Fessenden v. Bossa
| Decision Date | 13 July 1897 |
| Citation | 69 Conn. 335,37 A. 977 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | FESSENDEN, State's Attorney, v. BOSSA et al. |
Appeal from superior court, Fairfield county; Ralph Wheeler, Judge.
Application by Samuel Fessenden, state's attorney, for an alternative writ of mandamus requiring Norbert Bossa and others, the respondents, to correct their return, declaration, and certificate of the result of a town vote on the license question, tried to the court upon motion of the respondents to quash the alternative writ. The court granted the motion, and denied the application, and the petitioner appealed for alleged errors in the rulings of the court. No error.
Julius B. Curtis and Louis J. Curtis, for appellant.
John H. Light, for appellees.
This is an appeal from a judgment denying an application for a peremptory writ of mandamus. The substance of the application and of the alternative writ may be stated as follows: At the annual town meeting of the town of New Canaan held on the first Monday of October, 1896, pursuant to legal notice to that effect, a vote by ballot was taken to determine whether any person should be licensed to sell spirituous and intoxicating liquors in said town. The respondent Bossa was the moderator of said meeting, and the respondents Noble, Kirk, Hoyt, and Weed were the counters of said ballots. Of the legal ballots cast at said meeting, there were 264 against, and 265 in favor of, the issue of such licenses. The respondent Jones is town clerk of said town, The alternative writ required the counters to return to Bossa, the moderator, "the lawful result of said balloting, namely, 265 ballots in favor of 'License,' and 264 ballots in favor of 'No License.'" it required the moderator "to certify said result to said town clerk," and it required the town clerk to "receive such certificate from said Bossa, and transmit the same to the secretary of state and the county commissioners of Fairfield county," or that the respondents should signify cause to the contrary to the court, on or before December 11, 1896. The respondents filed a motion to quash the alternative writ, the substance of which motion may be stated as follows: The facts alleged in the alternative writ, and in the application therefor, show (1) that the respondents are not by law authorized or required to do what they are in the alternative writ required to do; (2) that the counters counted the ballots, and certified the same to the moderator, who, in turn, received said certificate, and certified the same to the town clerk, as required by law; (3) that the two ballots counted in favor of "No License" "were not illegal ballots under the law regulating balloting for 'License' or 'No License,' and that they were properly counted and returned"; (4) that the respondents have no power to do that which the alternative writ commands them to do. The court granted the motion to quash, and denied the application for a peremptory mandamus.
One of the decisive questions in this case is whether the two so-called "illegal ballots" were rightfully counted in favor of "No License." If they were, the decision of the court below must stand, and all other questions in the case become of no importance upon this appeal. Section 9 of chapter 267 of the Public Acts of 1895 (page 619), concerning elections, provides that "if more than one ballot...
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Osorio-Fuentes v. Smith, No. CV04 0486751 S (CT 4/12/2004), CV04 0486751 S
...v. Lemelin, 155 Conn. 68, 77, 230 A.2d 36 (1967); Scully v. Westport, 145 Conn. 648, 651-52, 145 A.2d 742 (1958); State v. Bossa, 69 Conn. 335, 341, 37 A. 977 (1897)." Wrinn v. Dunleavy, supra, 186 Conn. 141-42. The plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of proof for a temporary injunc......
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Scully v. Town of Westport
...within the prohibition of some statute it should be counted, if from it the wish or will of the voter can be ascertained.' State v. Bossa, 69 Conn. 335, 341, 37 A. 977; Flanagan v. Hynes, 75 Conn. 584, 588, 54 A. 737; Moran v. Bens, 144 Conn. 27, 32, 127 A.2d 42. The court was not in error ......
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Election of U.S. Representative for Second Congressional Dist., In re, 15134
...the prohibition of some statute it should be counted, if from it the wish or will of the voter can be ascertained. State v. Bossa, 69 Conn. 335, 341, 37 A. 977 [1897]; Flanagan v. Hynes, 75 Conn. 584, 588, 54 A. 737 [1903]; Moran v. Bens, 144 Conn. 27, 32, 127 A.2d 42 [1956]." (Emphasis add......
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Wrinn v. Dunleavy
...v. Lemelin, 155 Conn. 68, 77, 230 A.2d 36 (1967); Scully v. Westport, 145 Conn. 648, 651-52, 145 A.2d 742 (1958); State v. Bossa, 69 Conn. 335, 341, 37 A. 977 (1897). But the right to vote is not absolute and is subject to regulation by the legislature. Mills v. Gaynor, 136 Conn. 632, 636, ......