[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 2, Chapters 7 - 9]
[Chapter 9.  Election Contests]
[C. Grounds of Contest]
[Â§ 11. Improper Attempts to Influence or Confuse Voters]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 1012-1013]
 
                               CHAPTER 9
 
                           Election Contests
 
                         C. GROUNDS OF CONTEST
 
Sec. 11. Improper Attempts to Influence or Confuse Voters

Confusing the Voters

Sec. 11.1 In determining whether to credit a candidate with certain 
    ballots, an election committee considered whether his opponent had 
    induced or procured a ``third party'' candidate or had improperly 
    participated in the makeup of ``third party'' ballots.

    In Fox v Higgins (Sec. 47.8, infra), a 1934 Connecticut contest, 
the Committee on Elections found that the contestant had failed to 
sustain his allegations that contestee, in an attempt to confuse the 
voters, had procured the candidacy of a ``third party'' candidate. The 
committee also found that contestee, in his capacity as secretary of 
state, had not deliberately prepared ballots in such a manner as to be 
confusing or to obtain unfair advantage.

Financing Extra Editions of Magazine

Sec. 11.2 An elections committee found no evidence that the contestee 
    financed extra editions of a magazine which supported his 
    candidacy.

    In the 1951 New York contested election case of Macy v Greenwood 
(Sec.  56.4, infra), which the contestant lost by only 135 votes, he 
alleged that the contestant had violated the Corrupt Practices Act by 
either financing or inspiring the printing of extra editions of 
``Newsday,'' which had been devoted exclusively to the defeat of the 
contestant. The committee found no evidence supporting the allegation 
and recommended that the contest be dismissed, and the House followed 
this recommendation.

Racial Discrimination

Sec. 11.3 Discrimination against potential voters based on race may 
    afford grounds for bringing an election contest.

    In the 1965 Mississippi election contest of Wheadon et al. v 
Abernethy et al. [The Five Mississippi Cases] (Sec. 61.2, infra), the 
Committee on House Administration recommended dismissal of the election 
contests arising out of the November 1964 Mississippi congressional 
elections. The dismissal recommendation was based in part on the 
contestants' failure to follow the established procedure

[[Page 1013]]

for bringing election contests, and in part on the failure to avail 
themselves of the legal steps to challenge alleged discrimination prior 
to the elections.
    The Committee report did state, however, that in arriving at such 
conclusions, the committee did not condone disenfranchisement of voters 
in the 1964 or previous election, nor was a precedent being established 
to the effect that the House would not take action, in the future, to 
vacate seats of sitting Members. It noted that the Federal Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 had been enacted in the interim and that if evidence 
of its violation were presented to the House in the future, appropriate 
action would be taken.

``Prizes'' to Campaign Workers

Sec. 11.4 A contestee's offer of prizes to his precinct captains has 
    been found by an elections committee not to be a violation of that 
    section of the Corrupt Practices Act prohibiting expenditures to 
    influence votes.

    In McAndrews v Britten (Sec.  47.12, infra), a 1934 Illinois 
contest, the contestant had alleged in his notice of contest that the 
contestee had ``offered prizes to the various precinct captains whose 
precincts voted the largest votes in proportion to the Republican votes 
that were given in these precincts.'' The offering of such prizes was 
acknowledged by the contestee on the floor of the House during debate. 
The committee found that this offering of prizes was not a violation of 
2 USC Sec.  150, which made it unlawful ``for any person to make or 
offer to make an expenditure . . . either to vote or withhold [a] vote 
or to vote for or against any candidate. . . 
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