Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/43

 (or group of petitioners) represents; (d) the names of candidates for president and vice-president may be added to the party appellation of presidential electors; (e) in the states permitting the use of party emblems a device may also be certified. The certificate must be signed by the chairman and secretary of the convention, who must add their addresses, and the contents of the certificate must be sworn to. In the case of a primary the certificate is signed by the canvassers. One of the signers of each separate "nomination paper" has to swear that the statements contained therein are true to the best of his knowledge and belief.

The officer with whom the certificate shall be filed is in every state specified in the statute. The general rule is that nominations for offices to be voted for by the electors of the entire state or for a district larger than a county shall be filed with the secretary of state; for municipal offices, with the clerk of the city or town; and for all other offices, with the county clerk. These certificates must be filed in advance of the election. In Massachusetts the certificates of nomination of candidates for an office to be filled by all the voters of the commonwealth, except presidential electors, must be filled on or before the fifth Monday; and all other candidates for offices to be filed at a state election, including presidential electors, on or before the third Thursday; and nomination papers for candidates for offices filled at a state election, on or before the fourth Monday preceding the day of election. In towns, certificates of nomination for town offices must be filed on or before the second Wednesday, and nomination papers on or before the second Thursday, preceding the day of election.

The requirement of filing nomination papers a certain time in advance of the election not only enables the officers charged with the printing of the ballots to do their duty, but serves notice on the public that these are the candidates for whom they will be called upon to vote. The amount of time deemed desirable varies in the respective states. There are two common principles, however: First, a longer period is required in states in which certificates are filed with the secretary of state than in those in which they are filed with a local officer. Secondly, frequently the names of candidates nominated by petition may be filed at a later date than certificates of nomination. The latter is a good provision, because it gives men dissatisfied with the party nominees time in which to combine and nominate desirable candidates by petition.