Stone v. Miller

14 N.W. 781, 60 Iowa 243
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedDecember 12, 1882
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 14 N.W. 781 (Stone v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stone v. Miller, 14 N.W. 781, 60 Iowa 243 (iowa 1882).

Opinion

Day, J.

I. The petition prays that a writ of certiorari may be granted, commanding the board of supervisors to certify fully to the Cii’cuit Court a transcript of the record and proceedings of said board, as well as the facts relating to the matter stated in the petition, and the proceedings and evidence upon which said order for said vote was made. The judge, upon the presentation of the petition, ordered that a writ of eertiorari be granted as prayed. And the writ itself commands the board to certify and return a full, complete and perfect transcript of all the matters called for by the petition and the order of the judge. In return to this writ, the board caused to be certified to the Circuit Court the petitions' and remonstrances submitted, and a complete trans[245]*245cript of all the proceedings had before them during the pendency of, and pertaining to, the matter in question.

This transcript shows that, when the board acted upon the matter and ordered the vote, they found the following facts to exist respecting the petitions and remonstrances:

The whole number of votes under the last preceding census...............................3,662
The number of names appearing on the petition. .2,684
The number of names on both petition and remonstrance, to be counted off of petition.......... 500
Duplicates on petition....................... 14
Number taken from petition by affidavit affecting both petition and remonsti’ance.............. 15
Number of names taken from petition..........• 8
Number of aliens counted off petition.......... 4
Number counted off by affidavit of remonstrance. 7
Total number counted off from petition......... 548
Total number to be counted on petition.........2,136
Number of names on remonstrance............2,250
Number of duplicates counted off.............. 44
Number of minors counted off............ 13
Number of names counted off by affidavit of petitioners.................................. Ill
Total number counted off..................... 168
Total number counted on remonstrance.........2,082
Majority for petitioners... .•.................. 54

After the writ was served upon the board they convened and ordered that, amongst other things, the following be certified as a part of their return: “ We further certify the fact to be that in striking off the 500 names from the petition, as shown by the copy of record hereto attached, we acted, first, on comparison of signatures, viz: while acting as a committee as aforesaid, we compared names and signatures on both petition and remonstrance, and when we were satisfied that the signatures were alike, by thus comparing, we made a list of such names, and they numbered 351, which we agreed [246]*246should be stricken off from petition and remonstrance (we were furnished by remonstrators with a list of names which it was claimed by them were signatures of same persons on both petition and remonstrances). We next took the balance of names on such list, and which names were similar in initials, and the signatures'of which we were not satisfied by comparison were made by the same person, and resorted to extrinsic evidence, such as poll-books, to see if other men by same name had ever voted in that township; the military list in assessor’s books; the alien records, to see if two men by the same name had been naturalized; and the comparison of signatures by others not members of the board, and inquiries of parties outside, and not being fully satisfied ourselves that the same persons both petitioned and remonstrated, but by the aid of this outside and extrinsic evidence, resolved the doubt in favor of the remonstrance; and we further say that by this method we struck off from petition, as being on the remonstrance, in all 500 names; and we further say that without this extrinsic evidence, we would not and could not have stricken off from petition, as being on the remonstrance, but 351 names; and we further say that a re-canvas of said names, excluding all extrinsic evidence, but acting on the petition and affidavits annexed, and the remonstrance and affidavits-annexed, and the comparison of signatures, we, in order to be satisfied that the same person both petitioned and remonstrated, will be compelled to find that the number of legal voters petitioning for a re-location of county seat, exceeds the number of legal voters remonstrating against a removal by 113 names, and would, therefore, be compelled to order a call as we did; we further say that duplicates were stricken off by a comparison of signatures, and the minors by extrinsic evidence. The result of l’e-canvass will be as follows:

Whole number on petition. ................2,684
Duplicates counted off by comparison of signatures. 14
Names counted oif as being on remonstrance from a comparison of signatures.................. 351
Total counted off from petition................ 365
[247]*247Total nnmber to be counted on petition.........2,319
Whole number names on the remonstrance......2,250
Duplicates counted off by a comparison of signatures ................................... 44
Total on remonstrance.......................2,206
Number on petition exceeding that on remonstrance 113

The above tabulation is without the use of our personal knowledge, by the use of which, viz: personal knowledge of names to both petition and remonstrance, that they were not voters when petition and remonstrance were presented to us, the change will be as follows:

Number to be stricken from petition........... 380
To be stricken from remonstrance.............. 80
Number on petition after all deductions.........2,304
Number on remonstrance.....................2,170
Petition exceeds remonstrance............ 134

We further say that without the use of our personal knowledge, or any extrinsic evidence or comparison of signatures, the petition will exceed the remonstrance by 434.”

i. cebtioresponsive1™ stricken ont. The plaintiff* moved the court to strike from the return everything except a transcript of the proceedings of the board up to the time that the order for the submission to a vote was made. The court overruled this motion, and this action is assigned as error. At the time of the submissison of the question to the board of supervisors, both parties seemed to have thought that it was competent to assail the competency of the signers of the petition and remonstrance by affidavits: Hence, affidavits were submitted upon both sides, and the board, acting upon them, counted off 22 names from the petition and 111 from the remonstrance.

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Bluebook (online)
14 N.W. 781, 60 Iowa 243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stone-v-miller-iowa-1882.