Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-08-12


that then the Secretary of State shall send a
special messenger to the district Judge in whose
custody such list shall have been lodged, who
shall forthwith transmit the same TO the seat OF
government
Sec Is. Congress shall be in session
on the second Wednesday in February sue
ceeding every meeting of the electors, and
the said certificates or SO many OF them as shall
have been received, shall then be opened and the
votes counted, &c See Constitution,
article XII, above.
Sec. 6. That in case there shall be no Presi-
dent of the Senate at the seat of government
on the arrival of the person entrusted with the
lists Of the votes of the electors, then such person
shall deliver the lists Of votes in their custody
into the Office of the Secretary of State, to be
safely kept and delivered over as soon as may
be to the President of the Senate.
Sec. 7. See Act Of Congress of 1925, oh. 8,
&C., below.
Sec. g. If any person appointed TO deliver
the votes of the electors TO the President Of the
Senate, shall after accepting Of his appointment.
neglect to perform the services required of him
by this act, he shall forfeit the sum of 900.
See. 9. In case Of removal, death, resignation,
or inability both of the President and Vice Pres
ident Of the United States, the President Of the
Senate, pro tempore, and in case there shall be
no President of the Senate, then the Speaker Of
the House of Representatives, for the time
being, shall act as President OF the United
States until the disability be removed, or a
President shall be elected.
Sec. 10. Whenever the Offices of President
and Vice President shall both become vacant, the
Secretary OF State shall forthwith cause notifica-
ton thereof to be made to the Executive of
every State and shall also cause the same to
be published in at least one Of the newspapers
printed in each State, specifying that electors
Of the President of the United States shall be
appointed or chosen in the several States
within thirty -four days preceding the first
Wednesday in December then next ensuing,
provided there shall be the space of two months
between the date of such notification and the
said first Wednesday in December; and if the
term for which the President and Vice Presi-
dent last in Office were elected shall not expire
on the third day of March next ensuing, then
the Secretary of State shall specify in the noti-
fication that the electors shall be appointed or
chosen within thiriy-four days preceding the
first Wednesday in December in the year next
ensuing within which time the electors shall
accordingly be appointed or chosen. And the
electors shall meet and give their votes on the
said first Wednesday in December, and the
proceedings and duties of the said electors and
others shall be pursuant to the directions pre-
scribed in this act.
[Note.-The lines in brackets in the above
section are perhaps superseded by the words
.on the Tuesday neat after tile first Monday la
tile month Of Norember," by the act of lS45,
oh. |, which see above.
Sec IL. The only evidence of refusal to
accept or of resignation, of the office of
President or Vice President, shall be an in
strument in writing declaring the same, and
subscribed by the person refusing to accept, or
resigning, as the case may be, and delivered
into the Office of the Secretary OF State.
Sec II. The term of four years for which q
President and Vice President shall be elected,
shall IN all cases commence on the fourth day
March succeeding the day on which the votes
of the electors shall have been given.
The act Of 1904, ch. so, supplementary to
the above act of 1892 ch. s, enacts "that every
other provision of the act 1892, oh. s to
which this is supplement, and which is not
virtually repealed by this act, which act en-
bodies the provisions of the 18th amendment
to the Constitution and other provisions, hav
ing temporary operation only, in the interval
previous to the ratification of said amendment
by the States, and contingent thereupon,] shall
extend and apply to erery election of Presi-
dent and Vice President of the United States
made in conformity to the aforementioned
| Tl2thl amendment to the Constitution"
By the acts of Congress of 1925, ch. 9; l848,
| CHI. l66; lS49, res. No. 2, the person appointed
| by the electors to deliver to the President OF
| the Senate, list of the votes for President
| and Vice President, shall be allowed on de-
| livery of said list, twenty-five cents for every
mile of the estimated distance by the most
| 4 al ala ,f At IL.
electors to the seat OF Government of the Uni
ted States, going and returning.
| INote.-It will be perceived that additional
legislation is required to make the election Of
a President of the United States in all cases a
mathematical certainty, and with view to
meet the existing defects in the Constitution
| and laws, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee in Congress-, Mr.. Butler, Of South
| Carolina has given notice of a bill which pro.
yides for those cases omitted in the Constitu-
ton in which not only the President and Vice
] President, but also the Speaker of the House
| is unable 10 perform, or are prevented from
performing, the duties of President. In that
case the bill provides "that the Chief Justice
shall act as President and if he, too, is un.
able. then the next Oldest Judge, and so on
until the whole Supreme Bench is exhausted.
| The bill also provides for those cases in which
the different provisions of the Constitution, as
amended, come in apparent conflict with each
other, as for instance in the case in which the
| Speaker of the House who is called upon to
act as President is not a native Of the country,
the Constitution prescribing that he shall be;
or in which one Of the officers or judges desig.
mated to act as Chief Magistrate has not the
age required by the Constitution for President.
The bill also provides that the President thus
called to act by the operation Of law shall be
President for four years, and that no new Presi-
dental election shall take place before the end
of that period.
The Acts Of assembly Prescribing the mode Of
| Choosing Electors Of President and Vice
President in Maryland, &c.
The Constitution, art. ], sec. !, prescribes
the same qualifications for voters for Presiden
tial electors as for voters at other elections.
Section imposes the same penalty upon per.
sons brbing or attempting to bride, directly or
Il ..I, he ha m