Wichelmann v. City of Glencoe
| Decision Date | 21 May 1937 |
| Docket Number | No. 31313.,31313. |
| Citation | 273 N.W. 638,200 Minn. 62 |
| Parties | WICHELMANN v. CITY OF GLENCOE (HOAR et al., Interveners). |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, McLeod County; A. B. Gislason, Judge.
Election contest by Alfred Wichelmann against the City of Glencoe, wherein Herbert H. Hoar and others intervened. From an order denying a new trial after findings that propositions submitted to voters were carried and adopted, the interveners apappeal.
Affirmed.
Herbert H. Hoar, of Glencoe, for appellants.
G. P. Smith, of Mankato, for respondent Wichelmann.
W. W. Merrill, of Glencoe, for respondent City of Glencoe.
At a special election in the City of Glencoe on July 28, 1936, there were submitted the questions: Shall the city construct a light and power plant? and Shall the city issue $75,000 in bonds for the purpose of constructing the plant? The contestant-respondent and contestee-respondent contend that a mere majority vote in favor of the propositions is sufficient, and the interveners contend that a 60 per cent. vote in favor thereof is required. The court below held that 26 absentee voters' ballots, of which 7 were cast in favor of, and 19 against, the propositions, were procured, cast, and returned in violation of the so-called Absent Voters Law (1 Mason's Minn.St.1927, §§ 496 to 508-1, as amended, 3 Mason's Minn.St. 1934 Supp. Id.), and that said ballots were void, unlawful, and of no effect. The 26 ballots were rejected. It is conceded that, if the rejecting of the absentee voters' ballots is correct, the propositions submitted to the voters were carried and adopted, as the court below held.
The findings of fact with respect to these 26 ballots, amply sustained by the evidence and hence, final here, are, that none of the absentee voters casting said ballots made and filed verified applications for the ballots with the city clerk, prior to the election, as required by law; that a blank application for each of said ballots was delivered to each of the voters with the ballot and returned by the voter with his ballot to the judges of election; that applications for 15 of said ballots were in fact executed subsequent to the delivery of the ballots by the city clerk; that 4 of said applications were not verified as required by law; and that 10 of said ballots were not marked, sealed, and mailed as required by said law in that as to said ballots, the cancellation stamp of the postal officer was not affixed to the certificate, in conformity with the statute. Further, the court found that many of the ballots, applications, return envelopes, "and required contents," were delivered by the city clerk to a partisan in said election who, in turn, distributed the same to the absentee voters who returned them in the manner stated. None of the applications of the 26 absentee voters were received or filed by the city clerk until returned to him by the judges of election after said election had been held. There is also a finding that some of the ballots were delivered to and deposited in the post office by a third person, not a voter, contrary to law.
The Absent Voters Law, so far as here pertinent, provides that any person entitled to vote in an election, who is absent from the election district, or is unable to go to the polling place by reason of illness or physical disability, "may * * * vote therein by having his ballot delivered by mail to the election judges of such district on the day of such general election [the statute by its terms applies to the election in question], by complying with the provisions of this act," [Italics supplied] section 496, Mason's Minn.St.Supp.1934. The statute further provides that a voter "may make application in writing subscribed by him" to the city clerk for ballots and envelopes; and that he shall subscribe and swear to the oath printed on the back of the application as required by law "at the time of making such application," section 497, Mason's Minn.St.1927; that the city clerk "shall file" the application, section 499, Id., and deliver the same to the judges of election in which the absent voters' ballots are to be cast, section 502, Id.; that "the applicant for such ballots shall pay" to the city clerk, at the time he makes such application, a fee of 20 cents, section 500, Mason's Minn.St.Supp.1934; that if the application by the voter is made more than 15 days before the election, the city clerk "shall mail to the applicant at the address specified in the application," the ballots, envelopes, and other matters specified, and if the application is made within 15 days of the election, "he shall forthwith upon receipt of such application, mail or deliver to the applicant if he apply therefor in person," the ballots, envelopes, and other matters, section 499; that the city clerk "shall mail or deliver to the applicant" with the ballots two envelopes and a voter's certificate, section 501, Mason's Minn.St.1927, and Supp.1934, one of the envelopes being a ballot envelope in which to place the ballot after it has been marked, and the other a return envelope on which the address of the election judges is to be written by the city clerk and in which the ballot envelope is to be inclosed with the voter's certificate, and the certificate of an attesting witness as to the compliance with the statute by the voter in marking and mailing by the voter personally, pursuant to the instructions set forth in detail in the statute, section 501. The judges of election are to receive such ballots delivered to them by the United States mail, section 504, Mason's Minn.St.1927. It is provided in the last-mentioned section that if the ballots are not received for the reason that the voter has failed to comply with the requirements set forth in prior sections of the statute, the ballot envelope shall be marked "rejected," and placed in the return envelope with the voter's certificate and placed with and returned to the city clerk, with the unused ballots.
The purpose of an election is to ascertain the will of the electorate. In order to secure a full and complete expression of the popular will, it is necessary not only that all voters who are qualified be permitted to vote, but also that only those who are entitled to vote be permitted to do so, and that a proper count and return be made. Laws relating to the registration of voters, secrecy of the ballot, and counting and returning the results of elections, are designed to give the fullest expression to the will of the electorate at the polls and at the same time prevent illegal voting, frauds, and dishonesty in elections which frequently have defeated the will of the voters. The general election law provides that voting shall be by ballot in person in the regular polling places in the election districts. The Absent Voters Law provides a way for voting by mail in cases in which the voters are absent from the district or are physically unable to go to the polls in person. The lawmaking power, being fully cognizant of the possibilities of illegal voting, frauds and dishonesty in elections, prescribed many safeguards in the Absent Voters Law to prevent such abuses. While the purpose of the statute is to extend the privilege of voting, its provisions clearly indicate an intention not to let down the bars necessary for honest elections. Absentee...
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