[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 2, Chapters 7 - 9] [Chapter 9. Election Contests] [A. In General] [§ 3. State or Local Election Boards] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov] [Page 983-984] CHAPTER 9 Election Contests A. IN GENERAL Sec. 3. State or Local Election Boards Article I, section 4, clause 1 of the United States Constitution provides that the State legislatures shall prescribe the time, place and manner of holding congressional elections, but authorizes the Congress at any time to make or alter such regulations (except as to the location for electing Senators). Although Congress has provided the time for the election of Representatives (see 2 USC Sec. 7), most of the procedures for holding elections to the House--including the printing, casting, and counting of ballots--have been left to the state and local election boards and commissions to prescribe. (See Ch. 8, supra, for a complete discussion of election procedures.) Ordinarily, the House will refuse to intervene to overturn voting procedures adopted by the local authorities.(6)~ And it has been held that the House has no authority to order them to conduct a recount.(7)~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Sec. 3.2, infra. 7. Sec. 3.1, infra. ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lack of Authority Over State or Local Election Boards Sec. 3.1 The House has no authority to order a state or local board of elections to conduct a recount. In Sullivan v Miller (Sec. 52.5, infra), a 1943 Missouri contest, the parties filed a joint application proposing that the House order the Missouri Board of Election Commissioners to conduct a recount. It was concluded that although the House itself, through an elections committee, could undertake a recount, there was no precedent wherein the House had ordered a state or local board of election commissioners to take a recount. Intervention in State or Local Elections Sec. 3.2 The House will refuse to intervene in an election contest at the state or local level, even at the request of both parties. In Sullivan v Miller (Sec. 52.5, infra), a 1943 Missouri contest, the parties had filed a joint application proposing that the House order the Missouri Board of Election Commissioners to conduct a recount. This application alleged that a prior recount by the state in a local election for Recorder in [[Page 984]] dicated a miscount of over 1,000 votes. The report of the Committee on Elections determined that the contest had not been formally brought before the House, and that the House should not intervene in a local contest merely to gather evidence for the parties.