Sheils v. Flynn

In the general election of 1936 the plaintiff William J. Sheils opposed George A. Slater for the office of surrogate of Westchester county. The return of the board of canvassers disclosed that Slater had received 123,785 votes and Shiels 123,687 votes, giving Slater a plurality of 98. It was established in this action from an actual examination of the voting machines and absentee ballots by the parties, however, that the actual plurality of Slater over Sheils was 106. The closeness of the division of the voters on this office is indicated by the fact that almost 250,000 votes were cast. The…