## Facts

- Merrie H. Abbott, a University of Michigan Law School graduate and a woman over 21, was elected prosecuting attorney of Ogemaw County at the November 8, 1898 general election.
- Abbott qualified for office, took the oath, and performed the duties of prosecuting attorney.
- The Michigan Constitution of 1850 provided that each organized county shall have specified officers, including a prosecuting attorney, “chosen by the electors” of the county, with duties and powers prescribed by law.
- Michigan law at the time did not treat women as qualified electors in general elections, and no statute expressly authorized women to hold the office of prosecuting attorney.
- The Attorney General filed an information in the nature of quo warranto in the Michigan Supreme Court to test Abbott’s right to hold the office, alleging ineligibility because she was not a qualified elector.

## Issues

1. Whether the Michigan Constitution’s requirement that a county prosecuting attorney be “chosen by the electors” implies that the officeholder must be a qualified elector.
2. Whether a woman who was not a qualified elector under Michigan law in 1899 was eligible to hold the constitutional office of county prosecuting attorney.

## Decision

- The Michigan Supreme Court held Abbott was not eligible to hold the office of prosecuting attorney because she was not a qualified elector.
- The court entered a judgment of ouster removing Abbott from office.
- Justice Moore dissented.

## Legal Principles

- When the constitution creates an elective public office to be “chosen by the electors,” eligibility may be construed to require that the officeholder be a qualified elector, absent an express constitutional provision to the contrary.
- For constitutionally created offices, qualifications are derived from the constitution’s framework (including the definition of “elector”) rather than from implied statutory expansions unsupported by constitutional text.
- In the absence of express constitutional or statutory authorization conferring eligibility, courts may look to common-law and historical state practice to determine implied qualifications for holding public office.

## Conclusion

The court interpreted the constitution’s directive that county prosecuting attorneys be “chosen by the electors” as imposing an implied elector-qualification, and because women were not qualified electors under Michigan law at the time, it ruled Abbott ineligible and ordered her removal through quo warranto.


Attorney General v. Abbott, 121 Mich. 540 (Mich. 1899)