Snodgrass's Case

Citations

• 267 Pa. 494
• 110 A. 293
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 897

Syllabus

<p>Elections — Contest—Petition—Averments —- Qualified electors— Amendment — Time—Practice — Bill of particulars — Demurrer— Act of May 19,187h, P. L. 208.</p> <p>1. A petition to contest an election under tbe Act of May 19, 1874, P. L. 208, may, on cause sbown and allowance by tbe court after notice to tbe other party and bearing, be amended, even after tbe time limit for initiating tbe proceeding has expired, as to all matters which merely concern exactness or particularity in the petition, as distinguished from tbe omission of facts expressly required to be originally pleaded therein.</p> <p>2. Tbe court may properly permit an election contest petition to be amended by adding to an averment that tbe signers were qualified electors a further averment that they voted at tbe election in controversy.</p> <p>3. Tbe contestee, if be doubts tbe qualifications of tbe signers, lean, by rule for bill of particulars, insist on an averment in that 'regard, so that, if tbe facts thus developed should justify this course, be may demur to tbe petition; but, on demurrer in tbe first instance, be cannot successfully object to such a supplemental averment being made.</p> <p>Elections — Ballots—Names of candidates — Same person candidate on two parties — Mistake in omitting initial under one party— Confusion.</p> <p>4. In a proceeding by a number of electors to contest an election tbe court properly entered an order declaring tbe election invalid where it appeared that Tames A. Snodgrass, Republican; H. B. Cutshall, Democrat, and H. Cutshall, Prohibitionist, appeared as candidates for the office of sheriff on the printed ballots and the court found that H. B. Outshall and H. Cutshall are the same person; that the printing of the name H. Cutshall on the ballot was an error, H. B. Cutshall being in fact the nominee of the Prohibition party and that the ballot was printed in a form calculated to mislead and deceive the voters, and therefore probably affected the result of the election