which may be required in the progress of the election. He shall also have power to fill any vacancy that may occur in the board of judges, or by absence or refusal to serve of either of the clerks, after the polls have been opened. ARTICLE IV. OF OPENING THE POLLS; OF VOTING, AND CHALLENGES. SEC. 21. [Repealed.] (1) be opened and SEC. 22. At all elections the polls shall be opened at eight o'clock Polls, when to in the morning, and shall continue open until sunset, at which time closed. the judges shall close the polls: Provided, that the judges of the election may take a recess of one hour at any time they may think proper during the day, before three o'clock in the afternoon. (2) to be proclaimed SEC. 23. The board of judges, before they commence receiving bal- Opening of polls lots, shall cause it to be proclaimed aloud at the place of voting that the polls are opened. ballot. SEC. 24. The voting shall be by ballot. The ballot shall be a paper Voting to be by ticket containing the names of the persons for whom the elector intends to vote, and designating the office to which each person so named is intended by him to be chosen. SEC. 25. Whenever any person offers to vote, the inspector shall Vote, how taken. pronounce his name in an audible voice, and if there be no objection to the qualification of such person as an elector, shall receive his ballot, and in the presence of the other judges put the same, without being opened or examined, into the ballot box. voter to be entered on poll list. SEC. 26. The name of each elector whose ballot has been thus re- Name of each ceived, shall be immediately entered by each clerk, in the column of his poll list, headed "names of voters," numbering each name in the additional column, as it is taken down, so that it may be seen at any time whether the two lists agree. to vote may be SEC. 27. Any person offering to vote may be challenged as unquali- Persons offering fied by the inspector, or either of the judges, or by any legal voter, challenged. and it shall, in all cases, be the duty of the inspector and each of the judges to challenge any person offering to vote whom he shall know or suspect not to be duly qualified as an elector. challenged to be SEC. 28. When any person offering to vote is challenged, it shall Persons be the duty of the board of judges to declare to him the qualifications informed of of an elector. qualification. (1) Sec stat. 1851, p. 181. (2) Amendment inserted from Stat. 1851, p. 182. Person challenged to be sworn. Person challenged may vote SEC. 29. If such person shall still insist that he is entitled to vote and the challenge shall not be withdrawn, the board of judges, in their discretion, may administer an oath or affirmation to the voter; "You do swear (or affirm) that you are a citizen of the United States; that you are of the age of twenty-one years, according to the best of your information and belief; that you have resided in this state six months next preceding this election, and in this county (or district, or township, as the case may be) thirty days, and that you have not before voted this day." SEC. 30. If the person thus challenged shall take the oath as tenafter taking oath. dered to him by the board of judges, he shall be admitted to vote, and it shall not be lawful, after he has taken such oath or affirmation, for said board to examine any witnesses touching his want of qualifications; but if he shall refuse to take the oath or affirmation so tendered to him, his vote shall be rejected. Conviction of infamous crime, how proved. Closing of polls to be proclaimed. Opening ballot box, and counting votes. Certain tickets to be rejected. SEC. 31. If the vote of any person be challenged on the ground that he has been convicted of an infamous crime, or disfranchised by any court of competent jurisdiction, he shall not be required to answer any questions respecting such alleged conviction; and in the absence of any authenticated record of such facts, it may be competent for two disinterested witnesses upon oath to prove the same. SEC. 32. When the polls are closed, proclamation thereof shall be made at the place of voting, and no votes shall be afterwards received. ARTICLE V. OF COUNTING AND RECEIVING THE VOTES, DECLARING THE RESULT OF SECTION 33. As soon as the polls are closed on the afternoon of the day of election, the judges shall open the ballot box and commence counting the votes, and in no case shall the ballot box be removed from the room in which any election may be held, until all the ballots are counted; the counting of ballots shall in all cases be public. The ballots shall be taken out carefully, one by one, by the inspector or one of the judges, who shall open them, and read aloud the name of each person contained therein, and the office for which every such person is voted for. Each clerk shall write down each office to be filled and the name of each person voted for for such office, and shall keep the number of votes by tallies, as they are read aloud by the inspector or judge. The counting of the votes shall be continued without adjournment until all are counted. SEC. 34. If two tickets are folded together, they shall both be rejected; and if more persons are designated on any ticket for any office than are to be elected for such office, such part of the ticket shall not be counted for any of them; but no ticket shall be lost for want of form, if the board of judges can determine to their satisfaction the person voted for and the office intended. Election returns to be drawn up destroyed. SEC. 35. As soon as all the votes are read off and counted, a certificate shall be drawn up on each of the papers containing the poll and ballots list and tallies, or attached thereto, stating the number of votes each person voted for has received, and designating the office to fill which he was voted for, which number shall be written in words at full length. Each certificate shall be signed by the clerks, the judges, and inspector; one of said certificates, with the poll list and tally paper to which it is attached, shall be retained by the inspector, and preserved by him at least six months. The ballots shall be destroyed by the inspector. The other of said certificates, with the poll list and tally paper to which it is attached, shall be sealed up by the inspector, and endorsed "Election returns," and be directed and delivered, or sent by the inspector to the county clerk of the county in which the election is held. to county clerk. SEC. 36. The said package shall be delivered to the county clerk Election returns by one of the judges or clerks of election in person, or may be sent by private hand, or by mail. If sent by private hand, the person delivering it shall, before the county clerk, take and subscribe an affidavit that the package was delivered to him by one of the judges (naming him), that it has not been out of his possession since it was received, and has undergone no alteration while in his possession. The affidavit shall be endorsed