The Policeman Who Voted Twice
A school board election scandal in Seattle leads to a courtroom showdown, a surprise witness, and the abrupt firing of a patrolman.
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.
The trial of Nicholas W. Long, charged with voting twice at the school election on April 6, was on hearing yesterday before Judge Osborn in the superior court. The defendant is better known as Nick Long and served as a policeman under the administration of Chief George R. Humes. Long was jointly indicted for voting at the school election with Johnson, another ex-policeman. During the trial, Policeman C. M. Conroy, a witness for the defense, was cross-examined by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Bass. When asked if he had bragged about paying men to vote, Conroy became flustered and was eventually discharged by the board of police commissioners for his conduct. Witnesses testified that the voting took place at the corner of Yesler Avenue and Third Street, and the case remains a subject of intense local friction.
“Because he tried to job me off the laws.”
Local elections in 1890s Seattle were often marred by 'colonizing' voters and patronage-driven police forces, a sharp reminder that battles over voting integrity and civic power have been a fixture of the city since its incorporation. The intersection of Yesler and Third, once the site of a contested ballot box, is now in the heart of Pioneer Square.
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