Litchfield enquirer., 1876-09-14
PUBLIC ACTS oE THE STATE OF
 CONNECTICUT.
F assed at the May Session of the
 General Assembly. 1876.

< assed at the May Session of the 1 General Assembly. 1876. 1 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY 1 Now, therefor, to provide for the con . sideration of said amendments by the in- 1 habltants of this state, in town meetings to be warned aud held for that purpose, pursuant to the requirement of said eleventh article of the constitution of | this state.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
 Representatives in General Assembly convened:
 SECTION I. That the constables in the several towns in this state shall warn the inhabitants in their respective towns to ] meet on the first Monday of October, 4. ,. 1876. at seven o'clock in the morning of said day, for the purpose signifying in the manner hereafter provided, the1r ap- probation or disapprobation of any or all of said proposed amendments which meetings shall be held at the usual places of holding annual town meetings in said towns respectively.
 SEC. 2 The presiding officers of such meeting shall be appointed in the mauner provided by law for the appointment of such officers at electors meetings. The Ipolls shall remain open until the hour prescribed by law in the several towns and voting districts respectively for the annual town meetings, and no longer.
 Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of tLe town clerks, or their assistants, to be appoint ed for the several voting districts in the several towns by the town clerks, imme- diately after the organization of said meetings to present to said meetings said proposed amendments to said consti. tuition according to the requirements of eleventh article thereof. and the electors present at such meetings shall be called upon by the presiding officers thereof to bring in their ballots. approving or disap- proving said amendments in the manner herein provided. The legal form of bal ot to be used for that pnrpese shall be as follows, viz: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS, FIRST MoN-
 day of OCTOBER, 1876.
 Number l. New towns of less than twenty-five hundred inhabitants to be at tached to parent town for representation in the house of representatives.
 Number 2. Providing for canvassng votes of state officers in November.
 Number 3. Common pleas judges to be appointed for four years and city judges for two years.
 Number 4. Probate judges to be elected for four years.
 Number g. Compensation of members of general assembly limited to 300 and mileage.
 Number 5. Erasing word "white" from electoral qualifications.
 This ballot will be counted as an affirm ative ballot for all amendments, unless the numbers or any of them are plainly erased, and in that event it will be count cd as negative ballot for those amend ments, which may be so erased.
 Those in favor of approving and adopt ing said amendments shall give in a ballot n the form preceding, but with the numbers set opposite the amendment they disapprove plainly erased, and esch number erased, shall be counted as anegative ballot, disaproving the amend nents opposite such number. All numbers not erased shall be counted as affirma- ative ballots approving the amendments set them opposite respectively. The bal lots shall be examined. assorted and ac- counted in the manner now provided by law for the examination, assorted and csunted in the manner now provided by law for the examination, asserting and counting of ballots given in, at the annu- al town meetings, and the number of af- firmative and negative ballots for each amendment, shall be declared in open meetings by the presiding officer. In towns divided into wards or vot ing districts for the annual town meetings, the ballots may be received at the places and in the manner provided for the reception of bal lots for town officers, and they shall be examined, assorted, counted, declared in the manner above provided. and the re- suit shall be returned in the manner pro- vided by law to the presiding officer to wEom other returns are made.
 Sec 4. The presiding officers in said several town meetings shall under their hands respectively make duplicate cer- tificate of the number of votes glv- en approving said amendments and of the number of votes disappearing words at full length, one of which cer- tificates shall be deposited in the office of the town clerk, and the other shall b. transmitted by mail to the secretary of state at Hartford or shall be delivered to him sealed up, within five days after the holding of said meeting. The certifi- cate shall be in form as prescribed by the secretary of state.
 Sec. 5. The secretary of state shall on or before the third Monday of September 1876, transmit certified copies of each of the proposed amendments and also blank forms and instructions for the counting and return of be given pursuant to this act. and also 8 sufficient number of ballots in the form herein provided for, to the town clerks of each of the several towns in this state for the use of said towns. Sec. 6. The votes so returned to the seer etary of state shall be counted by the secretary, treasurer and comptroller, on or before the sixteenth day of October, 1876, and they on or before the eighteenth day of October, 1876, shall transmit a certificate under their hands of the num- Der votes SO returned as approving each said amendments, to the person admins l tering the government of this state, who within five days after the receipt of the same shall issue hls proclamation reciting | said certificate. and if It shall appear therefrom that 8 majority of said votes is l Ill favor of approving and adopting any or all of said amendments, he shall so de- clare III such proclamation, and that a ! majority of the electors present at the meetings aforesaid have approved said amendments, or any of them. and that the same are valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the constitution of this state; and if 1t shall appear from said certificates that majority of said votes is not in ia. 1 yor of all or any one of said amendments.
 he shall so declare in said proclamation; and said proclamation shall be published l at the expense of the state in two newspa
 pers Tn each county in this state, and shal
 De recorded in the public records of the
 state.
 Sec. 2. The qualifications of voters al