on the package. If sent by mail, it shall be mailed by one of the judges, and the postmaster shall make on it an endorsement that he received it from one of the judges (naming him). SEC. 37. No tally paper, poll list, or certificate, returned from any want of form election, shall be set aside or rejected for want of form, nor on account of its not being strictly in accordance with the directions of this act, if the same can be satisfactorily understood. not to vitiate. County clerks statement of to draw up a result of election SEC. 38. On the tenth day after the day of each election, or as soon as he shall have received the returns from each precinct of the county or township, if he receive them within that time, the county and fill same. clerk shall proceed to estimate the vote of the county or township: a statement of which shall be drawn up and signed by him. The statement shall contain the names of the persons voted for; the office to fill which each person was voted for; the number of votes given at each precinct to each of such persons, and the number of votes given to each in the county; and the same shall be filed, together with the returns from each precinct, in the office of the court of sessions. Certificate of election to person elected. County clerks' election returns. Returns from district composed of two or more counties. Certificate to person elected by votes of more than one county. Election of officers chosen by state vote. SEC. 39. The person having the highest number of votes given for each office to be filled by the votes of a single county, or of a township, shall be declared elected; and the county clerk shall immediately make out, and deliver, or send to him, a certificate of election, signed by said clerk, and authenticated with the seal of the county court. SEC. 40. When a county clerk is to be elected, the county judge shall examine the returns so soon as they are filed, and issue to the person chosen a certificate of election in the form prescribed in the preceding section. SEC. 41. When there are officers other than representatives in congress voted for, who are to be chosen by the electors of a district, composed of two or more counties, it shall be the duty of each of the county clerks of the counties composing such district, immediately after making out the statement specified in the thirty-eighth section of this act, to extract therefrom so much as relates to the election of such officers, and certify under his hand, and the seal of the county court, that such extract contains a full statement of all the votes given for district officers as returned to him, and without delay transmit the same to the county clerk of the county which stands first in alphabetical arrangement in the list of counties composing such dis trict. The said clerk shall compare the returns, make up a statement of the vote of the district for such officers, and file the same, together with the returns from the other counties, in like manner as is prescribed in section 38 of this act. He shall also make out and transmit to the secretary of state a copy of such statement of the votes of the district, signed by him officially, and authenticated with the seal of his court. SEC. 42. The county clerk, to whom the election returns of a district are made, shall, on the twentieth day after the day of election, or so soon as the result is ascertained, if within that time all of said statements are received, make out and deliver, or send to each person chosen to any such office a certificate of election under his hand and the seal of his court. SEC. 43. When there are officers voted for who are chosen by the qualified electors of the state, other than the governor and lieutenant governor, it shall be the duty of each county clerk, so soon as the statement of the vote of his county is made out, as required in section thirty-eight of this act, to copy therefrom so much as relates to the votes given for such officers, certify to the correctness thereof under his hand and the seal of his court, and transmit the same to the sec retary of state, endorsing on the package the words "Election re turns." On the sixtieth day after the day of election, or so soon as the returns shall have been received from all the counties of the state, if received within that time, the secretary of state shall compare and estimate the vote, and make out and file in his office a statement thereof, a copy of which shall be transmitted to the governor. Upon this statement the commission shall issue. governor to by district vote. SEC. 44. When any person chosen to any office filled by the vote Commission from of the electors of a district, is required by law to be commissioned officers elected by the governor, such commission shall issue upon the statement of the votes transmitted to the secretary of state, according to the provisions of the forty-first section of this act. be withheld for returns. SEC. 45. No certificate shall be withheld on account of any defect Certificate not to or informality in the return of any election, if it can with reasonable want of form in certainty be ascertained from such return what office is intended, and who is entitled to such certificate; nor shall any commission be withheld by the governor on account of any such defect or informality of any returns made to the office of the secretary of state. of returns. SEC. 46. Whenever returns are required to be transmitted by one Transmission county clerk to another, or by the county clerk to the secretary of state, it shall be the duty of the county clerk to deliver the same to some postmaster of the county, at the post office, to be transmitted by mail, taking from such postmaster, if it can be obtained, a certificate, setting forth the time when such returns were deposited in the post office, which certificate the clerk shall file with the returns. representatives SEC. 47. When elections are held for representatives in congress, Election of the county clerk of each county shall make his returns thereof, in the in congress. manner prescribed in this act, to the secretary of state. On the sixtieth day after the day of election, or so soon as the returns shall have been received from all the counties of the state, if received within that time, the secretary of state shall compare and estimate the votes given for such representatives, and certify to the governor the person having the highest number of votes in each congressional district as duly elected, and it shall thereupon be the duty of the governor to give to each of such persons a certificate of his election, sealed with the seal of the state, and attested by the secretary of state. The returns of all elections for officers chosen by the qualified electors of the state, which are required by this act to be transmitted to the secretary of state, shall likewise be opened on the sixtieth day after the day of election, or so soon as the returns shall have been received from all the counties of the state, if received within that time. |