INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The first edition of this work having been exhausted, a second, revised, enlarged and improved is now presented to the legal profession and to the public. In this edition the author has cited about one hundred additional election cases: the original text has been added to and corrected, and two new chapters have been inserted, together with a very complete table of contents. A new and much more complete and satisfactory index has also been prepared, and inserted.

The design of the author to facilitate the examination and decision of election controversies, by bringing together in convenient form the authorities upon the subject, and by stating clearly and concisely the principles applicable thereto which have been established by reason and authority, has evidently been realized, as the rapid sale of the first edition and the continued and increasing demand for the work abundantly show.

The present edition is submitted in the hope and expectation that it will meet with an equally kind and appreciative reception.

Chapter fourteen, “of Statutes regulating the Conduct of Elections," is taken for the most part from an article prepared by the author for "The North American Review," and published in that Magazine in May, 1879. It will be found to contain many practical and valuable suggestions upon a subject of general interest and great importance.

THE PUBLISHERS.

PREFACE.

The subject which I have imperfectly treated in the following pages is of great importance, especially to the people of the United States. In a country like ours, where all the powers of government reside with the people, and are delegated to representatives chosen by means of the ballot, and who serve only for short periods, making necessary a frequent appeal to the popular will; and where the decisions reached by this means are often so important, it is inevitable that controversies growing out of elections should be numerous. And it is manifest that it is a matter of great consequence, that the principles which are to control the determination of controversies of this character should be understood, not only by the legal profession, but also by the people generally.

Perhaps the most important purpose to be subserved by the publication of books of the law, is the prevention of litigation by informing the people as to their rights and duties; and it is hoped that this humble contribution to the law of elections may serve this purpose, by diminishing somewhat the number of election contests in the future, while at the same time affording some valuable aid and assistance in their proper decision, when they do arise. It has been my aim to bring together, in a convenient form, the adjudications of the Courts and other tribunals of this country, touching the subjects treated, among which are the following:

The qualifications of electors.

The qualifications, powers and duties of election officers.

The time, place and manner of holding elections.-Notice.

The prima facie right to an office.

Eligibility to office.-Tenure.

Practice and Evidence in contested election cases.

Imperfect ballots.

Violence and intimidation.

Fraud and illegal voting.

Prosecutions for violation of election laws.

Civil liability of election and registration officers, for a failure to discharge their duties.

The organization of legislative bodies, and the power and authority of such bodies over their members.

A considerable experience in the investigation of cases of contested elections, has caused me to feel the need of some such treatise as I have attempted to prepare. The law upon this subject, as determined by the courts and legislative bodies of this country, is only to be found scat. tered through many hundreds of volumes of reports, and the labor of collecting and examining them is necessarily very great. It has been my endeavor in the preparation of this volume, to state briefly and clearly the principles or rules which have been settled, and to cite the authorities where they will be found discussed more at length. I have myself entered into discussion only when considering unsettled or disputed points.

I have entitled this book The AMERICAN Law of Elections. The authorities cited are chiefly American authorities. Upon this subject we are, from the very necessities of the case, building up an American common law.

I do not say that English authorities are of no value upon this branch of the law. On the contrary, I have cited them freely whenever I have deemed them applicable and useful. I have, however, endeavored to keep steadily in view the fact that the genius of our institutions, the character of our political system, and the principles upon which the right of suffrage in this country is founded, all differ so radically from those of England, as to diminish very greatly the value of English precedents in election cases, and I have labored to show that our own tribunals have, by a long course of judicial decisions, settled the law of this country, as it relates to the questions I have treated, upon a firm and solid basis.

KEOKUK, IOWA, 1875.