Andersen, Application of, s. 38945--38946
| Decision Date | 11 December 1962 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 38945--38946,s. 38945--38946 |
| Citation | 264 Minn. 257,119 N.W.2d 1 |
| Parties | Application of Elmer L. ANDERSEN under MS 203.38 for an Order Directed to the State Canvassing Board. Application of Karl F. ROLVAAG, Petitioner, v. Joseph L. DONOVAN, as Secretary of State of Minnesota, and the State CanvassingBoard, Respondents. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. The object of all election procedural laws is to ascertain the true vote of the people and to declare elected the candidate who receives the most legal votes in a legal election. Absent fraud, bad faith, or jurisdictional defects, technical irregularities in the procedure followed in obtaining the correct result will frequently be overlooked in order to give effect to the true vote of the people.
2. Where a county canvassing board reconvenes and corrects obvious errors in the tabulation or reports of the precinct judges and thereafter reports the final results of the canvass to the state canvassing board, before the date set for its meeting, such amended returns should be accepted if they reflect the true vote of the people, even though the corrections should technically have been made by proceedings under Minn.St. 203.38 rather than under § 204.30.
Richard E. Kyle and J. Neil Morton, St. Paul, for Andersen, petitioner.
Sydney Berde, St. Paul and Fine, Simon & Schneider, Minneapolis, for Rolvaag, petitioner.
At the November 6, 1962, general election, the two major candidates for the office of governor were Elmer L. Andersen on the Republican ticket and Karl F. Rolvaag on the Democratic Farmer-Labor ticket. In the original tabulation of votes by the county canvassing boards throughout the state, Rolvaag led by a margin of 58 votes, the totals being 619,704 for Karl F. Rolvaag and 619,646 for Elmer L. Andersen. After the votes had been certified to the secretary of state, as required by Minn.St. 204.29, subd. 4, the county canvassing boards in ten counties, believing that there had been obvious errors, reconvened and retabulated the results of the election in certain precincts in those counties. In doing so they relied on Minn.St. 204.30. The counties so affected were Blue Earth, Douglas, Grant, Koochiching, Le Sueur, Morrison, Otter Tail, Stearns, Stevens, and Watonwan. Each of the county canvassing boards thereafter certified the results of such recanvasses to the secretary of state. The final result of the tabulations according to recanvasses showed that Elmer L. Andersen had received 619,722 votes and Karl F. Rolvaag, 619,580, or that Elmer L. Andersen led by a plurality of 142 votes.
The state canvassing board met pursuant to § 204.31 on November 20, 1962, to canvass the votes of the candidates for state offices. Being unable to agree whether to accept the original returns certified to the secretary of state by the various canvassing boards or the amended returns, they adjourned from time to time until November 26, at which time it appeared that they were unable to agree among themselves as to which set of votes to accept.
Thereafter a petition was submitted to this court under § 203.38 in behalf of Andersen, seeking to compel the state canvassing board to accept the amended returns as part of their tabulations. Two petitions were submitted at the same time in behalf of Rolvaag, one of which seeks to compel the state canvassing board to accept the corrected votes from one county, namely, Stearns. The other seeks to compel the state canvassing board to reject the amended returns from eight counties. All three petitions came on for hearing before this court on November 28 and were heard together. Basically, the same question is involved in all. Two members of the court, having served on the canvassing board, were disqualified from sitting at the hearing on these petitions. In view of the fact that it was imperative that the state canvassing board complete its work without undue delay and without awaiting a formal opinion of this court, an order was made and filed reading:
The errors alleged to have been corrected consist of a variety of things in the different counties. In Stearns County, the total vote cast for the office of governor in the township of Paynesville appeared to be 363, whereas the number of registered voters amounted to 279. The vote for governor was 89 for Karl F. Rolvaag and 274 for Elmer L. Andersen as returned by the township of Paynesville. The county board, finding this was an error, corrected it so that Karl F. Rolvaag received 89 votes and Elmer L. Andersen, 174. The resolution submitted to the secretary of state does not indicate what caused the error.
In Blue Earth County, it appeared that the third candidate for governor received 23 votes in the township of Mankato, whereas he did not receive more than 7 votes in any other precinct in the county, with 19 voting precincts giving him no votes and 16 precincts giving him one vote. Upon observing the large vote in Mankato township, the county canvassing board concluded that there must have been an error in tabulating his votes. The ballots were inpected, and it was found that the third candidate actually received only 4 votes. The result of the original canvass was that Rolvaag received 233 votes and Andersen, 266. The result of the final tally was that Rolvaag received 233 votes and Andersen 288 votes in the township of Mankato.
In one ward in Douglas County there were 918 voters registered. According to the report of the canvassing board the total number of votes cast for governor was 959. The county canvassing board concluded that there was an obvious error in the fifth ward of the city of Alexandria. It also appeared to the county board that there was an error in Alexandria township in that there was a wide discrepancy between the votes for governor and the pattern of voting in the township as to other candidates. The ballots were examined, and it was found that there actually was an error in the tally in both cases.
In Grant County, 31 absentee ballots were delivered into the hands of the election judges personally instead of being placed in the United States mail. Originally they were not counted. The county board, upon reconvening, considered the return of the ballots proper and counted them. Of the 31 ballots, Rolvaag received 11 votes and Andersen, 20.
In Koochiching County, the resolution does not show what the error consisted of. It simply shows that corrections were made in the tabulation of one ward of the city of International Falls so that Rolvaag gained one vote and Andersen gained three.
In a precinct in Le Sueur County, there were 523 votes cast. The original tabulations showed the combined vote for state auditor was 564 votes, and the total vote for governor was 472. It appeared to the county board that in view of this discrepancy there was an obvious error. The ballots for the first precinct of the first ward of the village of Le Center were thereupon examined, and it was found that there actually was an error existing.
The error in Morrison County consisted of a transposition of figures in the village of Pierz. In the original tabulation Andersen was given 171 votes and Rolvaag, 212. By affidavits of two of the election judges, it was called to the attention of the county board that this was a transposition of the totals for the two candidates. Upon an examination of the ballots it was found that Andersen was entitled to 211 votes and Rolvaag, 174.
The report from Otter Tail County does not show what the error consisted of. It involved a tabulation of the vote in the village of Bluffton. In the retabulation, Rolvaag gained a few votes.
In Watonwan County, it appeared that in one precinct in the city of St. James the vote tabulated for the Democratic candidate for governor was greater in proportion to that for other candidates of that party than in other precincts. This led the county board to believe that there was an error in the tabulation of votes in that precinct. An examination of the ballots confirmed the error.
In Stevens County, it was brought to the attention of the county canvassing board that the canvass of the vote in Pepperton township showed Elmer L. Andersen receiving 31 votes, Karl F. Rolvaag, 86, and the third candidate, 3, being a total of 120 votes, whereas the total number of voters who cast their ballots in this township was 103. It therefore appeared that there was an error. The ballots were examined, and it was found that the vote actually cast was 31 for Andersen and 68 for Rolvaag. It is apparent that the figure 86 had been recorded instead of 68 due to a transposition.
While these errors involve a variety of things, they are all of a nature that could reasonably be said to be obvious errors. The term 'obvious error' as used in our statute is one that defies exact definition. About the only definition that can be given to it is that some error appears evident from an examination of the returns made by the various precincts. The errors shown here are all of a kind that could have been corrected by each county canvassing board when it made its initial canvass. Since this was not done, the question arises: Could the correction be made after the county canvassing board had completed its original canvass?
Minn.St. 204.29, subd. 4, which provides for the original report by the county canvassing board to the secretary of state in elections involving state offices, reads:
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