Powell v. Spackman

Citations

• 7 Idaho 692
• 65 P. 503
• 54 L.R.A. 378
• 1901 Ida. LEXIS 38

Syllabus

<p>Elections — Constitutional Construction. — A constitutional provision which provides that “for the purpose of voting, no person shall he deemed to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence .... while kept at any almshouse or other asylum at public expense,” ‘preserves the voting status of the inmates of a soldiers' home at the time of their entry thereto, and such inmates cannot acquire, by reason of their presence in such soldiers’ home, and while kept at public expense, the right to vote in the county and precinct in which such institution is located.</p> <p>Constitutional Construction. — Where the language of a constitutional provision is plain and free from ambiguity, the ordinary signification of the words employed, as used in common parlance, must be considered, and the intent of the provision gathered from the words themselves, giving to them their usual meaning and signification.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the court.)</p>