Kerr v. Luttrell

1930 OK 268, 288 P. 938, 143 Okla. 275, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 620
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 27, 1930
Docket21303
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1930 OK 268 (Kerr v. Luttrell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kerr v. Luttrell, 1930 OK 268, 288 P. 938, 143 Okla. 275, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 620 (Okla. 1930).

Opinion

CLARK, J.

This cause presents error from the district court of Oklahoma county, wherein plaintiff in error was plaintiff below and defendants in error were defendants below. The parties will be referred to as plaintiff and defendants. Plaintiff brought this action against the defendants, seeking injunctive relief against the execution and enforcement on the part of defendants of chapter 241 of the- Session Laws of Oklahoma 1929, relating to primary and general elections. Plaintiff alleges the act in question is unconstitutional and inoperative. He alleges: First, that the title of the act covers more than one subject. Second, that the said act does not afford the electors of the state a free and equal election as is required By section 7, art. 3, and other provisions of the Constitution of Oklahoma. Third, that by reason of the provisions of said act the electors of the state may and! will probably be prevented from the free exercise of the right of suffrage as is guaranteed under the provisions of section 4 of art. 2 of the Constitution of Oklahoma because of the shortness of time intervening between the so-called regular primary, which is in fact only a preliminary so-called primary and the so-called run-off primary to-be thereafter held. Fourth, that section 2r among other things, provides:

“ ‘Where there are more than one nominee to be selected for an office in one nominating district, the offices shall be designated and distinguished by number, such as (naming the office) No. 1, (naming the office) No. 2r etc. A candidate filing for such an office shall designate in his nominating petition the number of. the office for which he desires to be a candidate, and the primary election ballot shall so show. Nominees of each of such numbered offices shall be designated on the general election ballot as the nominee of their party for the same number of the office for which he was nominated and the nominee securing at said election the highest number of votes east for said numbered office shall be elected to such office.’
“That this provision interferes with and prevents the free exercise of the right of suffrage and is violative of - the Constitution of the state of Oklahoma, and under its provisions candidates for such offices may be nominated and elected to office without having received either a plurality or majority of the votes cast for such office in said elections. That the said provision unlawfully and arbitrarily requires the candidate to select the designated number of an office and provides that the person receiving the highest number of votes therefor should be declared to be the nominee and unlawfu'ly restricts the electors in voting for the said candidates, and is violative of the Constitution and laws of the state.”

Fifth, that said act is impossible of execution in that the same is contrary to and irreconcilable with the provisions of the Constitution and laws of the state, and impossible of performance. Sixth, that section 2 of t-he said act further provides: That nomination for any special election, held for the purpose of filling a vacancy in any office or offices caused by death, resignation, or removal, may be made by delegate convention, if, in the judgment of the State E’ection Board, the time is too short in which to hold a primary election, or the cost of holding the same would be excessive or unnecessarily burdensome. That this provision is violative of section 5 of article 3 of the Constitution of Oklahoma. Seventh, that the provisions of said act re *277 quiring- the holding of the so-called regular primary election on the said last Tuesday in July preparatory' to the holding of the primary election on the following second Tuesday in August is violative of the provisions of the Constitution and an unreasonable burden upon the taxpayers and an unreasonable interference with the suffrage of the electors of the state.

These are the material allegations of plaintiff’s petition. Defendants in their answer admit the jurisdictional facts alleged in petition of plaintiff, but deny each and all the above enumerated grounds for such relief, and specifically allege the said chapter 241, Session Laws 1929, to be constitutional and valid. On the issues thus joined, a hearing was had in the district court, the evidence taken, and judgment entered for defendants, which reads in part as follows:

‘‘The court, being fully advised in the premises, finds that the allegations of plaintiff’s petition were not supported by the evidence, and therefore finds all issues of fact and law in favor of the defendants, and that judgment should be rendered for the defendants, and it is adjudged that plaintiff's cause be dismissed and the defendants go hence without day, and that they recover their costs herein expended.”

Motion for new trial was filed and overruled, and the cause is brought here by plaintiff for review. Eleven assignments of error are presented to this court in the petition in error, which will not be considered separately, but will be considered as a whole in determining the issues in this case. It is first contended that this act is violative of section 57 of article 5 of the Constitution of Oklahoma, which reads as follows:

“Every act of the Legislature shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except general appropriation bills, general revenue bi’ls, and bills adopting a code, digest, or revision of the statutes; and no law shall be revived, amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only; but so much thereof as is revived, amended, extended, or conferred, shall be re-enacted and published at length: Provided., That if any subject be embraced in any act contrary to the provisions of this section, such act shall be void only as to so much of the law as may not -be expressed in the title thereof.’’

The title of chapter 241, supra, reads as follows:

“An Act relating to Primary and General Elections, amending sections 0098 and 6094, Compiled Oklahoma Statutes 1921. repealing chapter 03, Oklahoma Session Laws 1927, in so far as said chapter applies to primary elections.”

This court in the case of Oklahoma Light & Power Co. v. Corporation Commission, 96 Okla. 19, 220 Pac. 54, in the first paragraph of the syllabus says:

“Section 57, article 5, of the Constitution of Oklahoma, providing every act of the Legislature shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, is satisfied if the act has but one general subject and that is fairly indicated by the title. It may have many details, but if they all relate to the same general subject or object, they are properly included therein. The purpose of this provision of the Constitution was to forbid the Legislature from embracing in any one aot two or more unconnected subjects.”

In State v. Nichols, 50 Wash. 508, 97 Pac. 728, the Supreme Court of Washington had under consideration a constitutional provision similar to ours. The act involved was entitled:

“An Act relating to, regulating and providing for the nomination of candidates for public office in the state of Washington, and providing penalties for the violation thereof, and declaring an emergency.” Laws 1907, p. 457.

In holding the title embraced but one subject, the court said:

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Bluebook (online)
1930 OK 268, 288 P. 938, 143 Okla. 275, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kerr-v-luttrell-okla-1930.