What votes to be received, and what re erators and wardens. SECTION 7, 8, and 9. Envelopes, what, and how 10. Names of candidates in certain 12 and 13. Vote, how given, an- 14. Of counting envelopes and votes, 15 and 16. Of votes in envelopes, 17. Of reopening polls in towns not 18. Of the adjournment of meetings 19. Of return of votes in cities, and 20. Of counting ballots and announc SECTION ing result, in cities and such towns. 21. Of new elections in the city of Providence, in case of no choice. 22. Of new elections in other cities, and in towns divided into voting districts, in case of no choice. 23. Of certificates of elections in cities and such towns. 24. Of sealing up, certifying, and returning votes in elections of general officers, &c., and of electors of president and vice-president. 25. Penalty for neglect, &c., to seal, 26. Penalty upon town clerk, for re- 28. Penalty on town clerk, for not is- SECTION 1. The moderator or warden of any town, ward, or district meeting shall receive the votes of all persons whose names are jected, by mod- upon the list of voters, certified and delivered to him by the town clerk, and shall reject the votes of all persons claiming to vote, whose names are not on said list: Provided, that if any voter whose name is upon any ward list in the cities of Providence or Newport, or upon any district list in any town, shall have removed to another ward or district, after the making out of the ward or district list, or if the name of any voter shall have been placed upon the wrong ward or district list, every such voter shall be admitted to vote in the ward or district in which he resides, upon producing the certificate of the town clerk, that his name is upon another ward or district list, duly prepared for the election at which he claims to vote. Of return of certificates. Penalty for refusal to give certificates. Penalty for fraudulently receiving, &c., votes. Ballot-boxes, how furnished, &c. SEC. 2. Such certificate shall, with the votes, be returned by the several ward and district clerks, to the officer or body by law provided to receive the votes. SEC. 3. If any ward or district clerk shall refuse to give such certificate to any person entitled to and demanding the same, or shall wilfully give a false one, he shall be fined one hundred dollars. SEC. 4. If any moderator, warden, or person whose duty it is to receive votes shall fraudulently receive any unlawful vote, or shall fraudulently reject the vote of any voter whose name is on the town, ward, or district lists, he shall be fined one hundred dollars for every offence, and be ever after disqualified from voting. SEC. 5. The town clerks of the several towns shall, at the town's expense, furnish a sufficient number of ballot-boxes for each town, ward, and district of their respective towns, for the purpose of balloting, and shall see that they are kept in proper condition. SEC. 6. Said ballot-boxes shall have a sufficient opening on the top to receive the ballots, and shall, in open town meeting, and before the balloting has commenced, be opened and exhibited to all present; after which they shall be kept closed and locked, and shall not by the moderator or warden, or any other person whatever, upon any pretext whatever, be opened until the balloting be completed, and shall be in charge of the moderators and wardens only. of form and manner of using ballot boxes. SEC. 7. The secretary of state shall provide a sufficient quantity Envelopes, of self-sealing envelopes of uniform appearance, and of suitable size what. and quality, bearing as a device, the arms of the state stamped on the outside thereof, for use in the election of general officers, representatives to congress, and of electors of president and vice-president of the United States. SEC. 8. He shall keep constantly on hand a sufficient supply How furnished. thereof, for all the voters of the state at such elections, and shall furnish the same to the town clerks whenever they shall apply therefor. SEC. 9. The town clerks of the several towns shall procure from Same subject. the secretary of state, at the expense of their respective towns, a sufficient quantity of such envelopes for use at the elections last named, and for other elections elsewhere, and shall see that said envelopes are at the town, ward, or district meetings, at the opening thereof, on election days; and the moderators or wardens shall return to the town clerks all such envelopes as may remain at the close of such meetings. SEC. 10. The names of the persons voted for as governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, and general treasurer shall be placed upon one ticket; and if senators or representatives to the general assembly be voted for by ballot, the names of the candidates for said offices in any town, voted for by any one elector, shall be written or printed upon one ticket; and the names of the representatives shall be numbered upon the ticket, and in counting them, the places numbered shall be considered separate places. SEC. 11. In all elections for general officers, representatives to congress, electors of president and vice-president of the United States, and when the vote is taken by ballot, in the election of senators and representatives to the general assembly, the votes or ballots may be deposited in the ballot-box in an envelope such as aforesaid, or without an envelope, at the option of the voter: Provided, that