This is a case of no ordinary magnitude, although many might regard it
as one of very little importance. The question whether my client here
has done anything to justify her being consigned to a felon's prison or
not, is one that interests her very essentially, and that interests the
people also essentially. I claim and shall endeavor to establish before
you that when she offered to have her name registered as a voter, and
when she offered her vote for Member of Congress, she was as much
entitled to vote as any man that voted at that election, according to
the Constitution and laws of the Government under which she lives. If I
maintain that proposition, as a matter of course she has committed no
offence, and is entitled to be discharged at your hands.

But, beyond that, whether she was a legal voter or not, whether she was
entitled to vote or not, if she sincerely believed that she had a right
to vote, and offered her ballot in good faith, under that belief,
whether right or wrong, by the laws of this country she is guilty of no
crime. I apprehend that that proposition, when it is discussed, will be
maintained with a clearness and force that shall leave no doubt upon the
mind of the Court or upon your minds as the gentlemen of the jury. If I
maintain that proposition here, then the further question and the only
question which, in my judgment, can come before you to be passed upon by
you as a question of fact is whether or not she did vote in good faith,
believing that she had a right to vote.

The public prosecutor assumes that, however honestly she may have
offered her vote, however sincerely she may have believed that she had a
right to vote, if she was mistaken in that judgment, her offering her
vote and its being received makes a criminal offence--a proposition to
me most abhorrent, as I believe it will be equally abhorrent to your
judgment.