Before entering upon the discharge of their duties, the commissioners of election shall swear each other, and the clerks, to faithfully, honestly and impartially conduct the election.

The same power and authority vested in every commissioner by the general election laws of the State is hereby conferred upon the commissioners conducting any primary election under this Act. It shall be the duty of the commissioners and the clerks, at each polling place, to keep triplicate lists of the persons voting at such voting place, which lists shall be numbered consecutively from one to the end, and such lists so kept and numbered shall be signed and sworn to as correct, by them, immediately upon closing the polls, and before opening the ballot boxes. One of the lists shall be deposited in the ballot box, with the ballots after the count has been made, one shall be transmitted, with the returns, to the Secretary of State in primary elections held for United States Senators, Congressmen, and State officers who are voted for throughout the State, and one to the respective chairman of the various parish committees, in cases where parochial offices are being voted for; and, in all other primary elections, to the respective chairman of the committees ordering the primary election.

Immediately after the closing of the polls and the signing and swearing to the poll lists, the commissioners shall proceed to publicly canvass the votes; they shall make tally sheets in quadruplicate and shall tabulate the votes, and sign the same and swear to their correctness, and publicly announce the results to the bystanders.

The returns in all primary elections shall be made as follows:

In primary elections held for United States Senators, Congressmen and State officers voted for throughout the entire State, and respective congressional districts, commissioners of election shall deposit one of the tally sheets and one of the poll lists, signed and sworn to as herein before provided, in the ballot box, and one of the poll lists and tally sheets, signed and sworn to as hereinabove provided, shall be placed in a sealed envelope directed to the Secretary of State at Baton Rouge, La., and the other poll list and one tally sheet similarly signed and sworn to shall be placed in a sealed envelope directed to the respective chairman of the various parish committees, in cases where parochial offices are being voted for and, in all other cases, to the chairman of the committee ordering the primary election; and the fourth tally sheet shall be placed in a sealed envelope di

rected to the chairman of the State Central Committee of the party holding the primary election who shall deliver same to the State Central Committee for its inspection if necessary, when it needs to declare the result of the election as hereinafter provided and the package addressed to the Secretary of State and the Chairman of the State Central Committee shall be forwarded to them immediately through the United States Mails.

In all other elections held under this act, the returns shall be made as hereinbefore provided, except that the tally sheets and poll lists, herein before required to be forwarded to the Secretary of State and chairman of the State Central Committee, shall be placed in sealed packages addressed to the chairmen of the respective committees ordering the said primary and the Clerk of Court of the parish in which said election is held, and be delivered to them, or their accredited representatives, in person, by the commissioners of elections.

In any year when other officers, district, parochial, ward or municipal, are to be nominated at the same time and at the same polling places as United States Senators, Congressmen, Governor and other State officers who are to be voted for throughout the entire State or Congressional districts, the triplicate poll list and the tally sheets herein provided to be made for such districts, ward, parochial, or municipal officers shall be separate from those for United States Senators, Congressmen, Governor and other State officers, and same shall be delivered respectively, one in ballot box, one to the Secretary of State and one to the chairmen of the respective committees ordering the district, parochial, ward or municipal election as aforesaid, and when district, parochial or municipal officers are to be nominated as aforesaid, at the same time as United States Senators, Congressmen, Governor and other State officers, there shall be separate ballot boxes, one for the purpose of depositing the ballots cast for said United States Senators, Congressmen, Governor and other State officers and one for deposting said district, parochial, ward and municipal ballots.

The ballot boxes containing the ballots, poll lists and tally sheet shall be carefully sealed after the count shall have been completed and the returns signed and sworn to, shall be deposited with the respective clerks of the district courts throughout the State, and in the Parish of Orleans, with the Clerk of the Criminal Court, by the commissioners of election. (Amd. Act 277, 1914, p. 551.)

Manner of Voting.

2905. [Sec. 24.]

