Looking Back: Whispers of election fraud in Wilson Township
CHARLEVOIX — Claims of election fraud have been part of the American political landscape ever since the first marked ballot vote was held, or so it seems.
The latest example, the latest complete, unsubstantiated lie, caused the Murdoch news organization gigantic damages to its bank account (hundreds of millions of dollars) and contributed further to its pathetic reputation for deliberate dishonesty. A variant controversy happened closer to home a century ago, when it was discovered that a Charlevoix County township had been terribly lax in enforcing the legal requirements for the carrying out of a fair and proper election, resulting in the nullification of the election results. Wilson Township, to be exact, just south of Boyne City.
Charlevoix Courier, April 16, 1924: “CLAIMS ELECTION FRAUD IN WILSON. Irregularities Make Count Invalid. Defeated Candidate’s Petition Uncovers Shocking Laxity of Inspectors. Wilson township has lately been the scene of a rather disgraceful political squabble, which terminated in a petition for a recount of votes filed by Claude Pearsall, defeated candidate for the office of highway commissioner.
“Pearsall’s contention was based on his contention that the action of the board of election inspectors constituted a fraud, through mistakes and irregularities in the election; that persons applied for and received ballots who had not been registered; and were permitted to vote without being sworn as to their qualifications as required by law; that the voters openly displayed their marked ballots in the presence of their friends, the inspectors and others, which is in violation of the law, and that one or more of the voters signed their ballots; also that the initialing inspector initialed the ballots with a common lead pencil, instead of indelible ink, as required by the statute, and that there were several other irregularities.
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“When the township board met on Tuesday to make the recount, it was discovered that the ballot box containing the ballots had been left in the town hall since the election, unguarded and unlocked, and that no cover had been placed over the deposit slot in the box—in fact, the ballots had not been protected in any of the ways prescribed by law. This condition prevented the township board from attempting to make a recount of the ballots, so that the title to the office of highway commissioner must be determined by court proceedings, if at all.
“It is commonly known that the election machinery—not only in the townships, but in villages and cities—is very inadequate and abused in one way or another, either by intention or the ignorance of the inspectors.
“It seems high time that the legislature paid less attention to passing election laws and more attention to devising a method of securing competent and efficient election inspectors. Elections are the only means of securing an expression of the people’s will upon the election of officers and the adoption of the various propositions that must be submitted to them.
“When such conditions as those recently revealed in Wilson township are permitted to pass unchallenged and elections are run in a haphazard manner, the public must inevitably suffer.
“Our election laws are far from perfect and their imperfections give rise to criticisms often advanced against the democratic form of government.”
The writer of this should be alive today to witness what is going on.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Looking Back: Whispers of election fraud in Wilson Township
