178 



COLORADO. 



ceeded to ballot for United States Senator, with 

 the following result : Henry M. Teller, Repub- 

 lican, 47; Caldwell Yeaman, Democrat, 27; and 

 the former was declared elected. On Jan. 24 

 Gov. Routt sought to secure a settlement of the 

 dispute between the rival Houses by addressing 

 a letter to the judges of the Supreme Court, 

 which recited the circumstances of the attempted 

 deposition of Speaker Hanna, and asked their 

 opinion as to who was the legally elected Speaker 

 of the House. Arguments were heard by the 

 court, and on Jan. 28 a decision was rendered to 

 the effect that " as a purely legal proposition, 

 the House of Representatives has the power, by 

 a vote of a majority of the whole number of 

 members elected, to remove its Speaker from 

 office in the manner stated in the executive 

 communication submitted." The court did not 

 expressly say who was the legal Speaker, but the 

 opinion appeared so conclusive of the rights of 

 the parties, that Speaker Hanna and his friends 

 withdrew their claims, and Jesse White was rec- 

 ognized as Speaker for the remainder of the ses- 

 sion. On Feb. 4 the Bribery Investigating Com- 

 mittee, appointed on Jan. 12, made its report, 

 stating that the testimony received tended to 

 show that four or five members of the House 

 had been approached and offered bribes to sup- 

 port Speaker Hanna, and recommending that 

 the grand jury of Araphoe County inquire into 

 the matter. The evidence all came from the 

 enemies of Hanna, and, although some indict- 

 ments were found by the grand jury, no strong 

 proof to support them could be procured, and 

 the cases were never tried. 



An Australian or secret-ballot law was passed 

 at this session. It provides that all ballots cast 

 in elections for public officers shall be printed 

 and distributed at county expense, except that 

 ballots to be used in municipal elections shall be 

 printed and distributed at the expense of the city 

 or town. Candidates may be nominated by the 

 convention or caucus of a political party which 

 at the last preceding election polled at least 10 

 per cent, of the entire vote cast in the State, 

 county, or other divisions for which the nomi- 

 nation is made, or by nomination papers signed 

 by voters residing within the district for which 

 the nomination is made to the number of 500 

 when the nomination is for the whole State, to 

 the number of 100 when the office is to be filled 

 by the voters of a district less than the State and 

 greater than a county or by the voters of a coun- 

 ty or city, and to the number of 50 in other cases. 

 In municipal elections the city or town clerk, 

 and in other cases the county clerk, shall pre- 

 pare the ballots and cause them to be distribut- 

 ed. The names of all candidates duly nomi- 

 nated shall be printed on each ballot, those of 

 each political party being arranged in a column 

 under the name and device of the party to which 

 they belong, and just above each name shall be 

 the designation of the office for which the can- 

 didate named is nominated. On the back shall 

 be printed the words " Official ballot for," to-, 

 gether with the name of the election precinct or 

 division, the date of the election, and a,fac-simile 

 of the signature of the clerk preparing the bal- 

 lots. Each county, city, or town clerk shall use 

 Erecisely the same quality and tint of paper and 

 ind of type and quality and tint of plain black 



ink for all ballots furnished by him at any one 

 election. There shall be but one ballot-box at 

 each polling place. The ballots shall be of such 

 form, and the indorsement thereon so printed, 

 that they may be folded in the middle length- 

 wise and then crosswise, so that when folded 

 the indorsement shall be visible, and not the 

 contents of the ballot. At each polling place at 

 least one voting booth or compartment for every 

 50 voters who voted in the district at the last 

 election shall be furnished, and a guard rail 

 > shall be so constructed that no person outside 

 " thereof can approach within six feet of the booths 

 and ballot-box, both of which shall be in plain 

 view of persons outside the rail. The voter shall 

 indicate his choice by marking a cross opposite 

 the name of the candidate to be voted for, or he 

 may vote for all the candidates of any party by 

 marking a cross above such list and near the de- 

 vice or emblem of the party, which shall be print- 

 ed on the ballot above the party name. He shall 

 fold his ballot so as to conceal his choice, and so 

 that the official indorsement shall appear. To 

 each ballot shall be attached two stubs contain- 

 ing only the number of the ballot, one of which 

 shall be retained by the election clerk who gives 

 out the ballots to the voters and who shall write 

 his initials on the other stub, and such other stub 

 shall be retained by the officer who receives the 

 ballots. Both officers shall keep a record of the 

 name of the voter and the number of his bal- 

 lot. The officer receiving the ballots shall write 

 on one corner the number of the ballot in the 

 order it is received by him (of which number he 

 shall keep a record), and shall turn back and 

 paste down or seal the corner, so that the num- 

 ber written shall be invisible. Such pasting or 

 sealing shall not be disturbed except in case of a 

 contested election. Electioneering within 100 

 feet of any polling place is forbidden. The elec- 

 tion day in November shall be a legal holiday. 

 Employes shall be allowed two hours for voting 

 without loss of pay. This act shall not apply to 

 elections of school officers that occur at any 

 other time than on the regular election day for 

 State, county, and city officers. 



There was also enacted a registration law ap- 

 plying to all cities of the first and second class, and 

 to all other cities having over 15,000 inhabitants. 

 An act to punish crimes against the elective 

 franchise establishes severe penalties for bribery 

 of voters in any form, forbids betting by candi- 

 dates upon the result of any election, makes in- 

 timidation or coercion of voters unlawful, es- 

 pecially when practiced by employers upon their 

 workmen, and requires candidates and party 

 committees to file with the Secretary of State or 

 county, city, or town clerk itemized sworn state- 

 ments of election expenses. 



To forward the construction of the Capitol 

 building, $150,000 was transferred from the In- 

 ternal Improvement fund to the Capitol Building 

 fund, provision being made for repaying the 

 former fund with interest. An act was also 

 passed submitting to the people at the election 

 in November, 1891, the question whether addi- 

 tional State bonds to the amount of $300,000, 

 should be issued and sold to raise more money 

 for this building. The act of 1889 creating a 

 Supreme Court commission was repealed, while 

 by another act a court of appeals was created 



