State ex rel. Carroll v. Superior Court

Citations

• 113 Wash. 54
• 193 P. 226
• 1920 Wash. LEXIS 807

Syllabus

<p>Constitutional Law (24) — Construction—Presumptions. An act of the legislature is presumptively valid and will be declared unconstitutional only when clearly in violation of the constitution.</p> <p>Elections (2) — Nature of Right — Power to Regulate. The right to vote is a constitutional right, but the manner in which it is to be exercised is purely statutory, and the legislature may determine the proof required to establish the right to register and vote.</p> <p>Constitutional Law (102) — Class Legislation — Right to Vote— Citizenship — Naturalization Papers. Rem. & Bal. Code, § 4767, as amended by Laws of 1919, p. 466, § 7, requiring a foreign born citizen to produce naturalization papers or a certified copy as a condition precedent to his right to register and vote, is not unconstitutional as class legislation, since there is a reasonable basis for the classification in the different character of proof for native born citizens.</p> <p>Elections (16) — Right to Vote — Citizenship—Proof—Naturalization Papers. The requirement of Rem. & Bal. Code, § 4767, as amended by Laws of 1919, p. 466, § 7, that a foreign born citizen produce naturalization papers or a certified copy, either of himself or his ancestor, as a condition precedent to his right to register and vote is not so difficult or impossible of attainment as in effect to amount to a qualification additional to tliat required by the constitution; in view of the act of Congress of May 9,1918, U. S. Comp. St. § 4352, par. 10, which permits a foreign born resident who had lived uninterruptedly within the United States for a period of five years, and erroneously exercised the rights of citizens in good faith, to become a citizen without making the preliminary declaration of intention required of other aliens.</p>