300 



FLORIDA. 



Secretary of State, and shall be accessible to the 

 other side, under such regulations as the Secretary 

 of State shall thiuk proper for the safe keeping 

 thereof. 



7. All motions and arguments shall be in writing, 

 and signed. No oral arguments will be allowed. 



8. The concurrence of a majority of the board be- 

 ing necessary to determine its action, such concur- 

 rence, with respect to any proposition or matter, 

 may be formally ascertained by vote, upon motion 

 duly made and seconded, or informally by the assent 

 of at least two members. 



9. The board reserves to itself the right to make 

 and announce such modifications of, or additions to, 

 these rules, as the case may require. Parties, in pre- 

 paring and presenting their proofs and arguments, 

 should bear in mind that the canvass must be com- 

 pleted, and the result reached, in time for the elec- 

 tors to discharge their duties under the law. 



On the second day the returns from all the 

 counties but Dade which had not been re- 

 ceived were opened, and the votes for elec- 

 tors counted. The returns showed on their face 

 24,325 votes for the Republican electors, and 

 24,282 for the Democratic electors. On the 

 third day a call of the counties in alphabetical 

 order was begun. Objections were made to 

 the returns from various precincts in different 

 counties for fraud, intimidation, or irregularity, 

 and several days were occupied in taking testi- 

 mony. The final action of the board was taken 

 on the 5th of December. 



The following twenty-four counties were 

 canvassed according to the face of the returns : 

 Brevard, Bradford, Calhoun, Dade, Escambia, 



Franklin, Gadsden, Hillsborongh, Holmes, La- 

 fayette, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Putnam, 

 Polk, Santa Rosa, Sumter, St. John's, Suwa- 

 nee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and 

 Washington. Baker County was then taken 

 up and canvassed according to the precinct 

 returns by a unanimous votg of the board. In 

 Clay County twenty-nine votes were added to 

 and four taken from the Democratic electoral 

 and State vote, and eight added to and two 

 deducted from the Republican vote. In Her- 

 nando County five Democratic votes were de- 

 ducted ; Nassau and Levy were canvassed ac- 

 cording to the face of the returns ; in Orange, 

 seven Democratic votes were deducted ; in Jef- 

 ferson, sixty Republican votes were deducted; 

 in Leon, two Republican votes were deducted ; 

 Manatee was thrown out entire, on account of 

 the absence of all legal preparations for hold- 

 ing the election ; the Duval County return did 

 not have the signature of the judge, but was 

 canvassed by comparison with the precinct re- 

 turns ; in Hamilton county eighty-three Demo- 

 cratic and fifty-eight Republican votes, which 

 had been added to the face of the electoral vote, 

 were thrown off again ; and Jasper precinct, 

 giving three hundred and twenty-one votes for 

 Drew and one hundred and eighty-three for 

 Stearns, and three hundred and twenty-three 

 for the Democratic and one hundred and eighty- 

 five for the Republican electoral ticket, was 

 thrown out for violation of the election law by 



.if 



KEY WEST, FLOBIDA. 



the inspectors, in not completing the canvass 

 without adjournment, in allowing unauthorized 

 persons to handle the ballots and assist in the 

 count, in adjourning overnight and going to 

 another place, and in signing returns next day 

 which they had not themselves made or veri- 

 fied, and the contents of which they did not 



know ; in Monroe County, precinct No. 3, Key 

 West, giving four hundred and one votes to 

 the Democratic electoral and State tickets, and 

 fifty-nine to the Republican, was thrown out 

 of the canvass on account of violation of the 

 election laws by the inspectors, in adjourning 

 before the completion of the canvass, and com' 



