In this belief he applies to the
registrars of that town, who upon the statement of the facts, are of the
opinion that he has a right to vote there, and place his name upon the
list, and on election day he votes there without objection. Now, if he
should be prosecuted for illegal voting, it would not be enough that he
acknowledged the fact of voting, and that the judge was of the opinion
that his view of the law was wrong. There would remain another and most
vital question in the case, and that is, did he intend to vote
unlawfully? Now, precisely the wrong that would be done to the voter in
the case we are supposing, by the judge ordering a verdict of guilty to
be entered up, was done by that course in Miss Anthony's case. She
thoroughly believed that she had a right to vote. In addition to this
she had consulted one of the ablest lawyers in Western New York, who
gave it as his opinion that she had a right to vote, and who testified
on the trial that he had given her that advice. The Act of Congress upon
which the prosecution was founded uses the term "knowingly,"--"shall
knowingly vote or attempt to vote in the name of any other person, or
more than once at the same election for any candidate for the same
office, or vote at a place where he may not be lawfully entitled to
vote, or without having a lawful right to vote.
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