1874.] OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES. 795

House of Delegates should so find, as well as the one who has
been returned elected, or the one who has been commissioned
by the Governor, and although it would seem that the de-
cision of the House of Delegates that the contestant is elected
would logically entitle him to the office; yet your Committee
have come to the conclusion that it is the better and more
judicious construction to give to this clause of the Constitu-
tion, that in all cases where the judgment shall be against
"the one who has been returned elected, or who has been
commissioned by the Governor," a new election should be
ordered.

It is true, as was insisted on behalf of the contestant, that
force and effect would be given to this clause of the Constitu-
tion, by applying it only to cases of disqualification of the
party elected, and to cases where facts do not show that the
contestant has not received an actual majority of the votes
cast by the legal and qualified voters, and it seems imposing
a double burden and hardship upon the contestant if he has,
upon purging the ballot-box, rejecting the disqualified voters,
and recounting the votes, in fact received a majority of the
votes of the legal and qualified voters to require him to un-
dergo a second contest before the people, in order to secure
the office. But the evil sought to be remedied by this clause
of the Constitution was to prevent legislating parties, not re-
turned elected, into office, under the influence of partizan or
other considerations. If your Committee conceded that in a
case in which the House of Delegates came to the conclusion
that the contestant was elected, he could be declared elected
and placed in office without ordering a new election, various
pretexts and reasons might, in the beat of partizan contest,
be found by which the party in the ascendency could reach this
result, and thus avoid a new election.

Thus the evil sought to be remedied of legislating parties
into office would not be effectually checked. Your Commit-
tee, looking to past precedents, and with a view to place such
a construction upon the Constitution as will most surely
carry out the objects of the framers of the instrument, have
reached the conclusion, that if their judgment is against
Robert S. Widdicombe, who has been returned elected, the
House of Delegates must order a new election.

The evidence taken in this case is very voluminous, and
much of it, as conceded by the counsel of the respective par-
ties, in their arguments before the Committee, has no great
bearing upon the judgment to be rendered by the House of
Delegates. If the House was not required to order a new
election in case the judgment shall be against the candidate
returned elected, but was called upon to ascertain the exact
state of the vote, and make out new returns upon which to