478 



LOUISIANA. 



was that which defined the qualification of 

 electors. 



The constitution of the State under which 

 Governor Hahn exercised his powers pro- 

 hibited soldiers, seamen, or marines, from 

 voting at elections. 



HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THP, GULF, I 

 NEW ORLEANS. March 11, 1SW. 1 

 General Orders No. 35. 



1. An election will bo held on Monday, the 27th 

 day of March, at 9 o'clock, A. M., in each of the elec- 

 tion precincts established by law in this State, for 

 the choice of delegates to a Convention to be held 

 for the revision and amendment of the Constitution 

 of Louisiana. 



2. The several parishes shall be entitled to elect 

 the number of delegates herein assigned to each 

 upon the basis of white population exhibited by the 

 census of 1860, to be chosen in each parish on one 

 ticket by the qualified voters of the parish, except in 

 the parish of Orleans, in which parish the election 

 shall be held in the several representative districts 

 established by law, for the number of delegates 

 herein assigned to each district, to be chosen on one 

 ticket, by the qualified voters of the district. * * . 



3. Any parish not now within the limits of the 

 army shall be entitled to select delegates as herein 

 specified, at any time before the dissolution of the 

 Convention, should such parish be brought within 

 the lines of the army. 



4. Every free white man, twenty-one years of age, 

 who has been a resident of the State twelve months, 

 and six months in the parish in which he offers to 

 vote, who is a citizen of the United States, and who 

 shall have taken the oath prescribed by the Presi- 

 dent in his proclamation of the 8th December, 1863, 

 shall have the right to vote in the election of dele- 

 gates. 



5. Citizens of the State who have been expelled 

 from their homes by the public enemy on account of 

 their devotion to the Union, and who would be 

 qualified voters in the parishes to which they belong, 

 will be allowed to vote for delegates in the election 

 precincts in which, for the time being, they may 

 reside. 



6. Citizens of the State who have volunteered for 

 the defence of the country in the army or navy, and 

 who are otherwise qualified voters, will be allowed to 

 vote in the election precincts in which they may be 

 found on the day_ of election. 



7. The Commissioners of Election appointed to 

 superintend the polls at the election of State officers, 

 February 22d, 1864, are authorized and directed, in 

 the absence of other orders, to fulfil and discharge 

 all the duties of Commissioners of Election in their 

 respective precincts, for this election. 



9. The Commissioners of Election, at any election 

 precinct, are authorized to administer the oath of 

 allegiance, as prescribed by the President, to any 

 person otherwise qualified to vote, and to register 

 the name of each voter in New Orleans, where a 

 register is required, or to receive it in other parishes 

 where no register is required, at any time before the 

 polls are closed on the day of election. 



10. The commissioners in the several parishes will 

 make prompt returns of the votes given to the 

 sheriff of the parish, as provided by law, or in his 

 absence to the Provost Marshal, who will immedi- 

 ately return the same to the Secretary of State in 

 the same manner and form as for members of tVie 

 General Assembly. 



11. The sheriffs of the several parishes, and in 

 their absence the provost marshals, will take especial 

 care that the polls are properly opened, and that 

 suitable judges of election and other officers are ap- 

 pointed. It is desirable that all persons properly 

 qualified shall vote, but it is more important that the 

 integrity of the election shall not be vitiated by il- 

 legal or fraudulent acts. 



12. The delegates duly elected to the Convention 

 shall meet at Liberty Hall, Executive Building, in 

 the city of New Orleans, at 12 o'clock, M., on Wed- 

 nesday, the 6th day of April, 1864. In case any 

 vacancy occurs by resignation or death after the 

 organization of the Convention, a writ of election 

 shall be issued by the Convention to fill the vacancy. 

 By command of Major-General BANKS. 



RICHARD B. IKWIN, A. A. General. 



On March 16th Governor Halm issued hig 

 proclamation to the sheriffs, authorizing the 

 election. lie said : 



Whereas, By General Orders No. 35, under date of 

 March llth, 1864, Major-General N. P. Banks, com- 

 manding the Department of the Gulf, has ordered 

 that an election "be held on Monday, the 28th day 

 of March next, at 9 o'clock, A. M., in each of the 

 election precincts established by law in this State, 

 for the choice of delegates to a Convention to be 

 held for the revision and amendment of the Consti- 

 tution of the State of Louisiana," and has directed 

 that the several parishes shall be entitled to elect the 

 number of delegates herein assigned to each, upon 

 the basis of the white population exhibited by the 

 census of 1860, to be chosen in each parish on one 

 ticket by the qualified voters of the parish, except in 

 the parish of Orleans, in which parish the election 

 shall be held in the several representative districts 

 established by law, for the number of delegates 

 herein assigned to each district, to be chosen on one 

 ticket by the qualified voters of the district. * * 



Now, therefore, 1 have thought proper to issue this 

 my proclamation, notifying the qualified electors 

 throughout the State of the election aforesaid, and 

 commanding all sheriffs, commissioners of election, 

 and other officers therein concerned, to hold said 

 election for delegates in their respective parishes, 

 and in the parish of Orleans, in the Representative 

 districts as aforesaid, and to give the proper public 

 notice thereof; and I enjoin upon them care that 

 said election be held and conducted at the places and 

 in the manner designated by law and the General 

 Orders aforesaid, and that the returns be promptly 

 made to the Secretary of State at New Orleans. For 

 all of which this proclamation, without further notice, 

 will serve as authority. 



Given under my hand and seal of the State, at the 



Executive Building, city of New Orleans, 



[L. s.] this 16th day of March, A. D. 1864, and of 



the Independence 'of the United States of 



America the eighty-eighth. 



MICHAEL HAHN. 



By the Governor : 



S. WROTNOWSKI, Secretary of State. 



The election was held on the 28th. The 

 number of members returned as elected was 

 ninety-seven, of whom two were rejected he- 

 cause of irregular returns. No return of the 

 votes was published. A Committee of the 

 House in Congress, on the application of the 

 persons from Louisiana for seats in Congress, 

 reported that the Parish of Orleans was repre- 

 sented by sixty-three members, leaving to the 

 country parishes thirty-two : 



" From all that is known of the halloting it 

 appears that the Parish of Ascension, within 

 the Federal lines, and neighboring to New Or- 

 leans, and which in 1860 had a white population 

 of 3,940, elected her delegates by sixty-one 

 votes ; that Plaquemines, with a white popu- 

 lation in 1860 of 2,529, cast 246 ; and in the 

 Parish of Madison, Montague was elected by a 

 vote of 28. 



"Elections were held only in the parishes 



