97 Wis. 2d 583 - McNally v. Tollander’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The exclusion of legal votes — not fraudulently, but through error in judgment — will not defeat an election. It is an error which there is no mode of correcting, even by the aid of the courts, since it cannot be known with certainty afterwards how the excluded electors would have voted; and it is obvious that it would be dangerous to receive and rely upon their subsequent statements as to their intentions, after it is ascertained precisely what effect their votes would have had upon the result. . . . An election honestly conducted under the forms of law ought generally to stand, notwithstanding individual electors may have been deprived of their votes, or unqualified voters have been allowed to participate. Individuals may suffer wrong in such cases, and a candidate who was the real choice of the people may sometimes be deprived of his election; but, as it is generally impossible to arrive at any greater certainty of result by resort to oral evidence, public policy is best subserved by allowing the election to stand, and trusting to a strict enforcement of the criminal laws for greater security against the like irregularities and wrongs in the future.” (Quoting Cooley, Const. Lim., 781 (6th ed.) (Emphasis added.) Hanson, supra, 87 Wis. at 179 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 100 Wis. 2d 490 - McNally v. Tollander

2. ““(1) Notice was defective contrary to secs. 10.06(2) (h), 10.01(2) (a), (b) and (c), and 10.06(2) (m), Stats; (2) Printing of the referendum ballots was arranged by a county board committee and not the county clerk contrary to secs. 7.10(2) and 7.50(1) (a), Stats; (8) Ballots were distributed by a county board committee, not the county clerk contrary to sec. 7.10(3), Stats; (4) Ballots were not distributed to voters in eight districts contrary to sec. 7.15(1) (c), Stats; (5) Ballots were canvassed by a county board committee, not the county clerk contrary to sec. 7.60, Stats; (6) The ballots provided by the county board committee were cast and counted in the election contrary to sec. 7.50(1), Stats.” McNally v. Tollander, 97 Wis.2d 583, 602 , 294 N.W.2d 660 (Ct. App. 1980).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 100 Wis. 2d 490 - McNally v. Tollander

3. ““. . . a petition signed by at least one-half of the resident freeholders of the county as evidenced by the recorded deeds in the office of the register of deeds of the county, in favor of such removal, shall first he presented to the county board and filed in the office of the county cleric.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 100 Wis. 2d 490 - McNally v. Tollander