Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-511

Opinion No. 511 Elections-Ballots, Marking of -School Districts--Sehool Trustees, Election of. HELD: School district elections in districts of the third class are more or less informal but, they must he con- ducted in a manner that will plainly show the intention of the voters and the hallots must be rna rked so tha t the judges of election mny determine the name of the person voted for for trus- tee, and the term, or the ballot is worthless nnd should not be counted. April 12, 1934. You submit the following facts reln- ti ve to the election of school trustees on AprU 7, 1n34, and request nn opinion from tJiis office thereon: "School district No. 7n, a district of the third class in Powder Hiver Coun- ty, Montana, on April 7th voted for three trustees, none of whom had been nominated by petition. The bal- lot was prepared in blank for three trustees with the annotation, 'Vote for three.' On the bulletin board at the polls were the names of six candi- dates, Smith and l\iiller desil"rnatClI for the three year term, Bone and Humph for the two year term, and Jones and Hue for the one year tcrm as shown hy copy of letter to the County Commissioners submitted here- with. "The judges and clerk of election mnde return of the votes cast as fol- lows without. deSignating the term to which 'any of the candidates was elected, to-wit: l\liller H5; Smith H::I. Rue 92; Humph 73; Bone no and ;Jones 89. "In the several instances the term 350 OPINIONS OJ,' THE ATTORXEY GENERAL of the candidate yoted for was desig- nated in writing by the elector but the judge of election frequently ad- vised the electors that this was not necessary. "It is my contention that the cer- tificate of election should show Miller to be elected for the three year term; and that Smith is eliminated; that Bone is elected for the two year term, and that Rue is elected for the one year term." Section 996, R. C. M., 1!)21, provides, in part, as follows: "The clerk shall enter in the tally list the name of every person voted for as trustee, and the term, and tally opposite his name, the number of yotes cast for him, and at the end thereof set down in a column pro- vided for that purpose the whole number of votes he receh-ed. The judges and clerk shall sign a certifi- cate to said tally list, setting forth the whole number of votes cast for each person or trustee, deSignating the term, and shall verify the same as being correct, to the best of their knowledge before an officer author- ized to administer oaths. * ,. * Said books and tall~' lists shall be returned to the board of trustees of the dis- trict, who shall canvass the vote and cause the clerk of the district to is- sue a certificate of election to the person or persons elected, designating their term, a copy of which must be forwarded to the county superintend- ent of schools." From the facts submitted the Judges and Clerk of the election did not com- ply with these provisions of the stat- utes. School elections in districts of the third class, the class in which the district in question belongs, are more or less informal, but they must be con- ducted in a manner that will plainly show the intention of the voters. ~'he judges of election mURt be able to de- termine from each ballot the name of the person voted for for trustee and the term. If this cannot be done the hallot is worthless and should not be counted. From all the facts submitted it ap- pears to us that no election was beld. The advice of the judges to the voters that it was not necessary for the voter to designate on his hallot the term of the trustee was clearly erroneous. Three trustees were to be elected. If the voter indicated three persons on his ballot for trustee without any refer- ence to the term of each, it is left purely to speculation as to which be intended to vote for for the three year term, the two year term or the one year term. '1'he election, from the facts snb- mitted, appears to have been conducted without a great deal of consideration for the statutes. The statutes are plain on the procedure and, with a slight degree of care, an election may lJe held that will comply in a reasonahle degree with the law. The trustees may be able to recon- ,-ene, carefully recheck the ballots and determine what thl'ee persons ha YO been elected trustee. but for the rea- sons stated we decline to give an opin- ion as to who was or was not elf'ctetl a trustee.