Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-11-23


| Ifall the young men, now coming on the
stage would scrupulously observe these simple
Instructions, what an increase Of success and
happiness there would bel Reader, if you
observe them, you will be delighted with ths
result in your own individual case. ,,;.5
THE METHOD OF COUNTING THE ELEC.
q. 80. T0RAL VOTE. - :. "
The extreme doubt in which the returns re
ceived yesterday left the result of the Presi
dental election, has made the counting Of the
electoral vote, in February next, likely to be
an event of very great interest and impor
tance.- On more than one occasion the defects
Of the n1achinery for determining which oi
two or more candidates has been legally elect
ed to the Presidency, have been atrikingly
shown, and attempts have been made to rem.
edy them; but while snone Of these efforts
have met with success; it has also been fortu'
nate that on no occasion which has ever arisen
has the actual result been effected by the vote
Of any State which forwarded its vote and the
validity Of whose returns has been questioned
Now it seems possible that such contingen.
cy may arise. ~.
No provision has ever been made for set.
tling q dispute of this kind. Section ], Arti.
Gle II, Of the Constitution, directs that 'each
State shall appoint, in such manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, 8 number Of
electors equal to the whole number Of sena.
tors and Representatives to which the State
may be entitled In the Congress; but no Sen.
ator or Representative, or person holding an
office of trust or profit under the United
States, shall be appointed an. elector." I.
The twelfth amendment Of the Constitution
provides that the electors "meet in their re.
spective States, and vote by ballot for Pres.
ident and Vice-President, one Of whom shall
not be an inhabitant Of the same State with
themselves. ** And they shall make
distinct lists Of all persons voted for as Presi.
dent, and of all persons voted for as Vice.
President, and of the number Of votes for
each ; which lists they shall sign and certify,
and transmit sealed to the seat Of government
of the United States, directed to the President
of the Senate. The President Of the Senate
shall, in the presence Of the Senate and House
Of Representatives, open all the certificates,
and the votes shall then be counted. The
person having the greatest number of votes
for President shall be the President, if such
number be q majority Of the whole number Of
electors appointed" &c, /. 3ls. ...,.t q: !, Il
- By acts Of 1892 and 1904, as adopted in
the Revised Statutes ofthe United States, the
following regulations are made: !.
Sec 1876. The electors for each State shall
meet and give their votes upon the FIRST Wed.
nesday in December in the year in which they
are appointed, at such place, in each State, as
the Legislature of such State shall direct. z
Sec. 1876. Itshall be the duty, Of the execu,
tive of each State to cause three lists Of the
names Of the electors Of such State to be
made and certified, and to be delivered to the
electors on or before the day on which they
are required, by the preceding section, to meet.
!. Sec. 1877. The electors shall vote for Presi.
dent and Vice-P President, respectively, in the
manner directed by the Constitution =, E
Sec. 1873. The electors shall make and sign
three certificates of all the votes given by
them, each of which certificates shall contain
two distinct lists; !; one Of the votes for Presi.
dent, and the other of the votes for Vice. Pres.
ident, and shall annex to each of the certif.
Gates one of the lists of electors which shall
have been furnished to them by direction Of
the Executive Of the State.
Sec. 139. The electors shall seal up the Ger.
tifcates 80 made by them, and certify upon
each, that the lists Of all the votes of such State
given for President, and Of all the votes given
for Vice. President, are contained therein.
Sec: 140 The electors shall dispose Of the
certificates thus made by them in the follow.
ing manner: lss.y %
One. They shall, by writing under their
hands, or under the hands Of q majority Of
them, appoint person to take charge Of and
deliver to the President of the Senate, ct the
seat of Government, before the first Wednes
day in January then next ensuing, one Of the
certificates. .;is.a5
Two. They shall forthwith forward BY the
postofice to the President ofthe Senate, at the
seat of Government, one or the other Of the
certificates. -, IA.
Three. They shall forthwith cause the other
of the certificates to be delivered to the judge
of that district in which the electors shall as.
semble. eaali. .13! l4 a.aHs 80
"sec. 142. Congress shall be in session on
the second Wednesday in February succeeding
every meeting Of the electors, and the certid.
Gates, or so many of them as have been receiv-
ell, shall then be opened, the votes counted,
and the persozs to FIJI the Offices of President
and Vice President ascertained and declared,
agreeable to the Constitution"
On several occasions prior to 1869, objec.
tions had been made to receiving the votes Of
certain States on account Of alleged irregular.
ties, but no such vote was ever formally re-
iected. In 1864 q resolution was adopted BY
Congress excluding the electoral votes of
States then in rebellion, but as no votes we're
received from any Of them, none were rejected.
A precedent was, however, set for the rejec-
ton of the vote of q State by ajoint resolution
concurred in by both houses Of Congress. g
When the questions arose during the first
half of the century touching the acceptance or
rejection of.the vote ofStates, the returns from
which were irregular, long debates sometimes
arose which seriously interfered with the
prompt announcement of the result. To cut
off such debate, the twenty-second joint rule
of the two houses was adopted in 1855, and
re.adopted by each succeeding Congress except
the present. The following is the text of the
rule: sg n'a4S X '>saf ,'gjt}"rssl' p
IF upon the reading Of any such certificate
by the tellers, any question shall arise in re-
gard to the counting of the votes therein GER
tilted, the same having been stated BY the
presiding officer, the Senate shall thereupon
withdraw, and said question shall be submit
ted to that body for its decision !; and the
speaker of the house shall, in like manner,
submit the said question to the House for its