Page:North Dakota Reports (vol. 48).pdf/798

 JOHN O. GRUBB, Respondent, v. JAKE DEWING, Appellant.

(187 N. W. 157.)

Elections — where election judge accompanied to booth voters who had declared no disability, such votes cannot be held legal on contest.

Section 988 of the Compiled Laws of 1913, which provides for ren- dering assistance to voters who declare to the judges of election that they cannot read or that owing to blindness or other physical disability they are unable to mark their ballots, is mandatory, and where one judge of election is shown to have accompanied a number of voters to the election booth where no such disability appeared or was declared, such votes, upon contest, cannot be regarded as legal.

Opinion filed Feb. 14, 1922.

Judgment rendered by the trial court of Burke county, Cooley, Special J.

Affirmed.

McGee & Goss, for appellant.

Bangs & Robbins, for respondent.

, J. Election contest. This is an appeal from a judgment rendered in favor of the contestant. It involves the office of county commissioner of Burke county in the Third commissioner district. The contest was instituted at the same time as the Drinkwater-Nelson contest for the office of Sheriff, decided concurrently herewith, post (187 N. W. 152), and they were tried together. The facts with reference to the election and institution of the contest are sufficiently stated in the opinion in that case, and need not be restated here. The evidence taken is applicable to both contests, except that some of it relates to precincts not within the commissioner district, and some relates to precincts involved only in this contest.

On the face of the returns Dewing received 536 votes and Grubb 518 votes for the office of county commissioner. Upon a recount in this proceeding it appeared that the plaintiff had received 518 votes and the defendant 529; but it was found by the court that 2 votes had been