An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting, at the Presidential Election in Nov., 1872, and on the Trial of Beverly W. Jones, Edwin T. Marsh, and William B. Hall, the Inspectors of Election by Whom Her Vote was Received.Anonymous
History
An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting, at the Presidential Election in Nov., 1872, and on the Trial of Beverly W. Jones, Edwin T. Marsh, and William B. Hall, the Inspectors of Election by Whom Her Vote was Received.
Anonymous
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Election law -- United States; Women -- Suffrage -- United States
MR. VAN VOORHIS: I didn't offer it in view of the advice, but to show
precisely what the operation of the minds of these inspectors was at
that time, and what the facts are.
THE COURT: It is not competent.
By MR. VAN VOORHIS:
Q. Were you present on the day of election?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you receive the votes of these persons?
A. I did.
Q. How many ballot boxes were there there?
A. Six.
Q. What position did you occupy during the day?
A. Chairman of the Board.
Q. Did you stand at the window and receive the votes?
A. Most of the time I did.
Q. Were those ballots which you received from them folded?
A. They were.
Q. Did you or any of the inspectors see or know the contents of any of
the ballots?
MR. CROWLEY: If your Honor please, I submit it is entirely immaterial
whether these inspectors saw the names upon the ballots.
THE COURT: I have excluded that already. It is not competent. It is
proved that they put in votes, and it is proved by one of the ladies
that she did vote for a candidate for Congress.
MR. VAN VOORHIS: I propose to show by the witness that he didn't know
the contents of any ballot, and didn't see it.
THE COURT: That will be assumed. He could not do it with any propriety.
By MR. VAN VOORHIS:
Q. Did either one of the inspectors object to receiving the votes of the
women at the polls?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Which one?
A. William B. Hall.
Q. Did he take any part in receiving votes, and, if so, state what part?
A. I believe that he took the ballot of one lady, and placed it in the
box. I stepped out, I believe, for a few moments.
Q. Did it to accommodate you while you stepped out?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. On the day of registry did the inspectors as a board decide
unanimously to register these votes, all three of you consenting?
A. We did.
Q. When you came to receive the votes, Hall dissented?
A. He did, sir.
Q. But the other two were a majority, and he was overruled; was this the
way it was, or wasn't there anything in form said about it?
A. He was overruled; I felt it my duty to take the ballots.
Q. In receiving those ballots did you act honestly in accordance with
your sense of duty, and in accordance with your best judgment?
A. I did.
By MR. CROWLEY:
Q. All three of the inspectors agreed in receiving these names for
registration, did they not?
A. Yes, sir.
By MR. VAN VOORHIS:
Q. I meant to have asked you in reference to the challenges; state
whether or not challenges were entered against these voters prior to the
day of election?
A. There was.
Q. On their presenting their votes, what was done?
A. I told Miss Anthony, when she offered her vote, that she was
challenged; she would have to swear her ballot in if she insisted upon
voting; she said she insisted upon voting, and I presented her the Bible
and administered to her the preliminary oath, which she took. I turned
to the gentleman that challenged her, and asked him if he still insisted
upon her taking the general oath.
Q. Were questions asked her?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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