Franklin v. Harper

• Decision Date: 16 September 1949
• Docket Number: No. 16758.,16758.
• Parties: FRANKLIN. v. HARPER et al.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

55 S.E.2d 221
205 Ga. 779

FRANKLIN.
v.
HARPER et al.

No. 16758.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Sept. 16, 1949.

In mandamus action by J. Walter Harper and others, as county registrars, against David Franklin, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues, the Superior Court of Richmond County, G. C. Anderson, J., held that the Voters' Registration Act is constitutional and directed defendant to sign warrants for payment of registrars' salaries, and the defendant sued out a writ of error.

The Supreme Court, Almand, J., affirmed the judgment.

[55 S.E.2d 222]

[COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.]

[55 S.E.2d 223]Syllabus by the Court

1. In a mandamus proceeding against the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues charged with the legal duty of executing warrants to pay out public funds only for lawful purposes, to require him to sign warrants for payment of salaries to members of the County Board of Registrars, which board was created and compensation for services of its members fixed as provided for under a State statute, such chairman may by demurrer to the petition challenge the constitutionality of the act creating such Board of Registrars.

2. Where a statute is asserted to be invalid as a whole as being in violation of specified portions of the State and Federal Constitutions, this court will only consider the general question as to whether the stat-

[55 S.E.2d 224]

ute is invalid as a whole, without an adjudication as to the validity or invalidity of any particular sections or parts except as related to the general question.

3. Registration laws are the means and machinery by which proofs are submitted showing the existence of the citizen's qualifications as an elector; such statutes having for their purpose regulation of the exercise of the right of suffrage, but not to qualify or restrict the right to vote. Such laws must be impartial, uniform, and reasonable, giving to all a fair, equal, and reasonable opportunity to exercise the right to qualify as an elector.

4. The act approved February 25, 1949, Ga.L.1949, p. 1204, entitled "Voters' Registration Act, " as against the attack on the act as a whole, is not violative of either of the following provisions of the Constitution of Georgia of 1945: art. 1, sec. 1, par. 3, Code Ann. § 2-103; art. 1, sec. 1, par. 1, Code Ann. § 2-101; art. 1, sec. 1, par. 2, Code Ann. § 2-102.

5. Said Voters' Registration Act, as against the attack on the act as a whole, does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

6. Said Voters' Registration Act, as against the attack made on the statute as a whole, does not violate the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

7. Under constitutional and statutory provisions, the Board of County Commissioners of Roads and Revenues of Richmond County is authorized to issue warrants to be paid out of general county funds, in payment of salaries to County Registrars for preparing lists of voters.

8. The assignments of error on the other grounds of general and special demurrer, having been either expressly abandoned or not argued in this court, will not be passed upon.

9. Where the trial judge correctly overruled a general demurrer to the application for a writ of mandamus absolute, and the facts alleged in the petition were undisputed by the defendant, there was no error in granting a mandamus absolute.

Under the provisions of an act of the General Assembly of Georgia approved February 25, 1949, Ga. L. 1949, p. 1204, entitled "Voters' Registration Act", the Judge of Richmond Superior Court appointed J. Walker Harper, C Nolan Bowden, and G. E. Murphey as County Registrars, and fixed their compensation as follows: Chairman of the Board, $350 per month; $75 per month to each member. Said act provided that the salaries and expenses of the board be paid from the county treasury.

The plaintiffs, as County Registrars of Richmond County, filed their application for the writ of mandamus against David Franklin, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues of said county, and alleged that they had entered upon their duties as County Registrars on April 1, 1949, and during the month of April exercised the powers and duties of office required of members of the Board of Registrars, attaching to the petition a copy of the order of the superior court appointing them and fixing their compensation. On April 5, 1949, the defendant was advised of their appointment and qualification. Said board was advised by the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues to proceed with the administration of the Voters' Registration Act, and at that time no question was raised as to the payment of the salaries of the members of the board. On April 30 county warrants, in the form used by Richmond County, for the payment of salaries fixed in the order of the court, were presented to the defendant for his signature, said warrants having been signed by the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues, but the defendant refused to sign the warrants. Thereafter the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues on May 3 passed a resolution directing the defendant to sign said warrants, and authorized the payment of the petitioners' salaries for the month of April, and the warrants were again presented to the defendant and he refused to sign them, on the ground that the Voters' Registration Act under which the petitioners were acting was invalid.

[55 S.E.2d 225]

The petitioners alleged that they will suffer pecuniary loss for which they cannot be compensated in damages, because of the defendant's failure to carry out the duties of his office. They have no other remedy, legal or equitable. The prayer was that a writ of mandamus be issued, requiring the defendant to sign the warrants drawn for the petitioners' salaries. To this petition the defendant filed general and special demurrers. By the general demurrers, the defendant attacked the validity of the Voters' Registration Act on the grounds: (a) Said act violates art. 1, sec. 1, par. 3 of the Constitution of Georgia, Code Ann. § 2-103, which provides, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, except by due process of law", in that such act is discriminatory against the right of one to exercise his franchise, and tends to take away the liberty of the voters of the State of Georgia without due process of law. (b) It violates art. 1, sec. 1, par. 1 of the Constitution of Georgia, Code Ann. § 2-101, which provides, "All government, of right, originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole. Public officers are the trustees and servants of the people, and at all times, amenable to them", in that this defendant is Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues of Richmond County, which controls the fiscal affairs of said county, and it is his duty to conserve the money of Richmond County under his control; and since the act relied upon impinges upon the section of the Constitution above quoted, such proceeding should be dismissed. (c) It violates art. 1, sec. 1, par. 2 of the Constitution of Georgia, Code Ann. § 2-102, which provides, "Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government, and shall be impartial and complete", because such act sets up a system of censorship contrary to the principles of a democratic form of government; and since the defendant is a public official, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues which controls the fiscal affairs of said county, such proceeding should be dismissed. (d) Said act violates the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to the

Constitution of the United States, Code Ann. § 1-815 which provides: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" --because it abridges the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, and deprives persons of liberty without due process of law, since the right to vote is the very foundation of a democratic form of government; "and to set up a board which has power to discriminate and censor the right of citizens to vote, who are the creators of the government, and is therefore void;" and no order of a judge of the superior court can give validity thereto, nor impose upon this defendant the duty of approving vouchers for payment of so-called salaries of any such board. (e) Said act violates the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, Code Ann. § 1-820, which provides, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude", because the act abridges the right of citizens to vote on account of race or color; that it leaves to three men unlimited and arbitrary power to declare them ineligible to vote; and defendant is Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues, which has control of the fiscal affairs of Richmond County, and it is his duty to protect the interest of voters of every class and not to pay out any public money for any purpose other than is expressly provided by law.

By general demurrer the defendant also contends that the plaintiffs have an ample remedy at law, in that it appears that the defendant is not liable to pay to the plaintiffs any salary; that there is no specific law which would require this defendant to

[55 S.E.2d 226]

sign any warrant; and, further, it does not appear from the petition that the defendant...