State v. Erickson | Cases | Westlaw

The contention of the relator, stated in general terms, is that these statutory provisions are void because they violate the state and federal Constitutions. The record presents no federal questions. See State ex rel. Engelhard v. Weber, 96 Minn. 422, 105 N. W. 490, 113 Am. St. Rep. 630, and State v. Scott, 110 Minn. 461, 126 N. W. 70, and same case in 219 U. S. 582, 31 Sup. Ct. 469, 55 L. Ed. 345, dismissing a writ of error to this court. This leaves for our decision only the question whether the statutory provisions in question are forbidden by our state Constitution, for whatever the people have not by their Constitution incapacitated themselves from doing they may do by their representatives in the Legislature, unless it be an act forbidden by the federal Constitution. The constitutional provisions relevant to the question are sections 1, 6, and 7 of article 7 of the Constitution of this state, which are to the effect following: Every qualified voter shall be entitled to vote at any election, in the election district of which he shall at the time have been for 30 days a resident, for all offices that now are, or hereafter may be, elective by the people. All elections shall be by ballot except for such town officers as may be directed by law to be otherwise chosen. Every person entitled to vote at any election shall be eligible to any office elective by the people in his election district, except as otherwise provided by this Constitution or the Constitution or laws *156 of the United States. These constitutional provisions guarantee the right of a qualified elector to vote at any election, define the qualifications of an elector, and the conditions of eligibility to office, which cannot be changed or added to by statute. State v. Clough, 23 Minn. 17; State v. Holman, 58 Minn. 219, 59 N. W. 1006; State v. Bates, 102 Minn. 111, 112 N. W. 1026, 12 Ann. Cas. 105.

The Constitution does not attempt to regulate the exercise of the right of eligibility to office or to vote, but they are, of necessity, left for legislative action. Therefore the Legislature may make and impose such reasonable regulations and conditions which it deems necessary to secure a pure and orderly election and to guard against unfair conbinations, undue influence, and coercion, although they may incidentally affect the right of an elector to vote, or his opportunities for securing an election to office. Such regulations, however, must be reasonable, uniform, and impartial; they must not be such as to defeat indirectly the constitutional rights of an elector or unnecessarily obstruct the exercise thereof. State v. Holman, supra; State v. Moore, 87 Minn. 308, 92 N. W. 4, 59 L. R. A. 447, 94 Am. St. Rep. 702.

In considering this question we must keep in mind that our primary election, which is purely of statutory origin, is the selection, by qualified voters, of candidates for the respective offices to be filled, while an election, which has its origin in the Constitution, is the selection, by such voters, of officers to discharge the duties of the respective offices; and that statutory regulations applicable only to a primary election, which might be repugnant to the Constitution if extended to elections, are not necessarily invalid unless they are so onerous, unfair, or obstructive as practically to defeat the fair right of an elector to vote or to be elected to office. State v. Johnson, 87 Minn. 221, 91 N. W. 604, 840; State v. Moore, supra; State v. Scott, 99 Minn. 145, 108 N. W. 828.

Whether the provisions of the primary statute classifying or grouping candidates would be constitutional if extended to official election ballots, we neither consider nor decide, for the reason that such provisions have not been so extended; they begin and end with the primary statute; and, further, that the names of candidates selected at the primary election from any class or group must be placed upon the official election ballots under the general election statutes and in the same manner as the names of other candidates nominated at the primary election, except that those belonging to the nonpartisan class are not entitled to any party designation. R. L. 1905, §§ 182, 201; Laws 1912, c. 2, § 2, and chapter 12.

The relator, however, contends that the primary election law (Laws 1912, c. 2) is an election within the meaning of the Constitution, and that the decisions of this court to which we have referred were based upon a statute materially different from the one here under consideration in that by it party affiliations have been eliminated as to officers classified as nonpartisan. This does not affect the fundamental distinction, to which we have referred, between an election and a primary election, a regulation of the right to vote. It is also to be noted in this connection that the first 12 sections of the act of 1912 are amendments to the original primary election law (sections 181, 182, 184, 186, 187, 189, 193, 196, 197, 199, 200, and 201, R. L. *158 1905) and must be so construed. The decisions referred to are therefore in point, and we adhere to them.

The last contention is to the effect that the classification made by the statute, as to cities of the first class and those having home rule charters, is an arbitrary one; hence it is unconstitutional. We are of the opinion that the classification is one within the reasonable discretion of the Legislature, and that it is valid. State v. Scott, 110 Minn. 461, 126 N. W. 70.