Kingery v. Berry

Citations

• 94 Ill. 515

Syllabus

<p>1. Preserving evidence—presumption in contested election case. On appeal from the judgment of a county court, in a statutory proceeding to contest the alleged election of a person as commissioner of highways, it is not the rule that the judgment will be presumed to have been sustained by the proofs unless the bill of exceptions purports to contain all the evidence, but the proceeding is to be regarded as in the nature of a chancery proceeding, and the rule in chancery should apply, that, to uphold the decree, it must appear from the record that it is supported by the proofs.</p> <p>2. Contested election—weight of evidence—improper handling of ballots. Upon the contest of an election in respect to the number of votes cast for the candidates, respectively, where there is a disagreement as to the result between the poll books, tally lists, and certificate of the result of the canvass by the election officers entered in the poll books, supported by the testimony of those officers on the one side, and the ballots themselves on the other side, ordinarily the ballots are the better evidence, and control.</p> <p>3. But where it is shown the ballots have been improperly handled by the contestant, out of the presence of the other party or of the election officers, and under circumstances rendering it possible for them to have been tampered with, the ballots, by reason of such intermeddling, will lose their value as evidence, and will not prevail as against the result shown by the poll books, the tally lists, and certificate of the result of the canvass of the votes by the election officers, supported by the testimony of such officers.</p> <p>4. In this case, after'the canvass of the votes given at an election, and the result announced, and the ballots placed in the custody of the officer appointed by law for that purpose, that officer, together with several other persons, including the candidate adversely to whom the result had been announced, out of the presence of the ot