138 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



like manner j submit such objections to the House of 

 Representatives for its decision ; and no electoral 

 vote or votes from any State from which but one re- 

 turn has been received shall be rejected except by 

 the affirmative vote of the two Houses. When the 

 two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again 

 meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce 

 the decision of the question submitted. 



SECTION 2. That if more than one return or paper 

 purporting to be a return from a State shall have 

 bsen received by the President of the Senate, pur- 

 porting to be the certificates of electoral votes given 

 at the last preceding election for President and Vice- 

 President in such State (unless they shall be dupli- 

 cates of the same return), all such returns and pa- 

 pers shall be opened by him in the presence of the 

 two Houses, when met as aforesaid, and read by the 

 tellers, and all such returns and papers shall there- 

 upon be submitted to the judgment and decision, as 

 to which is the true and lawful electoral vote of 

 such State, of a commission constituted as follows, 

 namely : 



During the session of each House, on the Tuesday 

 next preceding the first Thursday in February, 1877, 

 each House shall, by viva voce vote, appoint five of 

 its members, who, with the five associate justices of 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, to be ascer- 

 tained as hereinafter provided, shall constitute a 

 commission for the decision of all questions upon or 

 in respect of such double returns named in this sec- 

 tion. 



On the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday 

 in February, A. D. 1877, or as soon thereafter as 

 may be, the associate justices of the Supreme Court 

 of the United States now assigned to the first, third, 

 eighth, and ninth circuits, shall select, in such man- 

 ner as a majority of them shall deem fit, another of 

 the associate justices of said court, which five per- 

 sons shall be members of said commission ; and the 

 person longest in commission of said five justices 

 shall be the president of said commission. The 

 members of said commission shall respectively take 

 and subscribe the following oath: 



" I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm, as 



the case may be) that I will impartially examine and 

 consider all questions submitted to the commis- 

 sion of which I am a member, and a true judgment 

 give thereon, agreeably to the Constitution and the 

 laws : so help me God ! " which oath shall be filed 

 with the Secretary of the Senate. 



When the commission shall have been thus or- 

 ganized, it shall not be in the power of either House 

 to dissolve the same, or to withdraw any of its mem- 

 bers ; but, if any such Senator or member shall die 

 or become physically unable to perform the duties 

 required by this act, the fact of such death or phys- 

 ical inability shall be by said commission, before it 

 shall proceed further, communicated to the Senate or 

 House of Representatives, as the case may be, which 

 body shall immediately and without debate pro- 

 ceed by viva voce vote to fill the place so vacated, and 

 the person so appointed shall take and subscribe the 

 oath hereinbefore prescribed, and become a member 

 of said commission : and, in like manner, if any of 

 said justices of the Supreme Court shall die or become 

 physically incapable of performing the duties re- 

 quired by this act, the other of said justices, members 

 of the said commission, shall immediately appoint 

 another justice of said court a member of said com- 

 mission; and, in suoh appointments, regard shall be 

 had to the impartiality and freedom from bias sought 

 by the original appointments to said commission, 

 who shall thereupon immediately take and subscribe 

 the oath hereinbefore prescribed, and become a mem- 

 ber trf^sald commission to fill the vacancy so occa- 

 sioned. 



All the certificates and papers purporting to be 

 certificates of the electoral votes of each State shall 

 be opened, in the alphabetical order of the States, 

 as provided in section 1 of this act ; and when there 

 shall be more than one such certificate or paper, as 



the certificates and papers from such State shall so 

 be opened (excepting duplicates of the same return), 

 they shall be read by the tellers, and thereupon the 

 President of the Senate shall call for objections, if 

 any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and 

 shall state clearly and concisely, and without argu- 

 ment, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at 

 least one Senator and one member of the House of 

 Representatives before the same shall be received. 

 When all such objections so made to any certificate, 

 vote, or paper, from a State shall have been received 

 and read, all such certificates, votes and papers so 

 objected to, and all papers accompanying the same, 

 together with such objections, shall be forthwith sub- 

 mitted to said commission, which shall proceed to 

 consider the same, with the same powers, if any, 

 now possessed for that purpose by the two Houses 

 acting separately or together, and, by a majority of 

 votes, decide whether any and what votes from such 

 State are the votes provided for by the Constitution 

 of the United States, and how many and what per- 

 sons were duly appointed electors in such State, and 

 may therein take into view such petitions, deposi- 

 tions, and other papers, if any, as shall, by the Con- 

 stitution and now-existing law, be competent and 

 pertinent in such consideration ; which decision 

 shall be made in writing, stating briefly the ground 

 thereof, and signed by the members of said cominip- 

 siou agreeing therein ; whereupon the two Houses 

 shall again meet, and such decision shall be read and 

 entered in the Journal of each House, and the count- 

 ing of the votes shall proceed in conformity there- 

 with, unless, upon objection made thereto in writ- 

 ing by at least five Senators and five members of the 

 House of Representatives, the two Houses shall sep- 

 arately concur in ordering otherwise ; in which case 

 such concurrent order shall govern. No votes or 

 papers from any other State shall be acted upon un- 

 til the objections previously made to the votes or 

 papers from any State shall have been finally dis- 

 posed of. 



SEO. 3. That while the two Houses shall be in 

 meeting, as provided in this act, no debate shall be 

 allowed, and no question shall be put by the presid- 

 ing officer, except to either House on a motion to 

 withdraw ; and he shall have power to preserve or- 

 der. 



SEO. 4. That when the two Houses separate to de- 

 cide upon an objection that may have been made to 

 the counting of any electoral vote or votes from nny 

 State, or upon objection to a report of said commis- 

 sion, or other question arising under this act, each 

 Senator and Representative may speak to such ob- 

 jection or question ten minutes, and not oftenerthan 

 once ; but after such debate shall have lasted two 

 hours, it shall be the duty of each House to put the 

 main question without further debate. 



SEO. 5. That in such joint meeting of the two 

 Houses seats shall be provided as follows : For the 

 President of the Senate, the Speaker's chair; for 

 the Speaker, immediately upon iris left ; the Sena- 

 tors in the body of the hall upon the right of the 

 presiding officer; for the Representatives, in the 

 body of the hall not provided for the Senators; for 

 the tellers.Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the 

 House of Representatives, at the Clerk's desk ; for 

 the other officers of the two Houses, in front of the 

 Clerk's desk and upon each sine of the Speaker's 

 platform. Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved 

 until the count of electoral votes shall be completed 

 and the result declared : and no recess shall be taken 

 unless a question shall have arisen in regard to 

 counting any such votes, or otherwise under this 

 act ; in which case it shall be competent for either 

 House, acting separately, in the manner hereinbe- 

 fore provided, to direct a recess of such House not 

 beyond the next day, Sunday excepted, at the hour 

 of ten o'clock in the forenoon. And while any 

 question is being considered by said commission 

 either House may proceed with its legislative or 

 other business. 



