But at the election of delegates on the 15th of June, the free-State men, following their deliberate purpose and hitherto unvarying practice of non-conformity to the bogus laws, abstained entirely from voting.

"The consequence was that out of the 9250 voters whose names had been registered ...

there were in all about 2200 votes cast, and of these the successful candidate received 1800." [Sidenote] Walker to Buchanan, June 28, 1857.

Report Covode Committee, p.

118.
"The black Republicans," reported the Governor, "would not vote, and the free-State Democrats were kept from voting by the fear that the constitution would not be submitted by the convention, and that by voting they committed themselves to the proceeding of the convention.
But for my inaugural, circulated by thousands, and various speeches all urging the people to vote, there would not have been one thousand votes polled in the Territory, and the convention would have been a disastrous failure." But this was not the only evil.