"Each House," says the U.S. Constitution, "shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members." Exercising its constitutional prerogative, the House of Representativesin the persons of a five-member Select Committee on Electionslast week scrutinized three House elections out of 436 this fall in which the outcome was contested. The three:
¶ Kansas' Sixth District, where the margin of Incumbent Republican Wint Smith over Democrat Elmo J. Mahoney was so narrow (233 votes) that the committee recommended an investigation of Mahoney's charge of irregularities.
¶ Minnesota's Ninth District, where Odin...