Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1878 — The Senate Electoral Count Bill. [ARTICLE]

The Senate Electoral Count Bill.

The following to the bill introduced by Mr. Edmunds and passed by the Senate, on the 14th, making legal pro. visions for regnlating the counting of the Electoral votes for President and Vice-President: A ant. to ament! anntlry pn>vl«lon« or Chap. 1, Title 8. of the Revised Statute! of the United Ftatea, relating to Presidential election!, and to pm v id<- for aad regnlale the counting of t he votes, f r President arid V*c%President, and ths decl -ion of titter Ilona arising thereon. Jir it marled by the tirnaU and Home of Reurnrntntloee qf the United Slatn of America, tn Conyroee tuoemhUd, That the Elector* of President and Vice President rhall lie atnxdnted In each State on the first Tuesday In Cct<d>cr lu every fourth year -ncceeding the election of a President and Vice-President, and ou the same day In October whenever 'here shall be a vacancy In Itoth the unices of President and Vice-President declared and certified as hereinafter provided; but no Senator, or Repre«entatlve. or person holding «u office of frost or profit under the United States shall he appointed an Elector. Rec. 2. whenever there shall be a vacancy !r both the offices of President and Vice-President occurring more than two months next preceding the first Tuesday of any month In October other than that next preceding the expiration of the term of eflfee for which the President and Vice-Presi-dent last in office were elected, the Secretary of State shall forthwith cause a notification thereof to be made to the Execntfve Of every State, and shall also canse the same to be published In at least one of the newspapers printed In each State. The notification shall specify that Electors of Preah'ent and Vice-President of the United Stales shall be appointed in the several Statesonlhe firs' Tuesday In October then next ensuing. Sac. 8. The Electors of each State shall meet and give their votes on the second Monday in January next following their appointment at such plan In each State as the Legislature of such State shall direct.

Sec. 4. Each State may provide, by law enacted prior to the day in this act named for the appointment of the Electors, for the trial and determination < I any controversy concerning the appointment of Electors, before the time fixed for the meeting of the Electors, in any manner it shall deeig expedient. Every such determination made pursuant to snch law so enacted before said day, und made prior to the said time of meeting of the Elect'. re, imall he coneliiHlvc evidence bl’trie lawful title of the Electors who shall have been so determined to have been unpointed, and shall govern in the counting of the Electoral votes, as provided In the Constitution and as hereinafter regulated. She. 5. it shall be the duly of the Executive of each State to cause three lists of the names of the Electors of such State dnly ascertained to have been chosen to be made and certified and to be delivered to the Electors an or before the day on which they are required by this act to meet. Sue. tl. Congress shall be in session on the second Monday in February succeeding every meeting of the Electors. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the hall of the House of Representatives nt the hourof one o'clock in the afternoon on that day; and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. Two telkvg shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate, and two on the part of the House of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates, and papers purporting to be certificates, of the Electoral yates, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence aud hearing of the two houses, shall make a Hat of the votes as they shall appear front the said certificates; and the votes having bvu.ni ascertained aud counted as in this act provided. the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, and the names of the persons, if any, elected, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persona elected President and Vice-President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses. Upon such reading of any snch certificate or paper 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 argument, the ground thereof, arid shall be signed by at. least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received, when all objections so made to an V vote or paper from a State shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall in like manner submit such objections to the House of Representatives for its decision; and no Electoral vote or- votes from any State from which but oue return has been received shall be rejected except by the affirmative votes of both houses. If more than one return, Or paper purportin'’ to be a return, from' a State shall have been received by the President of the Senate, thora votes, and those only, shall be counted which shall have been regularly given by the Electors who are shown by the evidence mentioned in Sec. 4 of this act to have been appointedt but in case there shall arise the question which of two or more of such State tribunals, determining what Electors have Keen appointed, as mentioned in Sec. 4 of this act, is the lawful tribunal of such State, the votes regularly given of those Electors, and those only, from such State shall be counted whose title as Eleetorsthe two houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide is supported by the decision of the tribunal of such State so provided for by its I.egislatnre. And in such case of more than one return, or paper purporting to be a return, from a State, if there shall have been no such determination of the question in the State as aforesaid, then those votes and those only shell be counted» which the twd houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide to be the lawntl vote's of the legally appointed Electors of such State. When the two houses have voted they shall Immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the <i«cision ot the qnestionssiibmitted. No votes or pnpi-re train any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of. Sec. 7. That while the two houses shall be in meeting, as provided in this act, no debate shall he allowed, and no question shall be put by the presiding officer except to either house on fi mo lion to withdraw; and he shall have power to preserve order. Sec. 8. That when the two houses separate to decide upon an objection that mav have been made to the counting of any Electoral vote or votes from any State, or other question arising in the matter, each Senator or Representative may apeak to such objection or question five minutes, and not oftener than once; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours, it shall be the duty of the firesiding officer of each house To put the main question without further debate. Sec. 9. That at such joint meeting of the two bouses seats shall be provided as follows: For the President of the Senate, the Speaker’s chair: for the Speaker, immediately upon his left; the Senators, 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’lvllexs, Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk ot the House of Representatives, at the Clerk’s desk; for the officers of the two houses, in front of the Clerk’s desk and upon each side ot the Speaker’s platform. Snch joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of Klectoi.il votes shall be completed and the result declared; and no recess shall be taken unless a question shall have arisen in regard to ccuntiug-any such votes, or otherwise under this act, in which case it shall be competent for either house, acting separately in the manner hereinbefore provided, to direct ;t recess of such house not beyond the next day, Sunday excepted, at the hour of ten o’clock in the forenoon. Bnt if the-counting of the Electoral votes and the declaration of the result shall not hnve been completed before the fifth calendar day next after such first meeting of the two houses, no further or other recess shall be taken by either house.

—A story of a mean bridegroom comes from Wilkesbarre, Pa. It was on one of the stormy evenings, a few days ago, that a smooth-voiced man, leading a serious-looking woman by the hand, entered the parsonage and asked the good minister to unite them in marriage. Nothing loath, he complied. While the storm raged without the ceremony was concluded, and the bland groom placed in the pastor’s hand an envelope in settlement for his services. Borrowing an umbrella, which he would return in half an hour,”' with many thanks he bade the trusting family good night; -since when nothing has been seen of the genial man, umbrella, or serious-looking bride. The minister* in the midst of his household, opened the package and found a strip of white paper two lay four inches in size. , r —A brakeman, the other day, “for the fnn of the thing,” threw a lump of coal at an. Italian image vender's collection as the train rushed through the Springfield (Mass.) depot, and almost ruined the poor man’s stock in trade. The Italian was sharp enough to take the number of the car on which the brakeman was riding, and he reported his grievance to the railroad officers. The matter was investigated, and the brakeman was abruptly discharged. To a young man struggling with a still younger mustache, the “darkest hour'is just before the down.”—Hackentqck Republican.