Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/44

Rh In Connecticut, the only requirements are that parties or organizations nominate candidates at least three weeks prior to the day of election, and that the list certified by the chairman of the convention must be delivered by the chairman or secretary to the secretary of state at least eighteen days before election.

Objection to the validity of certificates.—Certificates of nomination in apparent conformity to the law are considered prima facie valid unless objection in writing is filed within a certain niunber of days. In Ohio objections must be filed within five days after the filing of the certificate of nomination. In case objections are filed, notice is at once mailed to all candidates affected. In one class of states, as Vermont, New York, and Nebraska, the officer with whom the certificate is filed passes upon the objection in the first instance, and this decision is final unless an order is obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction, or a judge thereof in vacation, before a certain date. In Colorado and Utah the officer with whom the certificate is filed passes finally upon all alleged defects, and his decision must be given within forty-eight hours after the objection is filed. This provision has fortunately not been copied. To vest in a single administrative official the power finally to decide issues which may affect the destinies of the state and require his decision in such a narrow limit of time is indefensible. In another group of states, of which Massachusetts is a good representative, the objection is considered and finally decided on by an administrative board. In the case of certificates filed with the secretary of the commonwealth, the board is composed of the secretary of the commonwealth, the attorney-general, and three unpaid commissioners. This ballot commission is granted power to summon witnesses and administer oaths. Another excellent system was provided by the Pennsylvania act of 1891. This statute declared that objections as to the form or apparent conformity or non-conformity to law should be considered by certain administrative officers named in the law. But objections to the validity of a certificate other than as to apparent conformity were decided by the court of common pleas or, if the court was not in session, by one or more judges in vacation. In the states in which the statute is silent as to objections to certificates an interested party could probably appeal to the court to