An Election Challenge in the 39th District
A candidate launches a formal contest against Representative-elect Will R. White, alleging bribery and illegal voting in King County.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Thomas F. Drew has sent to the office of the secretary of state a notice of contest against Will R. White for a seat in the house of representatives from the Thirty-ninth district in King county. The grounds of the contest are stated in the notice of Drew to be misconduct on the part of the board of judges in each voting precinct; the casting of illegal votes counted for White; the counting of votes for White that were cast for Drew; and the obtaining of bribes by White for the purpose of procuring votes.
“The grounds of contest are stated... to be misconduct on the part of the board of judges... and the obtaining of bribes by White for the purpose of procuring votes.”
Election challenges based on voter integrity and procedural irregularities remain a staple of American civic life, though the specific mechanisms of 1892, such as using justices of the peace to collect testimony, have long since been formalized into modern state statutes.
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