FLORIDA. 



Ml 



vened, and shall proceed with the canvass of said 

 returns no fur a mvived. 



Anl uiil petit ioiu-rn l'u rther showed that they had 

 no >]'rcine n-iiu-ilvut luw to redress the grievance of 

 which they complained. 



Sui.i |" litioners therefore prayed that the said 

 Sanim-1 B. .Mel. in, as Secretary of State, be com- 

 111:111. l.-il t<> ii 'Hl'\ the Attorney -Genera I and the 

 Controller of Public Accounts to meet him at his 

 office and form with tin in a Board of State Canvass- 

 ers, and thut the said C. A. Cowgill, as Controller 

 of rublk Aei'ounts, uiul NS illiuin Archer Cocke, as 

 Attorney-General, bo oommnoded, upon said notice 

 by them received, to meet with the said Samuel B. 

 Mi-Lin, as Secretary of State, to form said board, 

 and that they, the uld Samuel B. McLin, C. A. 

 Ci>n<nll, Mid William Archer Cocke, as members of 

 said ooard, be commanded to proceed forthwith to 

 canvass the several returns of the several counties 

 already received, and such as shall from day to day 

 be received, until said canvass shall be completely 

 ended, as required by the act passed February 27, 



A. D. 1872, entitled " An act to amend an act to pro- 

 vide for the registration of electors and the holding 

 of elections," approved August 5, 1868, or the cause 

 wli v not to show unto us. 



Now, therefore, we, being willing that full and 

 speedy justice should be done in the premises, do 

 cmmund you, Samuel B. McLin, Secretary of State, 

 to notify tne said C. A. Cowgill, Controller of Pub- 

 lic Accounts, and William Archer Cocke, Attorney- 

 General, to meet you, the said Samuel B. McLin, at 

 your office forthwith, and form a Board of State Can- 

 vassers, and do command you, the said C. A. Cow- 

 gill, Controller of Public Accounts, and you, the said 

 William Archer Cocke, Attorney-General, upon re- 

 ceipt of said notice, to meet forthwith with t h.- said 

 Samuel B. MoLin, as Secretary of State, to form 

 said board ; and do command you, the said Samuel 



B. McLin, C. A. Cowjfill, and William Archer Cocke, 

 as members of said board, to proceed forthwith to 

 canvass the several returns of the several counties 

 already received, and such as shall from day to day 

 be received, until said canvass shall be completely 

 ended, as required by the act passed February 27, 

 A. D. 1872, entitled " An act to amend the act to 

 provide for the registration of electors and the 

 nolding of elections," approved August 6. 1868, or 

 that you appear before our said court at Tallahassee, 

 on Thursday, the 23d instant, at eleven o'clock A. M. 

 of said day, to show cause why vou refuse to do so. 



Witness my hand and seal of office at Tallahas- 

 see, in said county, this the twenty- first 

 [SEAL.] day of November, A. D. eighteen hun- 

 dred and seventy-six. 



C. If. EDWARDS, 

 Clerk Circuit Court, Leon County. 

 EDW. M. WEST, Deputy Clerk. 



With reference to the allegation that the 

 Governor claimed the right to canvass the 

 votes for electors, he made answer on the 28d 

 of November, in which he said, while protest- 

 ing and averring that the court bad no juris- 

 diction : 



And this defendant further says that ho has never, 

 at any time, proposed to issue such certificate to such 

 electors independently and without the declaration 

 and determination of the said Board of State <'im- 

 vassers, as charged in said paragraph five, and that 

 he has never stated to any person whomsoever that 

 he intended, or designed, or nad determined to issue 

 such certificates independently and without the 

 declaration and determination of the said Board of 

 State Canvassers, and that, in truth and in fact, he 

 ha* n<H determined nor decided to issue such cer- 

 tificates Independently and without the declaration 

 and determination of the Board of State Canvassers 

 afbrewid. 



The Board of Canvassers met at the office of 

 the Secretary of State ou the 27th of Novem- 

 ber. A protest was received from Charles H. 

 Pearce, for himself and the other Republican 

 candidates for electors, against Attorney-Gen- 

 eral Cocke serving on the board, on the ground 

 that he had in a published telegram prejudged 

 the case, and exhibited a strong bias toward 

 tin- Democratic side. No action was taken 

 upon this, and the board was organized with 

 Mr. McLin as chairman. A resolution was 

 adopted inviting Governor M. L. Stearns, Mr. 

 George F. Drew, and General Brannan, com- 

 mander of the United States forces in Florida, 

 to be present at the sessions of the board ; also 

 a resolution providing for the issue of tickets 

 of admission to the number of six (subsequent- 

 ly increased to ten) to the chairman of the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee of each political party, to 

 be distributed by them among their friends 

 respectively. 



The following rules were then adopted to 

 govern the proceedings of the board : 



The Canvassing Board will commence its duties 

 on the 28th day ot November instant, at ten o'clock, 

 and will meet daily thereafter, at the sume hour, 

 unless a different hour be fixed (except on Sundays 

 and holidays), and will remain so long in session 

 each day as the necessities of the case may require. 



In order to facilitate the canvass within the brief 

 period which remains for that purpose, the follow- 

 ing rules of procedure are adopted, and are hereby 

 promulgated : 



1. The office of the Secretary of State, where, by 

 luw, the board is directed to meet, being small, a 

 limited number of persons only, not exceeding twen- 

 ty-two in number, equally representing each politi- 

 cal party, will be admitted to witness the proceed- 

 ings, except when the hoard may think it necessary 

 or desirable to close the doors for deliberation. 



2. The Secretary of State shall open the returns 

 from each county, whereupon the board will proceed 

 to examine the same, and determine from tne face 

 thereof, subject to final review, whether the legal 

 formalities and requirements with respect thereto 

 have been complied with ; and, upon an affirmative 

 determination of such preliminary matters, the chaii- 

 man shall announce the vote of the county. 



8. On the announcement of the vote of any county, 

 any person may give notice that the said return, aria 

 the election or vote of said county, or any precinct 

 thereof, will be contested, and the clerk shall forth- 

 with note the objection generally. 



4. The contestants, subsequent to the announce- 

 ment as aforesaid, of the result a* it appears on the 

 face of the returns, must file with the board brief 

 statements, in writing, giving specifically the <>l ji o 

 tions proposed to be made, with particulars of time, 

 place, and circumstances, together with a statement 

 of the relief demanded. 



5. In view of the fact that the board has no power 

 to compel the attendance or examination of witnesses, 

 it will receive in evidence proper affidavits, and 

 also such official certificates as are made evidence 

 by law. and may be otherwise admissible. If either 

 party desires to produce n'ra coce testimony, they 

 must submit to the board a brief statement, in writ- 

 ing, of the names and residences of the witnesses, 

 and the facts expected to be proved l>y them ; ana 

 the board, in their discretion, will allow them to at- 

 tend, and will themselves examine them the extent 

 to which this is done necessarily depending on the 

 time at the disposal of the board. 



6. The affidavits and documentary proofs on each 

 side shall bo filed with the board in the office of the 



