Robinson v. STATE & CAMDEN COUNTY

61 S.E.2d 773, 82 Ga. App. 584, 1950 Ga. App. LEXIS 1167
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 28, 1950
Docket33195
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 61 S.E.2d 773 (Robinson v. STATE & CAMDEN COUNTY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. STATE & CAMDEN COUNTY, 61 S.E.2d 773, 82 Ga. App. 584, 1950 Ga. App. LEXIS 1167 (Ga. Ct. App. 1950).

Opinion

Sutton, C. J.

This was a bond validation proceeding in Camden Superior Court for the issuance of bonds for $230,000 by Camden County School District. J. T. Robinson, S. C. Sheffield Jr., J. B. Simpson, Joseph W. Gillete, and C. N. Seals Sr., filed an intervention, alleging that they are residents of the 1606 G. M. District, known as the Kingsland District of Camden County, Georgia, and alleging various reasons why the bonds *585 should not be validated. The State and Camden County School district demurred generally and specially to this intervention. The intervention was amended and the demurrers were renewed and additional grounds were added. In a single order and judgment the judge of the superior court sustained the demurrers on each and every ground thereof and dismissed the intervention, and then confirmed and validated the bonds. It is recited in this order that there was a hearing on the demurrers to the intervention, and an inspection of the proceedings and a consideration of the evidence in respect to the validation. The intervenors excepted, assigning error on this judgment, giving as the sole reason therefor that said demurrers should have been overruled.

According to the petition 1456 votes were cast in favor of the issuance of the school bonds, and 873 votes were cast against the issuance of the same, in an election held for the purpose of determining whether or not school bonds should be issued, and the total number of votes cast in favor of the issuance of school bonds was more than a majority of the registered qualified voters of Camden County School District voting at the election. The validity of the election was attacked in the intervention, as amended, for the following reasons:

“Paragraph 2: (a) That the supplemental list of voters used in said election was not prepared according to law.

“(b) That the registrations from which said list was made were not taken according to law.

“(c) That registration cards were not kept in the office of the tax collector as required by law but that a member of the board of registrars took large numbers of said cards to St. Marys and Kingsland in said district where large numbers of registrations were accepted. That during a period of a few hours some 175 registrations were taken in St. Marys and that during a. period of less than two hours more than 100 registrations were taken at Kingsland and if the 1949 act had been complied with it would be impossible to take so many registrations in such periods of time. That the registration cards were not kept in the office of the tax collector as provided by law, but were kept, in the office of the County Commissioners of Camden County,, Georgia.

*586 “(d) That no order was passed by the registrars on the great majority of the applications for registrations and up to the present week such orders had not been entered.

“ (e) That the supplemental list of registered voters was not filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court within the time required by law. That the election in question was called by the Board of Education of Camden County, Georgia on January 10th, 1950. That supplemental list was filed in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Camden County, Georgia on January 25th, 1950.

“(f) That the old registration list was not properly purged. ■“Paragraph 3: (a) That the voters were not required to sign the voters book before receiving the ballot.

“(b) That persons unknown to intervenors were permitted to solicit votes of persons unknown to intervenors within the polling places and adjacent thereto.

“(c) That numerous persons unknown to intervenors who were interested in the outcome of the election, other than the managers, were allowed in the area within ten feet from the booths.

“(d) That many persons unknown to intervenors were permitted to vote and secure assistance in the preparation of their ballots without having made the affidavit required by law.

“ (e) That the polling places were not roped off nor any area around the same designated wherein votes could not be solicited.

“Paragraph 5: Intervenors show that large numbers of voters were permitted' to vote outside of their own precinct, and specifically, at the courthouse in Woodbine, Georgia. That a great number of these voters came from the Browntown or 32nd District of Camden County. That the voters were solicited to come to Woodbine to vote by letters and circulars, and that trucks were sent to pick up such voters; that a precinct was open in said 32nd District during this election, and intervenors show that French McKinnon hauled these voters to the polls at Woodbine, Georgia. That the following persons who were residents ■of the Browntown District were permitted to vote in Woodbine: Hattie Green, French McKinnon, Rachel Atwater, Carrie Baldwin, Venezuela Jacobs, Clyde. Murray, Walter Wilkinson, Peter Gibbs and Birtie Strickland, and others unknown to intervenors.

*587 “Paragraph 6: That the election precincts in the 32nd or Browntown District, and in the Kingsland or 1606 District, and the St. Marys or 20th District, were not established as provided by law.

“That the election at Browntown was held on the front porch of Mathew Brown’s residence; that the election at Kingsland1. was held in the old Kingsland Bank building, and the election at St. Marys was held in the old county jail building; that none of these places had been designated by the order of the Ordinary of Camden County, Georgia as provided by law.

“Paragraph 7: That a number of ballots were taken out of the polling places and the voters were permitted to vote them away from the polling place. Among these were Mrs. Alice Conner, Robert Baker, C. A. Brown, Mrs. Leonard McCullough, Jack Thigpen, Mrs. Alvin Brassel, and one -■ Nightingale, wife of Oliver Nightingale, and others unknown to intervenors.”

In addition to the above matters pertaining to the election the intervention contained additional objections, in paragraph 4, as follows:

“Intervenors further show that the Kingsland District had previously voted bonds in their district for the erection of a. school building and that in fairness and equity they should not have been included in this election and their property should not be subject to taxation for the payment of these bonds. That it would have been fair and equitable for the county board of education to have eliminated the Kingsland District from participating in the election and from being made liable for the payment of the bonds in as much as the Kingsland District had bonded itself and otherwise financed its own school system.”

The demurrers of the State and Camden County School District consisted of a general demurrer, the contention in this respect, in substance, being that the intervention contained nothing authorizing the court to refuse the validation, and special demurrers to the various paragraphs and subparagraphs of the-intervention on the grounds that the same were conclusions of' the pleader, unsupported by allegations of fact, that it was not. shown that the matters alleged would have changed the result of the election, that certain of the allegations were indefinite, and! for other reasons.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

DeLeGal v. Burch
616 S.E.2d 485 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2005)
Laite v. Stewart
146 S.E.2d 553 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
61 S.E.2d 773, 82 Ga. App. 584, 1950 Ga. App. LEXIS 1167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-state-camden-county-gactapp-1950.