all ballots given by any voter on the same voting day, in said elections, and in all elections, when enclosed in envelopes, shall be enclosed in one and the same envelope. SEC. 12. Every voter shall, at the time of voting, announce to the moderator or warden, his name, who shall pronounce the same aloud, and cause it to be checked upon the voting list, before the voter deposits his vote. SEC. 13. Every voter shall also hold in his hand, and deposit in said ballot-box, the envelope containing his ballot or ballots, or his ballot or ballots without an envelope, in such manner that said moderator and warden can distinctly see that he deposits but one envelope, or one ballot of a kind; and the town, ward, and district clerks shall check each voter's name as he deposits his ballots. SEC. 14. After the voting in any town, city, ward, or district, for the officers herein mentioned, or any of them, shall be closed, the moderator and town clerk, or the warden and ward clerk, or the Names of candidates, when to be placed on one ballot, &c. Ballots, when may be envelopes. closed in en Vote, how given, announced, and checked. Same subject. Of counting votes, announcing result, and giving certificates. When votes in moderator and district clerk, shall, in open town, ward, or district meetings, proceed to open the envelopes and count the ballots; and the moderator shall announce the result, and the clerks of the towns not divided into districts shall give certificates to the persons elected. SEC. 15. If any envelope shall contain more than one vote for envelopes to be the same person, for the same office, or votes for different persons rejected. for the same office, either on the same piece of paper, or on dif ferent pieces of paper, all such votes shall be rejected, and not counted. Same subject. Of reopening polls in towns not divided SEC. 16. When any envelope found in any ballot-box bears any impression or device, or color, designed to distinguish such envelope from others of the same kind deposited therein by the voters, it shall be rejected with all its contents. SEC. 17. If in any case, in a town not divided into wards or voting districts, there shall be no election, the polls may be reopened, into wards, &c. and the like proceedings shall be had until an election takes place: Provided, that no adjournment or adjournments of an election shall be made to a time exceeding seven days from the first meeting. Of adjournment of meetings to elect senators and representatives. Of return of votes in cities, vided into voting districts. and towns di Of counting ballots and announcing result. Of new election in case of no choice. SEC. 18. In cities other than the city of Providence, and in towns divided into voting districts, ward and district meetings held therein respectively for the election of senator and representatives, or of any one or more of them, shall, at the time of closing the polls therein prescribed by law, stand adjourned to the third day next from and after the day so appointed, unless the said third day shall fall on Sunday, or on a holiday, and in that event, to the Monday, or the day following said holiday, with like adjournment therefrom, but no adjournment or adjournments shall exceed seven days from the first meeting. SEC. 19. In cities, and in towns which are divided into districts for voting, after the examination of the ballots, the wardens and clerks, and the moderators and district clerks, shall forthwith seal and deliver to the city clerk or town clerk, all the ballots other than those given for general officers, with a certificate of the number of ballots, and for what officers they have been given. SEC. 20. The mayor and aldermen, or the town councils, as the case may be, shall proceed, within two days next after the election, to count the ballots, in the same manner as is prescribed in section fourteen of this chapter, for the counting of votes by the moderators and clerks of town and ward meetings, and shall forthwith declare the result. SEC. 21. If no election shall have been made of senator and repin Providence, resentatives to the general assembly, or of any one or more of them in the city of Providence, upon the day appointed by law for any election, the mayor and aldermen, or town council, as the case may be, shall order a new election, to be held not more than ten days from the day of the first election, and so on until the election shall be completed. Of new election and in towns divided into voting districts, in case of no choice. SEC. 22. If no election shall have been made of senator and repin other cities, resentatives to the general assembly, or of any one or more of them, in any city other than the city of Providence, or in any town divided into voting districts, upon the day appointed by law for such election, the mayor of such city, or the president of the town council of such town, shall, immediately after the announcement of the result as above provided, issue a warrant to the warden of each ward in such city, or the moderator of each voting district in such town, which shall be served on the same day by the town sergeant or town con stable, announcing therein the result, and directing the election to proceed on the day of adjournment; and if, upon that day, there shall be no election of such officers, or of any one or more of them, like proceedings shall in all respects be had, and the election shall proceed on the day of the next