Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/77

64 of elections. An elector will not be disfranchised by using an official ballot which through the fault of the election officers does not conform to the statute prescribing the size of the ballot, quality and color of paper, character of the type, or color of the ink. Neither will he be disranchised if the county clerk included unauthorized names on the ballot; nor because the ballot does not state the political affiliations of the candidates; nor because the names of all independent candidates are not printed in one column as required by statute; nor because of the failure of the county clerk to publish the names of candidates in the manner required by law; nor because the names of certain candidates are printed under the wrong party device. But if objections to the form of the ballot are made before the election, the statutory requirements will be held mandatory.

The statutory provisions relating to the indorsement of the ballot are considered by the courts to be essential to the purity of elections, and are held to be mandatory. Justice Phillips in delivering the opinion of the court in Kelly v. Adams said:

Although the indorsement of the initials of the judges or poll clerks is mandatory, the requirement that the initials be indorsed in a