CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



197 



SEC. 9. That on the day fixed for holding the elec- 

 tion the commissioners of election and their clerks 

 shall assemble at the place fixed lor holding the 

 election in their respective precincts ; in case one or 

 more of the commissioners shall be absent at the 

 hour fixed for opening the polls, the vacancy or va- 

 cancies shall be filled by the legal voters present : 

 frotid&l, That in every case tliere shall be one 

 commissioner selected from each political party. At 

 six o'clock A. if. they shall open the ballot-boxes in 

 the presence of the public, they shall then close and 

 securely fasten the same by lock or seal, and they 

 shall then proceed to receive the ballots of such 

 persons as present themselves and otter to vote, 

 who furnish certificates of registration as required 

 by this act, and who reside in the precinct in which 

 they offer to vote. The polls shall remain open for 

 the reception of ballots until six o'clock r. if., when 

 the ooouniavioiran of election shall open the ballot- 

 boxes in the presence of the public, and proceed to 

 count the ballots therein contained, without < 

 tion, until all shall have been counted. One com- 

 missioner shall take the ballots from the box, one at 

 a time, and hand the same to the other commis- 

 sioner, who shall read the names of the persons 

 thereon, and the office for which each was voted for ; 

 and the clerks shall keep an accurate tally of the 

 votes thus counted, with the names and offices of all 

 persons voted for. \V lien the result has been thus 

 attained, the commissioners shall make a statement 

 in writing, signed by them and their clerks, and 

 sworn to before some officer competent to administer 

 oaths by the laws of said State, which shall show 

 the number of votes cast for each person for the 

 offices to be filled at this election, which statement 

 shall be made in duplicate, and one copy delivered 

 on the day following the election to the supervisors 

 of registration for the parish or word in which the 

 election is held, and the other, securely inclosed in 

 a strong envelope, transmitted by mail to the Secre- 

 tary of State in New Orleans. The supervisors 01 

 ration shall, within three days after the day of 

 clf'tion, make an accurate compilation of the votes 

 as returned to them by the commissioners of .!.- 

 tion in their respective parishes or wards, and shall 

 make returns thereof dulv sworn to in duplicate, 

 one copy to be delivered by one of them in person 

 to the State registrars, and the other shall be in- 

 1 in a strong envelope and transmitted by mail 

 to the Secretary of State in New Orleans. 



SBC. 10. That one day prior to the election the super- 

 visors of registration shall furnish the commissioners 

 of election, In the several election precincts through- 

 out their respective parishes or wards, written or 

 printed lists of all registered voters in the sev- 

 eral precincts, containing the name and number of 

 n/i-trntion of each person entitled to vote at the 

 precinct; and during the election, as each person 

 casts his ballot, hi* name shall be checked on the 

 li.-t by one of the clerks, and the other clerk shall 

 write or stamp the word " voted " across the face of 

 the certificate of registration of the person voting. 

 These lists shall be returned with the ballot-boxes 

 and ballots to the supervisors of registration, and 

 deposited by them in the office of the clerk of the 

 court of each parish, except the parish of Orleans, 

 and in the parish of Orleans in the office of the Sec- 

 retary of State. 



PF.'. 11. That all ballots shall be either printed or 

 written, and each ballot shall contain the names and 

 offices of all persons voted for. 



Sup. 12. That within ten days after the day of the 

 election th I rant shall, in the presence of 



the judge aforesaid, 'open the returns made to them 

 by the supervisors or registration for the several 

 parishes of the State and for the several wards of 

 the city of New Orleans, and examine, canvass, and 

 compile the same, nd make public proclamation of 

 the result of said election in two newspapers of 

 general circulation and of opposite polities. They 

 shall furnish to the Secretary of State for the State 



of Louisiana a certified list of the names of the per- 

 sons returned elected as members of the General 

 Assembly of said State ; the said list shall indicate 

 the representative district for which each member 

 of the House of Representatives has been elected, 

 and the senatorial district for which each Senator 

 was elected ; and the persons so returned elected 

 shall assemble at the Mechanics' Institute in New 

 Orleans, or at such other place as may be secured by 

 the proper authority for the meeting of the General 

 Assembly of said State, on the second Monday after 

 the date of the promulgation of the result of said 

 election by the State registrars. 



SEC. 13. That the Secretary of State shall, on the 

 second day of the session ot the General Afi-mtly, 

 deliver to the Speaker of the House of Representa- 

 tives the returns made to him by the supervisors of 

 registration in their original inclosures, with the 

 seals unbroken, which returns shall be examined 

 and counted as required by the constitution of sttid 

 State, for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, and 

 for members of the General Assembly. On the first 

 Monday after the convening of the General Assem- 

 bly elected under the provisions of this act, the Gov- 

 ernor and Lieutenant-Governor, together with all 

 other State officers thus elected, shall enter upon 

 the discharge of the duties of their respective offices, 

 and the government thus established shall be recog- 

 nized by the Government of the United States as 

 the legal government of the State of Louisiana: 

 Provided, That the terms of office of the persons 

 chosen at said election shall terminate the same as 

 if they had been elected on the 4th day of Novem- 

 ber, 18T2. 



SEC. 14. That any person who shall register and 

 vote at this election who, at the time of registering 

 and voting, was not a qualified elector under the 

 constitution and laws of the State of Louisiana, or 

 any person who shall vote upon any certificate of 

 registration not issued to and belonging to him, 

 or any person who shall register under a false or 

 assumed name, or any person who shall register or 

 vote more than once, shall be deemed guilty of a 

 high crime, and punished by a fine not to exceed 

 $5,000 or by imprisonment at hard labor for a period 

 not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion 

 of the court. 



SEC. 15. That any supervisor of registration who 

 shall knowingly and willfully issue a certificate 

 of registration to any person not entitled to the 

 same, or who shall fraudulently enter upon the 

 registration-books any fictitious name or names, and 

 issue or cause to be issued certificates of registration 

 in such fictitious names, shall be deemed guilty of a 

 high crime, and punished by a fine not to exceed 

 $1,000 or by imprisonment at hard labor for a period 

 not exceeding two years, or both, in the discretion 

 of the court. 



SKO. 16. That any commissioner of election who 

 shall refuse to receive the ballot of any person duly 

 registered and producing a certificate of registration 

 entitling him to vote at that precinct, or who shall 

 knowingly permit any person to vote not qualified 

 by law, or who shall permit any ballots other than 

 those really cast by persons le'golly entitled to vote 

 to be put into the ballot-box, or who shall make 

 any fraudulent or false count or return, or who shall 

 fail faithfully to comply with the provisions of this 

 act, shall be deemed guilty of a high crime, and 

 punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by im- 

 prisonment at hard labor for a period not exceeding 

 two years, or both, in the discretion of the court. 



SEC. 17. That any supervisor of registration who 

 shall make any false count, compilation, or return 

 of any vote or votes cast at this election, or ahull 

 change or mutilate any returns made to him by the 

 commissioners of election, or shall permit any of the 

 same to be done, or who shall refuse or fail to faith- 

 fully complv with the provisions of this act, shall be 

 deemed guilty of a high crime, and punished by a 

 fine not exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment at 



