Pennsylvania Advisory Opinions March 18, 1897: AGO 34

Advisory Opinion Text

NOMINATION-CERTIFICATES OF-TIME OF FILING IN SPECIAL ELECTION IN TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT-Act of June 10, 1893.

Every nomination, whether to fill the regular term or to supply a vacancy, must be made according. to the rules and regulations of the political party desiring to make a nomination.

The provisions of Section 5 of the act above referred to, as to the time for filing certificate of nomination, do not apply to special election ordered to be held in 25th Congressional District on April 20, 1897. The provisions of Section 12 of said act govern the present case.

Office of the Attorney General, Sir: This Department is in receipt of your communication of the 17th inst., stating that the Governor had issued his writ for a special election for Representative in Congress from the 25th Congressional district of Pennsylvania, and asking for an opinion upon the question whether a certificate of nomination in this case must be filed in your office thirty-five days prior to the date for holding said election, as provided in Section 5 of the Ballot Law of 1893.

Prom information received the following facts clearly appear:

The writ for the special election above referred to was issued by the Governor on the 9th day of March and fixed the day for holding the said election on the 20th day of April, A. D. 1897, thus leaving a period of forty-two days between the date on which the writ was issued and the day for the holding of the election and giving only seven days in which to make nominations in the district. The 25th Congressional District is composed of the counties of Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer. The Republican party in said district has a rule which was adopted by the entire district.

It is provided therein that each county shall be divided into fifteen districts and each district is entitled to elect one delegate to sit in the convention which nominates a candidate for Congress. The rules of the Republican party in the several counties further provide that the county committees shall fix the date upon which primary elections are to be held in their respective counties. A nomination to be valid must be made according to the rules and regulations in force at the time the nomination is made.

Section 7 of the Ballot Law of 1893 (P. L. 422), provides that "when a writ for a special election to supply a vacancy shall direct such election to be held at a date which would prevent the making of nominations in time to comply with Section 5 of this act, nominations for the office to be filled may still be made in accordance with Sections 2 and 3 of this act, but in other respects the provisions of Section 12 of this act shall apply to such nominations." Sections 2 and 3 of the act referred to are predicated upon the idea that every political organization has the right to adopt rules and regulations for the purpose of making nominations. The Baker Ballot Law clearly and by express terms recognizes the authority of political organizations to make their nominations according to party rules. If nominations are not made according to the prescribed rules of a political organization, and these facts are properly called to the attention of those in charge of the execution of the Baker Ballot Law, the certificate of nomination would be declared invalid.

It is my opinion, therefore, that every nomination, whether to fill the regular term of an office or to supply a vacancy caused by death, resignation or otherwise, must be made according to the rules and regulations of the political party desiring to make a nomination for the office sought to be filled.

The only question contained in your letter of inquiry that remains to be answered is what construction shall be given to the phrase "to be held at a date which would prevent the making of nominations in time to comply with Section five of this act." Section 5 of the act provides that certificates of nomination must be filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth thirty-five days before the day of the election.

The proper answer to this inquiry must necessarily be a mixed question of law and fact. The provisions of this or any other statute must be given a reasonable interpretation. - Since the Baker Ballot Law expressly recognizes the right of every political organization to make nominations according to its own rules, the provisions of Section 7 above referred to must be construed in connection with other provisions of the ballot law, keeping in mind as well the rules and regulations of the political party seeking to make the nomination. The question then naturally arises: Are seven days a reasonable time in which to put in motion the complicated machinery of the Republican party in the 25th Congressional district, so as to have thp certificate of nomination on file in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth in the time prescribed by Section 5 of the Ballot Law?

The writ was issued on Tuesday, the 9th inst. The party machinery could not be set in motion until the chairmen in the several counties were officially notified of the issuance of the writ. It would then be necessary for the chairman of each county committee to call the members of said committee together for the purpose of fixing a date on which the primaries should be held.

The members of the county committees are entitled to a reasonable notice of the date fixed for such an important meeting. When the county committees are called together they fix a date for holding the primaries in their respective counties. The people of the several counties are entitled to a reasonable notice of the day on which the primaries are to be held. After the primaries are so held it is necessary for the return judges in the several counties to meet in their respective counties, compute the returns and declare the result. After (he result is so declared it becomes necessary to convene the district convention. The chairman of the county in which the convention is tobe held under the party rule has the right to fix the date upon which the convention shall assemble. Having so fixed the date it is necessary that all the delegates elected should be notified. They are entitled to a reasonable notice of the time fixed for the district convention. The district convention is then held and a nomination made, after which the certificate of nomination must be forwarded to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The statement of these facts will convince any reasonable person that seven days are not a sufficient time in which to make a nomination according to the rules and regulations of the Republican party in the 25th Congressional District.

I am therefore of opinion that the provisions of Section 5 of the Ballot Law above referred to, in respect to the time for filing certificates of nomination in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth do not apply to the special election ordered by the Governor to be held in said district on the 20th day of April next. This being our view of the law, it necessarily follows that the certificate of nomination must be filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, under the provisions of Section 12 of the act of 1893 (P. L, 424).

It will be observed that no time is fixed in Section 12 of the act for the filing of certificates of nomination or nomination papers, but it is only fair to presume that the law intended that certificates of nomination or nomination papers, made under the provisions of this section, should be filed in the proper office in ample time to permit the printing and distribution of the ballots in the several counties.

Very respectfully yours,

JNO P. ELKIN, Deputy Attorney General.