US Presidency
1867

To ascertain who is entitled to registration, reference is made necessary, by the express language of the supplement, to the original act and to the pending bill. The fifth section of the original act provides, as to voters, that they shall be male citizens of the State, 21 years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition, who have been residents of said State for one year. This is the general qualification, followed, however, by many exceptions. No one can be registered, according to the original act, who may be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion- a provision which left undetermined the question as to what amounted to disfranchisement, and whether without a judicial sentence the act itself produced that effect. This supplemental bill superadds an oath, to be taken by every person before his name can be admitted upon the registration, that he has not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States.