Fish's Election

Citations

• 273 Pa. 410
• 117 A. 85
• 1922 Pa. LEXIS 589

Syllabus

<p>Election law — Contest — Votes — Irregularity—Counting votes away from polling place.</p> <p>1. It is an open question whether a candidate for office, who was not a party to a contested election proceeding in the court below, has a standing to appeal from its order.</p> <p>2. If no fraud is averred or proved the entire vote in an election division will not be thrown out merely because some statutory provisions have not been complied with.</p> <p>3. If a statute declares that a specified irregularity shall be fatal to the vote in an election district, the court will follow the legislative command, irrespective of its own views as to the wisdom of the requirement; but if the statute does not so declare, the court will endeavor to ascertain whether the deviation from the prescribed forms of law had or had not so vital an influence on the proceedings as to probably prevent a full and free expression of the popular will; if it is found they had not, the deviation will be considered immaterial.</p> <p>4. Where, after the polls have closed, the election officers leave the polling place because it was too cold to remain there, and finish the count of the ballots in another room in the same building, this will be treated as an irregularity only, unless it is shown that fraud was committed or wrong done.</p>