PREFATORY NOTE. Section 342, Statutes of 1898, authorizes the Secretary of State to publish as often as he shall deem necessary, the laws relating to elections. It has been the practice of the Secretary of State, under the authority of this section, to publish after each session of the legislature a revised compilation of such laws. The present publication is made in pursuance of such authority and in accordance with such practice. It contains the laws of Wisconsin relating to elections, the nomination of candidates, and the registry of electors. The notes of cases printed in previous compilations are continued, with additional notes of recent cases, bringing them down to date. The Primary Election Law, which is printed in this compilation as Part II, is "An act to provide for party nominations by direct vote." It was undoubtedly the intention of the legislature that this law should take the place of the caucus and convention law entirely, and that after its enactment there should be no nominations for office made by caucus and convention. This would have been the effect of the law but for the exemption of certain offices from its operation. Section 2 provides that "Hereafter, all candidates for elective offices shall be nominated 1, by a primary held in accordance with this act, or 2, by nomination papers, signed and filed as provided by existing statutes." The same cetion further provides that "This act shall not apply to special elections to fill vacancies nor to the office of state superintendent, to county and district superintendents of schools, to town, vil 257177 |