Atkinson v. Lorbeer

Citations

• 111 Cal. 419
• 44 P. 162
• 1896 Cal. LEXIS 599

Syllabus

<p>Election Contest—Malconduct oe Election Board—Irregularity—. Good Faith.—An irregularity of an election board in not proceeding immediately to canvass the votes when the polls were closed, and in excluding all but two bystanders while preparations were being made for the tallying during the absence of one of the judges of the election for a half-hour after the polls were closed, and in waiting for his return before the tallying was proceeded with, when other bystanders were admitted, is not such malconduct as will vitiate the vote of the precinct, where it affirmatively appears by the testimony of the officers of the election, and the finding of the court in accordance with their testimony, that everything was done in good faith, and that no fraud was committed.</p> <p>Id.—Mandatory and Directory Provisions—Fraud—Injury.—While the time and place of holding an election are of substance and mandatory, and must be complied with, and even directory provisions cannot be so grossly departed from as to make it impossible or extremely difficult to determine whether the fraud has been committed, or anything done which would affect the result, yet, as a general rule, the provisions for conducting an election, which are directory in their character, will not he literally enforced, where their nonobservance has occasioned no injury.</p>