one of these. It contained a cross mark in the democratic-square, indicating a vote for all the candidates of that party.- Included among these candidates was Jacob Steinfurth, candidate for the office of school director. The ballot also contained a mark to the right of the name of John Heimburger that had been written into the ballot as a candidate for school director. The court below held it to be an attempt to vote for two persons for the same office when one only could be voted for, and therefore rejected it entirely from the count. The appellant who is a candidate for the office of select councilman on the democratic ticket complains of this, and insists that under the law the ballots should be counted for himself and all other candidates on the democratic ticket except the candidate for school director; that the irregularity went no further than to nullify the vote for that office. It will be observed that the irregularity is precisely the same as that which gave rise to the controversy in Newberry Twp. Election, 187 Pa. 297, where it was held that the ballot was wholly defective, and the court below was sustained in rejecting it from the count. That case arose under the election Act of June 10, 1893, P. L. 419. It is contended that the ruling there is inapplicable here because of the change effected in the law by the amending Act of April 29, 1903, P. L. 338. The difference in the language of the two acts relied upon as supporting this view is, that in the earlier act the word “shall” is used, while in the later one the word “may ” is employed in dealing with the same subject. Section 22 of the earlier act provides that the elector
“He may vote according to the above provisions, for the candidate of his choice for each office to be filled, according to the number of persons to be voted for by him for each office, or he may insert in the blank space provided therefor, in accordance with sec. 14 of this act any name not already on the ballot," etc.
A comparison of the two acts must satisfy that the primary object in amending this particular section, was not to introduce substantial changes in the law, but rather to change the form of the ballot, and to make clear what before was inadequately expressed. Under the earlier act a choice of methods was allowed the elector when he came to prepare his ballot, notwithstanding the employ
The act of 1903 makes but slight verbal change in the amended section of the act of 1893. The section referred to provides that if a voter mark more names than he is entitled to vote for for an office, or if for any reason it is impossible to determine the voter’s choice for any office to be filled, his ballot shall not be counted, for such office, but the ballot shall be counted for all other offices for which names of candidates have been properly marked. In New-berry Twp. Election, supra, where the ballot had the
We see nothing in the amendment to the section of the act here involved that exempts it in any way from the ruling in Newberry Twp. Election, supra, and following that authority we dismiss this appeal, and affirm the judgment of the court below.