123 Ga. 677 | Ga. | 1905
The general local option liquor law provides that within twenty days from the day on which the ordinary declares the result of the election, one tenth of those who voted at the election may institute contest proceedings in the superior court in the manner provided in the act; that upon the institution of such a contest the' judge shall direct three justices of the peace of the county to recount the ballots on a given day and report the result to the next term of the superior court, or to the term to which the petition is made returnable, at which term the eon-
The superior court is a constitutional court, and jurisdiction is vested therein by the constitution for the hearing and determining of civil and criminal cases. It has original jurisdiction in regard to certain classes of civil cases and appellate jurisdiction in regard to other classes. It has exclusive jurisdiction of certain classes of civil eases, as well as of certain criminal eases, and it has concurrent jurisdiction with other courts of civil and criminal cases of given classes. The superior court as created by the constitution is a court for the determination of civil and criminal cases. The manner in which these cases shall be heard and determined, so far as it is not prescribed in the constitution, is left to the determination of the General Assembly. The constitution confers upon the superior court and upon the judge authority to exercise, in certain instances, powers which would ordinarily be exercised by the executive or legislative department of the State, as where the judge is authorized to appoint a notary public who is,ex-officio a justice of the peace, or where the superior court is authorized to grant charters to corporations of a given character. There is nothing in the constitution which confers upon the superior court as such the right to hear and determine contests of elections. The question whether there is in the constitution anything which would prohibit the superior court as a court from entertaining jurisdiction of such con
It now becomes necessary for us to determine what was the-character of the proceeding which was instituted by the plaintiffs, in the present case. Was it an appeal to the superior court as a court of equity, for the exercise by that court of some of its equity powers ? Or was it a contest instituted under the provisions of' the general local option liquor law (Civil Code, § 1546) ? The-petition has in it some allegations which would be appropriate, to a petition for a contest; but in the prayer for a recount the plaintiffs do not ask for that which the law says shall be required in a contest, that is, for a recount of the entire vote cast in the. election, the prayer being simply for a recount of the vote cast, at three precincts. It is addressed to the superior court. This would be appropriate in a petition for contest as well as in a, petition for equitable relief. The allegations in reference to the. conduct' of the ordinary, so far as- the notice of the election and the consolidation of the returns are concerned, would- be appro-, priate in either proceeding. The statement as to the ratio which the number of the plaintiffs bore to the number of voters at the. election would indicate that it was the intention of the plaintiffs, to contest the election. That the petitioners are citizens and taxpayers and that some of them are interested as sellers of liquor, and therefore interested as such in the action of the ordinary, are averments wholly foreign- to a contest but are appro-, priate to a petition for equitable relief. This is also true in.ref-..
Judgment affirmed.