Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/695

 UNITED STATES V. DAVIS. 683 �Nelson, T>. J. The defendant has been convicited nnder Rev. St. § 5523, and now moves in arrest of judgment for alleged defects in the indictment. Section 5523 is as follows : "Every person who, during the progress of any verification of any list of the persons who may have registered or voted which is had or made under any of the provisions of title ' The Elective Franchise,* refuses to answer or refrains from answering, or, answering, knowingly gives false information in respect to any inquiry lawfully made, shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or by a fine of Qot more than $100, or by both, and shall pay the costs of the prosecution." �The provisions of the elective franchise title referred to in this section are contained in sections 2016, 2021, and 2026. Section 2026 provides that the chief superviser of elections "shall require of the supervisors of elections, when necessary, lists of the persons who may register and vote, or either, in their respective election districts or voting precincts, and cause the names of those npon any sncb list whose right to register or vote is honestly doubted, to be verified by proper inquiry and examination at the respective places by them assigned as their residences." Section 2016 makes it the duty of super- visors of elections "to make, when required, the lists, or either of them, provided for in section 2026, and verify the same;" and section 2021 provides for the appointment of special dep- uty marshals, "whose duty it shall be, when required thereto, to aid and assist the supervisors of elections in the verifica- tion of any list of persons who may have registered or voted." �These several provisions were originally parts of the act of February 28, 1871, and though separated in the revision of the statutes, they should evidently be construed together to ascertain their true raeaning and eflfect. Taken together their meaning is very plain. They provide for a verification, by the supervisors of elections, under the direction of the chief superviser, of the lists of persons who may register and vote in the several election districts or voting precincts, and direct the manner in which the verification shall be conducted. It is to be made by the supervisors by inquiry and examination ��� �