The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-06 00:00:00

EXTRACTS FROM THE ELECTORAL LAW OF HOLLAND.

The members of the Second Chamber of the States-Ge•
_electedlrealy 'And directly in Ale nation. The
members ofthe First Chainter are elected by the Provin-
cial States, elected directly by the nation. The Town
Councils are elected by the nation directly.
Article 37. At least eight days before the election each
elector receives at his house a sealed letter, informing him
of the time, place, and object of election, and a voting pa-
per, with the town stamp and seal, on which he is to write
the name or names of the persons for whom he votes. If
this paper be lost he can demand another.

38: The elector must, in his own person, deposit this
paper in the ballot•box.

43. The scrutineers consist of the president and two
members of the Town Council.

45. The table is placed in such a manner that the electors
can overlook the scrutineers.

46. The ballot-box placed on the table is fastened by two
different locks, of which the key of one is kept by the pre-
sident, the other by the eldest; scrutineer.
47. No person is admitted to the ballot-box who is not,
according to the register of electors, entitled to be present.
51. When the poll closes, the president publicly shuts
and seals the ballot-box with the town seal and the seals of
-the scrutineer, so that the papers cannot get out of the box.
55. The opening of the voting papers takes place in the
chief town of the electoral district.
56. The opening'of the voting papers is in public. The
electors present may object to votes.
59. The voting papers are counted before opening, to see
that their number agrees with the list of persons voting.
They are mixed together before they are opened.
60. The president reads aloud each paper and passes it
to the senior scrutineer, who in turn passes it to the other.
61. Those voting papers are null and void which are not
authenticated in manner prescribed by Article 37, those
signed by the elector, and those which do not plainly indi-
cate the person voted for, or which are blanks.

TURIN, Nov. 9, 1856.
Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge your letter
containing the questions proposed to me by you on behalf
of the Society for Establishing the Vote by Ballot. I
have forwarded by post an official copy of the Electoral
Law" of the Chamber of Representatives of the kingdom
of Sardinia, and now hasten to reply to your questions.
Ist. The law established among, us to insure the cer-
tainty of secrecy to our voters will be found in paragraphs
82, 86, 83 of our Electoral Law, of which I send a copy.
2d. It is an established fact that the law was not only
intended to secure freedom of voting to shopkeepers,
tenants, and tradespeople of every sort that might be under
the influence of pressure, but also to remedy the effects of
the Government interest on the very numerous body in
their employ (which is one of the greatest blemishes is our
constitution).
3d. In general, and with very few exceptions, the laws
established have been found to preserve the independence
of the electoral body, and it never enters the head of any
one here to require "open voting." It is certain that if
that system of public voting was established, the indepen-
dent members would be excluded from our Parliament, and
all the elections would as certainly result in favour of the
ministerialist, the bishops, and the clergy.
I have said that secrecy is preserved, except in a few
cases, and I will explain myself. Many of our electoral
colleges are sufficiently numerous. In others whore the
number is limited, it sometimes happens that influen-
tial persons are chosen as scrutineers whence it hap-
pens that electors depending on these persons cannot
vote freely as the scrutineer might recognise their writing.
Bat in England, where the number of electors is so large,
I do not think this objection would hold good ; at any rate
this might lse avoided by the use of printed voting papers,
such as those used by the French since the introduction of
the " Universal Suffrage."
You Must be aware that this country is quite a novice
as regards the " Representative System"—which was
adopted after the national movement in 1843, when the
constitution was established (promulgata), which was
taken in a great measure from Belgium, and our legislators
have also imitated the electoral law in use in that country,
where it has given satisfaction. With us this law has acted
sufficiently well, and with the exception of the admission
of deputies employed by Government (see paragraph IC3)
I believe, and it is the general opinion, that it will .13e best
to leave it unchanged. We have also the " Secret Voting"
established by the fundamental law in the two chambers,
but this I consider as injurious, as I believe it to be useful
and even necessary at the elections. I believe I have thus
replied to your requests, but I shall be at all times happy
to afford further Information if required, and shall feel
honoured by being in the smallest manner connected with
a society entertaining such noble designs.
_

LORENZO VIL)IRIA, Deputato.

EXTRACTS•FROM THE ELECTORAL LAW OF THE KINGDOM

OF SARDINIA.
Art. 66. The electors cannot appear by proxy. In those
colleges not exceeding 400, the electors to meet in one
place; above 400, the college to be dividel in sections,
every section to be at least 200, and to consent directly in
the election of the deputy to be chosen by the college.
82. Each elector having answered to his name, shall
receive from the president an open voting paper, on which
he shall write, or cause to be written by a person chosen
by himself, his vote ; he shall then hand the paper folded
to the President, who shall put it in the urn. The table
at which the elector fills up his paper shall be separated
from that of the officers ; that at which the president,
scrutineers, and the secretary sit shall be so placed that
the electors can have free access to it during the scrutiny.
83. As each voter deposits his paper in the urn,
the vote shall be certified by one of the scrutineers and the
secretary signing their names opposite that of the voter in
a list containing the names and qualifications of the whole
college or section.
81. At. one hour after noon the names of those who
omitted to apply for their voting papers shall be again
called over. This being done the president shall declare
the voting complete.
85. The urn being then opened and the papers counted,
a scrutineer takes the papers one at a time, opens them,
and hands them (one by one) to the president, who reads
them aloud, and passes them to another scrutineer. The
result of each scrutiny is immediately made public.
86. Shortly after the scrutiny the voting papers are
burned in the presence of the college, except disputed
ones, which shall be annexed to the peaces verbal, and
settled by at least three members of the bureau.
84. Where the college is divided into sections, the scru-
tiny shall take place in each section, the result to be de-
clared by a proces verbal, signed by the members. The
president of each section is to convey the result at once to
the bureau of the chief section, which shall, in the pre-
sence of the presidents of sections, proceed to the general
examination of the votes of the whole college.
88. The voting papers in which voters have male public
the names shall be void.
100. Public functionaries or Government employes shall
not be admitted to the Chambers in numbers exceeding
one-fourth of the whole number of deputies ; if such pro-
portion be exceeded the Chamber shall decide by lot what
elections shall bo declared void. When the number of
employes shall be completed, new elections of such em-
ployes shall be declared void.