90 Vt. 163 | Vt. | 1916
Each, the Primary Act and the Prohibitory Act, involves a question of general public policy, the former as a regulation of elections, and the latter as a regulation, under the police power, for the public good. From a legal standpoint, the people of the whole state are equally interested therein. Each enactment has become a law to take effect at a future time, irrespective of what the result of the vote on the referendum may be, but the time of taking effect is contingent upon the result of such vote. The purpose of each Act is of such importance that the Legislature, in its wisdom, deemed it advisable in this manner to ascertain the real public opinion concerning it, and upon that opinion, as it may be expressed in the way provided for, was made to depend which of the two dates named, the Act should take effect. Such, in short, being the nature and importance of the enactments, was it the intention of the Legislature to get such expression of opinion by vote of all the freemen of the State, or was it the intention to get such expression ■of opinion from those only who by law are entitled to vote in town meetings upon matters relating exclusively to the town or city in which the votes are given? If it was the latter and not the former, then it was the intention of the Legislature to get an expression of opinion concerning these two Acts of state-wide interest and importance, from a portion only of the freemen of the State, excluding from the privilege of taking part therein, the rest of the freemen because, and only because, they failed to comply with a law affecting, so far as the individual freeman is concerned, the interests of the particular town
Each of the Acts of 1915 provides that the ballot clerks, board of civil authority, and the town and city clerks, shall perform the same duties in respect of the ballots to be used thereunder as are imposed upon those officials by chapters 11 and 12 of the Public Statutes, except as otherwise provided in the Act, “and all regulations provided by law for conducting general elections shall be applicable to the votes provided for in this act.” The two chapters named have reference (giving the titles of the chapters) (11) to Ballots, and (12) to Warning and Conducting Elections. In considering the meaning of the provision making applicable to the votes all regulations provided by law for conducting general elections, light is had by an examination of other statutes by which questions of general interest throughout the state have been submitted to a popular vote.
The term “general election” is defined by section 5 of the Public Statutes to mean “any election of state and county officers, representatives to Congress or electors.” (By No. 1, Sec. 1, Laws of 1915, it is made to include United States Senators.) And throughout the Public Statutes (revision of 1906) the term “general election” is uniformly used to designate what before had commonly been known as “freemen’s meet
In the Acts under consideration, it should be noticed, too, that in section 33 of the Primary Act, and in section 59 of the Prohibitory Act, the word “ballots” does not mean the same as the word “votes.” The two sections refer to “ballots to be
If the purpose of the Legislature was to place the matter of such voting before the town meeting as such, it was very easy to say so in apt language, and to get the expression of those who could legally vote in such meetings, without making the
The record shows that the check list which the defendants, as the board of civil authority, were revising on the 26th day of February, was a copy of the check list filed in the town clerk’s office of the town by the selectmen, under the provisions of section 85 of the Public Statutes. We understand this to mean that it is a cheek list required by the provisions of that section. It follows that the relator was entitled to have his name inserted thereon, as he demanded, so that he may vote on the referenda under the two Acts of 1915, at the time of the annual meeting of the town of Brookfield, March 7, 1916.