Howard v. McDiarmid

26 Ark. 100
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 15, 1870
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 26 Ark. 100 (Howard v. McDiarmid) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Howard v. McDiarmid, 26 Ark. 100 (Ark. 1870).

Opinions

McClure, J.

The plaintiffs filed their petition, praying for a mandamus, against McDiarmid, the county clerk of Pulaski county, to ■compel him to certify certain election returns, to the secretary of State.

The petition, in substance, recites that the petitioners .were candidates for election to the House of Representatives, and that an election was held in said county, for that purpose, on the eighth of November, 1870 ; that the hoard of registration, immediately before said election, appointed judges of election, In the manner prescribed by law ; that a copy of the appointments, thus made, was filed in the office of the county clerk of said county, and became a record -in that office; that in the townships of Ashley, Eastman, Campbell, Gray and Tladgett, armed mobs seized and usurped the places, designated as voting places, and prevented the judges, regularly appointed, from holding the election, and appointed others in their stead, and held a pretended election, the returns of which were forwarded to said McDiarmid ; that in the township of Eagle, and the first and third wards of the city of Little Rock, the judges appointed as aforesaid, by the board of registration, held an election and duly certified the returns of the same to said IMeDiar-mid, county clerk, who has utterly disregarded his duty and refuses to certify the same to the secretary of State, as by law he is required to do.

The relief asked for, is that this writ, by mandamus, compel the said McDiarmid, county clerk, etc., to certify to the secretary of State, abstracts and statements of the votes, cast at said election, for representatives to the House of Representatives of the General Assembly, from the township of Eagle and the first and third wards of the city of Little Rock, by the judges of election constituted and appointed by the board of registration as aforesaid, as well as other returns, or pretended returns, of such election presented to him, or on file in his office.

McDiarmid filed a response to the petition, in which he declares that he, before the filing of the petition, did make out abstracts and statements of the votes cast at said election to the House of Representatives, etc., held on the 8th day of November, from the township of Eagle, and the first and third wards of the city of Little Rock, held by the persons appointed judges of election by the board of registration, to the secretary of the State of Arkansas, and that before the filing of the petition against him, he had made abstracts and statements of all returns, or pretended returns, of such election, presented to or filed in his office, and returned and certified the same to the secretary of State, and asks that he may be dismissed.

Thereupon the plaintiffs filed a supplemental petition, wherein it is set up that said McDiarmid, in the pretended returns made by him, as charged iri his answer, did not in any manner comply with the law, but on the contrary violated the same in many respects.

First. That said returns, so made by said McDiarmid to the secretary of State, show that in the first and third wards of the city of Little Rock, and in the township of Eagle, in said county, there Avere double elections, or elections by two sets of judges, or persons claiming to be judges, and that said returns fail to show which AAmre the regular and legal ^elections in said AAmrds and township, etc.

Second. That said returns make no showing at all as to the persons claiming to have held elections being the regular and legal judges, when said clerk kneAv who, in fact, were such legal and regular judges, and this was and is an important matter t o be placed before the secretary of State, etc.

Thh d. That said returns inform the secretary of State that the townships of Caroline, Clear Lake, Rich woods and Prairie are, and were at the time of the election aforesaid, a portion of the tAvelfth Senatorial and Representative district, and not a portion of the tenth district, and thei’efore failed to show that the elections held in said townships were estimated and counted in the elections of said tenth district; wheD, in fact, the elections held in said townships should be counted and estimated in the returns of the said tenth district.

Fourth. That if said McDiarmid will make out and certify the returns of such election as he should do, and in conformity Avith the specifications contained in said original petition, and this amendment, and in accordance Avitli the law, that it will furnish the petitioners with the means of securing the places to which they have been legally elected, without which they Avill be deprived of their places as aforesaid, and the secretary of State Avill not be able to issue certificates of election to the proper persons.

The amended petition concludes Avith a prayer, asking that ‘‘the said McDiarmid be ordered and directed to make out and certify said election returns as hereinbefore indicated, and that, to that end, a writ of mandamus issue from¿this court, etc.

To the amended petition, McDiarmid filed a response to the original and amended petition, and says that the same is not sufficient in law, and he demurs to the same:' First Because the court has no jurisdiction to hear and determine the matters therein complained of and set forth. Second. Because the petition does not set forth facts sufficient to entitle petitioners to the relief asked, or to any other relief.

The demurrer raises no question as to the jurisdiction of this court in cases of mandamus generall}1", but that, in this particular case, it has no jurisdiction. If this be true, the application for mandamus will be dismissed. It is laid down as a general rule, by all text writers, that mandamus will lie “where a person has a legal right to insist that a certain act shall be done, the performance of which is, by law, made the duty of a public officer.” Moses on Mandamus, 16.

The first question to determine is, whether the petitioners “have a legal right to insist” that the election returns shall be certified to the secretary of State.

The second question is, whether that act, insisted on, is one, the performance of which is required by law.”

And the third is, whether McDiarmid is a “public officer.”

We will take up the propositions in just the reverse order of their statement. We will assume that the county clerk is a “public officer,” and this assumption disposes of any argument on the third point, and turn our attention to the second proposition, which is, “Is it the duty of the clerk to make out and certify to the secretary of State, an abstract of the votes cast, for candidates voted for, at the general election, in November last, for members of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of. the State of Arkansas?” The answer to this question must be determined by the provisions of the law alone.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Ark. 100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/howard-v-mcdiarmid-ark-1870.