Any person desiring to vote shall give his name, occupation and registration papers (if such be provided for) to any one of the commissioners, who shall thereupon announce the name in a loud and distinct tone of voice and if such name is found on the registration list by the commissioner having charge thereof, he shall likewise repeat the same. The commissioner shall give the applicant one, and only one ballot, and his name shall be immediately checked on said list, and shall also be entered on a poll list, hereinabove provided for, before he deposits his ballot in the box. On receiving his ballot the voter shall forthwith, and without leaving the enclosed space, retire to the place provided for the preparation of his ballot, and designate his choice, by stamping or making a cross, in ink or with a lead pencil, in the voting space to the right of and opposite to the name of the candidates he desires to support for the particular office for which they have offered. Any voter who declares to the commissioner that, by reason of blindness, or by reason of any other physical disability, he is unable to mark his ballot, or any elector registered under any qualification prescribed by the Constitution, other than the educational qualification, who declares that he is unable to read and write, shall, upon request, receive the assistance of a commissioner, clerk or watcher of his own selection in the marking thereof, and such person shall ascertain his wishes and mark his ballot in accordance therewith, and such person shall thereafter give no information regarding same, provided those persons who have been taught to write sufficiently to enable them to fill the registration blanks and have been registered under the educational qualification though not able otherwise to read and write, shall be allowed to call for assistance in the same manner as hereinabove provided, and the verity vel non of the ability to read and write shall be the only question upon any prosecution on his declaration upon his registration or assistance, and such declaration as may be required of the voter shall set forth the condition under which he registered under the educational qualification. Any commissioner or clerk of election may require such declaration of disability or inability to read and write to be made by the elector under oath. Whenever any elector receives assistance in this manner, the commissioners in charge of the poll lists, shall write the voter's name in the list, and shall write in the poll list opposite the name of the elector the words "assisted and sworn." No person shall volunteer to

assist any elector in marking his ballot. When an elector calls a commissioner or clerk or watcher to assist in marking his ballot under the provisions of this Act, one other commissioner or clerk or watcher supporting candidates opposing candidate supported by the commissioner or clerk or watcher called shall have the right to enter the booth and view the marking of the ballot. Any commissioner or clerk or watcher giving assistance or observing the same who makes known the way the voter receiving assistance casts his ballot shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as provided in Section 31 of this Act. Any voter who shall ask for and receive assistance not authorized to do so by the provisions of this section, and any person who shall volunteer assistance to any voter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in Section 31 of this Act. Any person who shall swear falsely in order to obtain assistance shall be guilty of perjury, and punished accordingly. (Amd. Act 1908, 1913, p. 388.)

Marking ballot on left hand side, instead of right, vitiates it, Hendry vs. Dem. Com., 128 La. 465; State ex rel. Mize vs. Returning Officer, 44 A. 796; Thornhill vs. Wear, 131 La. 479. A mark that distinguishes a ballot vitiates it, a mark that does not distinguish it does not vitiate it, Torregano vs. Whittington, 132 La. 454.

Promulgation of Returns; Contests in the Courts.

2906. [Sec. 25.] In all elections where returns are by this Act provided to be made to the Secretary of State, he shall immediately proceed to tabulate and compile the same, and shall within eight days after the date of said primary election promulgate same in the official journal of the State, and shall forward under a special stamp a certified copy thereof, under his signature and seal of office, to the chairman of the committee ordering the primary.

That in elections held under the provisions of this Act all contests shall be made before the Courts of the State, as herein prescribed, which are hereby fully vested with the necessary power, authority and jurisdiction to hear, try and determine the same. Any candidate for a nomination for any office who shall claim to have been nominated, and shall desire to contest the election, shall present a petition to the Judge of the District Court of the parish in which the capital of the State is situated, if the office be that of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Superintendent of Public Education, or other State officer

or United States Senator; or if it be a municipal, parochial or district office, then to the District Court of the parish in which the contestee resides, which petition shall set forth specifically and in detail the grounds on which the contest is based and the irregularities or frauds of which complaint is made; that thereupon the Judge of said Court or in his absence the Clerk of said Court shall issue an order directing the contestee to answer the petition within five days after service upon him of a certified copy of the petition and order; that the contestee shall be bound to answer not later than ten o'clock A. M. on the fifth day from and after said service, including Sundays and legal holidays; but if the fifth day shall be a Sunday or other legal holiday, then on the next succeeding legal day, at which time, whether the contestee has answered or not, the Court shall proceed without further delay and in a summary manner to try the issue presented; and that the trial shall be in open court or in chambers and no jury shall be allowed. Either party shall have the right to proceed to take evidence relative to the facts specified, or to be specified in the petition at any time before the trial, on giving the other party two day's notice of the time when and the place where the evidence is to be taken; provided that the evidence may be taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths, who shall have the power and authority to issue process to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence of every kind whatsoever. The Court of original jurisdiction shall render judgment within twenty-four hours after the case is submitted. The party cast shall have the right of appeal as in other cases, on giving bond for a sum to be fixed by the court to cover costs of all Courts, the emoluments of the office involved for the full term being hereby made the test of the appellate jurisdiction; provided, said appeal shall be filed in the appellate court within not more than five days from the rendition of the judgment, and shall be tried on the original records and by preference over all other cases whatsoever, and to decide the same within twenty-four hours after submission. Upon the perfection of an appeal, the Clerk of the Court shall immediately notify the appellate Court in writing, which said appellate Court shall immediately set the appeal down for hearing without awaiting the actual lodgment of the appeal. It shall be the duty of the appellate Court to hear and determine appeals at the earliest practicable moment, and, if the Supreme Court be in vacation,