167 Ind. 276 | Ind. | 1906
Lead Opinion
September 29, 1906, relator, a citizen of Marshall county, filed his petition for an alternative writ of mandate, to require the board of election commissioners of said county, and John R. Jones and Francis Marion Burkett, constituting a majority of said board, to place on the official ballots, to be used at the next general election, in the second column of said ballot, under the device of
Aside from certain practice questions, counsel for appellees offer but one objection to the complaint, and that is based on the contention that the facts alleged at most show a case wherein the board has a discretion to determine which of the two tickets it will permit to go upon the ballot as the ticket of the Republican party.
It is alleged in the petition and writ that the manner in which the Republican party of Indiana is organized is as follows: “In every voting precinct in the State a precinct committeeman is biennially elected by the voters of the precinct at a time fixed by the state central committee. In every county the precinct - committeemen constitute the county committee, and choose their own officers under rules established by the state central committee, which consists, and for many years has consisted, of thirteen members, chosen one from each congressional district by the Republican voters of the district. In each district is • a district committee consisting of the chairman of each county committee and of the member of the state committee for the district. The governing body of the entire organization is the state central committee, to which all local organizations and committees are inferior and subordinate.” It fully appears that the adherents of said party in the thirty-three voting precincts of Marshall county met, pursuant to the call of said state committee, and elected precinct committeemen, who organized and selected relator as the chairman of the county organization; that said county committee and its chairman have at all times been recognized by the state committee; that the list of nominees, which the
The election law provides that “in each county in the State, the clerk of the circuit court and two persons by him appointed, one from each of the two political parties that cast the largest number of votes in the State at the last general election, shall constitute a county board of election commissioners. * * * It shall be the duty of such board to prepare and distribute ballots for election of all officers to be voted for in such county other than those who are voted for by all the electors of the State. §6214 Burns 1901, Acts 1889, p. 157, §17. The next section contains the following provisions: “The said board of election commissioners shall cause to be printed on the respective ballots the names of the candidates nominated by the conventions
Assuming the truth of the facts alleged by relator, it is clear that a convention which was held at the time and place designated in the call of the central committee, of which relator is the chairman, was the convention whose nominees should be recognized, upon the filing of a proper certificate as required by law, as the candidates whose names should go upon the ballot as constituting the Republican ticket of nominees for the various offices to which they have been nominated, and that, upon these facts appearing, they should appear in the place on said ballot designated for the Republican ticket, and under the name and emblem of the party.
Thus far we have written upon the merits; and, without being at the pains to state the objections which counsel for appellees urge to the petition and writ, we may state that, having carefully considered such objections, we regard them as unavailing.
Judgment affirmed. All concur, except Montgomery, J., who votes for a reversal and files a separate opinion.
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting Opinion.
The manifest theory and purpose of the relator’s petition is to present to the court for settlement the conflicting claims of two lists of county candidates to the right to have their names printed in the second column of the official ballots, under the title of the Republican party and the emblem of an eagle. No suggestion appears to have been made in the court below that the nominating convention convoked by relator was not shown to have been held at the place designated in the call therefor, nor is anything disclosed in this controversy making the place of holding such convention a matter of importance. No such question is raised or discussed in the briefs of counsel upon appeal. The determination of the controversy presented and urged turns wholly upon the question as to which of the rival lists of candidates shall be recognized as the genuine Republican ticket. All other questions are subsidiary to this, and the formal defects in the petition pointed out in the majority opinion are such as could and doubtless would have been cured by amendment, upon suggestion of their existence, and not having been presented or insisted upon by counsel upon appeal, this court is warranted in considering only the alleged defects passed upon by the lower court, and treating all others as waived. It is not the imperative duty of the members of this court to
This averment was, perhaps, essential to the jurisdiction of the court, and is decisive of the question under consideration. The writer of the principal opinion attempts to determine the question by tests which are appropriate in controversies involving property rights, but which are wholly inadequate to the solution of a purely political matter. The question involved is one essentially political and not judicial in its character. It has been generally held that such questions will be relegated to the voters for settlement, and the courts will not .attempt to investigate the government, usages or doctrines of political parties, and to exclude from the official ballots the names of candidates placed in nomination, on the ground that they are not proper representatives of the political doctrines or party government of the party to which they profess allegiance, but such questions are to be settled primarily by the party tribunals. Stephenson v. Board, etc. (1898), 118 Mich. 396, 76 N. W. 914, 74 Am. St. 402, 42 L. R. A. 214, and cases cited. This recognition by the highest tribunals of the party involved gives regularity and validity to the acts of the relator as such chairman, from a partisan standpoint, and is controlling upon the courts. Breidenthal v. Edwards (1896), 57 Kan. 332, 46 Pac. 469, 34 L. R. A. 146; Moody v. Trimble (1900), 109 Ky. 139, 58 S. W. 504, 50
Bo controversy having been disclosed over the place of holding the nominating convention, that matter is. immaterial in the determination of the question presented. If in point of fact the nominations are not certified in writing, as required by law, they are not entitled to go upon the ballots at all.
The genuine list, when properly certified, must be recognized and given its proper place upon the ballots, while the pretenders must be assigned a different column, name, and device.
It follows that the list of candidates nominated at the convention convoked by the relator on June 2, 1906, is the genuine list of Republican candidates, and as such is entitled to be placed in the second column under the party name and emblem on the official ballots, and this right having been denied them as alleged, upon the sole ground of a lack of party regularity and genuineness, the petition is sufficient -to afford the relief sought. I therefore dissent from the conclusions reached by a majority of the court, and vote for a reversal of the judgment.