Arizona republican., 1896-12-13
DUTIES OF ELECTORS.

ment that the preSlQentldl electors chosen on November will assemble ! to cast their votes for president and | vice-president on the first Wednesday i in December Presumably the mistake was owing to an impression that the | old custom had not been changed by the adoption of general law regulat- | ing the counting of the vote. It may be- too, that in consequence of the long practice which prevailed in the mat ter, large number of persons enter tain the same erroneous idea. The cleo tors, instead of assembling on Wednes- Il, or as the federal statute prescribes, on the second Monday in January. AS the law which brought about the change has not yet, apparently, taken strong hold on the popular memory, and as, besides, it is one of the most important ones on the statute books of the nation, brief review of the pro-
 cedure which it requires may not be uninstructive.
 The constitution provides that con
 gress shall adopt general law for
 the authorization of electors, and that
 it may choose the day when the cleo
 tors shall meet to cast their votes. For
 many years this duty was neglected.
 Early in the year 1876, after the house
 of representatives became Democratic,
 the famous twenty joint rule"
 under which the counting of previous
 elections had occurred, was abolished.
 That action, as is well known, left the
 country without word of law or rule,
 either of a general character or includ-
 ed in the privileges of congress, for the authorization of the votes Only
 constitutional law remained. The dis pute as to the result of the election of
 that year was thus easily brought about in the circumstances, and was Irendered very difficult of solution. To the shame of congress, the same lack of proper statutory or special parlia-
 
 mentary rule was permitted to exist until 1887, when the general statute
 entitled "The Electoral Count Act
 was adopted Two elections have al ready taken place under it, and they
 have excited no criticism of it's form.
 The following are the features of the act of 1887: () The electors assemble on the second Monday in January; (b)
 States may impart conclusive validity
 to their returns if they decide prior to
 the appointment of the electors their own methods of adjusting disputes provided the result of the contests be known six days before the meeting oi the electors; Co the certifcated result of the vote for each elector is sent tC the secretary of state by the executive of each state as soon after the election :. as practicable, and by the secretary oi state is transmitted to congress; (d ] the vote of the electors is forwarded to the president of the senate, to bt
 opened" by him before the assembled
 houses of congress when they meet tt , count the ballots, on the second Wed nesday in February; (e) congress, as Il sembled on the date mentioned, il l. joint session, counts the vote, consid Il ering all contests which are properl. - certified before it, in the order accord ). ing to which the vote of each state i : opened, namely, alphabetically, as tn U law provides; O all contests are decid ed by concurrent votes of the senat Il and house, acting separately.
 'r It should be understood that gen eral law has long been in existenc u containing directions as to the for
 warding Of the electoral vote to Wash
 ington. It follows the twelfth amend e ment to the constitution: In simila 'l manner in some respects very closet ls the act of 1887 is based on that amend le ment. The important innovation in tn e latter act is the provision made flo | solving questions as to contested eel l. tificates It makes the procedure ( | congress simple and clear in every re u spect, so far as experience has show1 It, and removes every imaginable likel t. hood of puzzling contingencies. Unde 'u it it does not appear that either hous 7s of congress can usurp privileges g It they used to seek to do, both unitedl
 and singly, before the civil war. Tn
 authorization of all certificates d. a1 noting the choice of electors is now $ l thorough that neither house. if it vii 'e to take advantage of the facts in D. ...... ,:.Ia .. s..A. H.. .>....> .-.. .