FLORIDA. 



301 



pleting it the next day in a different place, and 

 without public notice ; in Alachua County 

 tlurt.t ii l>< imirratic and four Republican votes 

 l, but Archer precinct No. 2 was 



retained ; in Jackson County, Campbelton pre- 

 ciiu t, Diving seventy -seven Republican and two 

 hiindrvil and ninety-one Democratic votes, was 

 thrown out on account of the violation of the 

 election laws by the inspectors, in removing the 

 hnll< it-box from the election-room at the ad- 

 journment for dinner into an adjoining store 

 and leaving it there unsealed and concealed 

 from the public during said adjournment, in 

 not counting the ballots at the close of the 

 polls and comparing them with the number of 

 names on the poll-list, and because only seven- 

 ty-six Republican ballots were counted out ot 

 the ballot-box, whereas one hundred and thir- 

 ty-three persons swore that they voted the full 

 Republican ticket at that poll ; and Friendship 

 Church precinct, in the same county, giving 

 forty-four Republican and one hundred and 

 forty -five Democratic votes, was thrown out on 

 account of violation of the election laws by 

 the inspectors, in placing the ballot-box in *uch 

 a position as to be out of sight of the/voter and 

 of the public, in placing a supervisor at the 

 window to receive the ballots instead of an 

 inspector, in not making and completing the 

 canvass at the polling-place without adjourn- 

 ment, and in view of the public, but in a bed- 

 room two miles away, and in not counting the 

 ballots and comparing them with the number 

 of names on the poll-list. 



The action of the board was taken unani- 

 mously, except in the cases of Jefferson, Mana- 

 tee, Duval, Alachua, and Jackson Counties. 

 In the first of these, the Attorney-General de- 

 sired to throw out several precincts because 

 the county canvassers acted as inspectors, and 

 the voting place was changed; in the second 

 he opposed the rejection of the returns; in 

 the third he favored rejection ; in the fourth 

 he favored throwing out Archer precinct No. 

 2; and in the fifth he favored retaining the 

 Campbelton and Friendship Church precinct 

 returns. The vote as declared by the Board 

 of Canvassers pave 23,849 for the Republican 

 to 22,923 for the Democratic electors, making 

 the majority of the former 926. On the State 

 ticket it stood 23,666 for Stearns, and 23,208 

 for Drew, giving the former a majority of 458. 

 It elected Montgomery Lieutenant-Governor 

 by 803 majority ; Purman, Republican, for Con- 

 gress in the first district, by 294 ; and Bisbee, 

 Republican, in the second, by 142. Attorney- 

 General Cocke made the following protest: 



ATTORNET-(rEJJERAI.'8 OrPICR, I 



TALLAHASSEE. December B, 1876. | 



Hon. C. A. COWGILL. Controller of the State of Florida, and 

 8. B. McLiN, Secretary of State of the State of Florida, 

 and. as each, members of the State Canvassing Board of 

 the State of Florida. 



GENTLEMEN : I regret that I nm compelled from a 

 strict sense of justice, not only involving the clear 

 exercise of principles of law, but the maintenance 

 of the rights of the citizen to vindicate the elective 



franchise, to protest most solemnly and decisively 

 apiinst the return on the part of a majority of tbe 

 State Canvassing Board ot tbe State of Florida, in 

 it* decision that the elector* tor the State of Florida 

 for President and Vicu-Prtisident on the Republican 

 ticket have been elected. 



These are my reasons for making this my pro- 

 test against the action of the Canvassing Board : 



1. That the Board of State Canvassers erred most 

 signally, in point of law, in receiving a statement 

 ot the votes of Duval County, when there was in no 

 conceivable sense any legal return of the votes of 

 said county on which the Board of State Canvassers 

 could act. For this reason, that the statute of 1872 

 requires the Probate Judge aud the clerk of the 

 county to cull in a justice of tbe peace to assist 

 them in counting the county canvass, and that in 

 violation of law the clerk of Duval Circuit Court 

 called in a justice of the peace (Mr. Edwards), 

 whose selection was not sanctioned but rejected by 

 the Judge of tbe County Court, thereby showing 

 to the board that there was no selection according 

 to law by which a county canvass could be made, 

 but that the canvass and return was such as to pre- 

 clude all notice of it, in every legal sense, before the 

 Board of State Canvassers. 



2. That in the county of Jefferson it appeared 

 from the records on file in the office of the Secretary 

 of State that certain county officers officiated as of- 

 ficers of election at the following-named polls : (1.) 

 M. J. Taylor, clerk of the Circuit Court of Jeffer- 

 son, acted as inspector of elections at Monticello 

 Station No. 1 ; thereby placing himself in the po- 

 sition of supervising under the statute his official acts 

 as inspector. (2.) Mr. Win. Beazely acted as ju.-tice 

 of the peace at a precinct election Field at Lickskil- 

 let, there being no euch precinct established accord- 

 ing to law. and that at such precinct, as was un- 

 known to law, acted as a clerk, thereby confound- 

 ing his duties as clerk with his action as justice of 

 the peace, and being the justice before whom the 

 action of the clerk was cognizable, and required at 

 law to be reviewed. That the return of the Can- 

 vassing Board from such precinct, even if it existed 

 at law, was, in itself, absolutely illegal. (8.) That J. 

 Bell. Judge of the County Court of Jefferson, acted 

 as clerk at the precinct in Jefferson County known 

 as the " Waukeenah precinct." The said J. Bell was 

 disqualified from action as said clerk of election, for 

 the reason that as Judge of the Probate Court of 

 Jefferson it was made his duty by the act of 1868 

 (chapter 1,626, section 24) to canvass the votes 



fiven for the several officers and persons, as shown 

 y the returns on file in his office, and by his said 

 action as clerk of election making himself judge of 

 his conduct as clerk, when subjected to his super- 

 vision as judge of the same, in his capacity as coun- 

 ty judge entirely and absolutely illegal. 



8. In rejecting the vote of Manatee on the alleged 

 reason that there was no clerk of the county to re- 

 ceive the registration of the voters. Tbe reason of 

 there being no clerk of such county to perform such 

 legal duty was that the Governor of the State, 

 wfth whom resided the power of appointing such 

 officer, failed in the discharge of his duty in relation 

 thereto by not appointing a man to such officethe 

 present Governor being a candidate for reflection. 

 My reason for insisting on the vote of Manatee be- 

 ing that official dereliction of duty on the part of the 

 Executive, with whom, as stated, was the power of 

 appointing the proper officer to superintend the 

 reL'ist ration of voters, should not be a legal bar to 

 the exclusion of the voter." in the just and legal ex- 

 ercise of the electivfi franchise. The fact of there 

 being no clerk could not apply to voters previously 

 registered who had a right to vote, secured by the 

 constitution of the State and the laws. 



4. In relation to the votrs at Cntnpbeltrn and 

 Friendship Church in the county of Jackson, a n-a- 

 jority of the Board of State Canvassers disregarded 



