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Who should Count them,
What should be Counted, and
The Remedy for a Wrong Count.
The electoral votes of 1876 have been cast. The certificates are nowin Washington, or on their way thither, to be kept by the President ofthe Senate until their seals are broken in February. The certificatesand the votes of thirty-four of the States are undisputed. Theremaining four are debatable, and questions respecting them havearisen, upon the decision of which depends the election of theincoming President. These questions are: Who are to count the votes;what votes are to be counted; and what is the remedy for a wrongcount? I hope not to be charged with presumption if, in fulfilling myduty as a citizen, I do what I can toward the answering of thesequestions aright; and, though I happen to contribute nothing towardsatisfactory answers, I shall be excused for making the effort.
The questions themselves have no relation to the relative merits ofthe two candidates. Like other voters, I expressed my own preferenceon the morning of the election. That duty is discharged; another dutysupervenes, which is, to take care that my vote is counted and allowedits due place in the summary of the votes. Otherwise the votingperformance becomes ridiculous, and the voter deserves to be laughedat for his pains. His duty—to cast his vote according to his[Pg 4]conscience—was clear; it is no less his duty to make the vote felt,along with other like votes, according to the laws.
The whole duty of a citizen is not ended when his vote is delivered;there remains the obligation to watch it until it is duly weighed, inadjusting the preponderance of the general choice. Whatever may be theultimate result of the count, whether his candidate will have lost orwon, is of no importance compared with the maintenance of justice andthe supremacy of law over the preferences and passions of men.
It concerns the honor of the nation that fraud shall not prevail orhave a chance of prevailing. If a fraudulent count is possible, it isof little consequence how my vote or the votes of others be cast; forthe supreme will is not that of the honest voter, but of the dishonestcounter; and, when fraud succeeds, or is commonly thought to havesucceeded, the public conscience, shocked at first, be