adjournment. If an election of all such officers be had on the day appointed by law therefor, or on the day of adjournment, the mayor, or president of the town council, as the case may be, shall issue his warrants to the several wardens or moderators, as in case of no election, announcing therein the fact that the election is complete, whereupon the said adjourned ward or district meeting shall not be held. SEC. 23. Certificates of election shall be furnished by the city or town clerks to persons chosen. SEC. 24. The moderators and clerks of the towns and districts, and the wardens and ward clerks of the cities, shall, after having counted the ballots as provided in section fourteen of this chapter, seal up in open meeting, the ballots for general officers, representatives to congress, and electors of president and vice-president of the United States, and shall certify that the ballots by them sealed up are the ballots given in at such election, the number of votes given for each of the candidates, and that the number of ballots does not exceed the number of electors voting at such election; and shall deliver or send such ballots so sealed up and certified, to the secretary of state, except the ballots for electors of president and vice-president, which shall be delivered or sent to the governor. SEC. 25. Every moderator, warden, or town, ward, or district clerk, who shall neglect to seal up and direct the votes, or to send the same, as herein before or by the constitution provided, or who shall knowingly seal up, direct, and send a part only of the votes, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than three thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than three years, either or both, at the discretion of the court who shall try such offender. SEC. 26. If any town clerk shall neglect or refuse to furnish member of the senate or house of representatives elect with a proper certificate of his election, as soon as may be after his election, he shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding six months, either or both, at the discretion of the court trying such offender. any SEC. 27. If any person elected senator or representative shall, at any time between his election and the expiration of his term, refuse to serve, and shall declare the same to the town clerk of the town for which he is elected, or shall die, resign, or remove out of the state, the town clerk shall forthwith issue his warrant for an election to fill such vacancy, unless a special election for that purpose shall be ordered by the house in which the vacancy may occur. SEC. 28. Every town clerk refusing or neglecting to issue his warrant, as provided in section twenty-seven of this chapter, shall be fined five hundred dollars. Of election districts for, and who voters in. First district, of what towns composed. Second district, of what towns composed. Representatives in congress, when chosen. SECTION 1. The state shall be divided into two districts for the election of representatives to the congress of the United States, to be called the first district and the second district; and the qualified electors residing in each of said districts shall be entitled, and at the times and places, and in the manner hereinafter provided, to elect a representative to the congress of the United States, for the district in which they reside. SEC. 2. The first district shall consist and be composed of the territory embraced within the following towns, to wit: Newport, Providence, Barrington, Portsmouth, Middletown, Bristol, Tiverton, Little Compton, Warren, East Providence, Pawtucket, New Shoreham, and Jamestown. The second district shall consist and be composed of the territory embraced within the following towns, to wit: Warwick, Westerly, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, East Greenwich, North Providence, Scituate, Gloucester, Charlestown, West Greenwich, Coventry, Exeter, Richmond, Cranston, Hopkinton, Johnston, Foster, Burrillville, Smithfield, North Smithfield, Lincoln, Woonsocket, and Cumberland. SEC. 3. The election of representatives in congress shall be holden on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, A. D. eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every second year thereafter. SEC. 4. Such elections shall be conducted in the same manner, and how conducted. under the like restrictions and regulations, as are or shall be provided by law, in respect to the election of general officers. Elections of, Votes in, how counted, &c. Certificate of election. Of new elec choice. SEC. 5. The votes given at such elections shall be returned to the general assembly at its session next ensuing such election; and those given in each district shall be separately counted; and the candidate having a majority of legal votes therein shall be declared elected, and shall be furnished by the governor with a proper certificate thereof. SEC. 6. If no person have such majority, the general assembly tions in case no shall order a new election at such time as they shall deem most expedient; and the votes given at such election shall be returned to, examined and counted by, the general assembly, or by the governor, at such time as the general assembly shall direct; and the candidate in each district, having a plurality of the legal votes given at such second election, shall be declared elected, and shall receive a certificate accordingly. Plurality to elect. |