Evening star., 1936-07-12
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

enty-fiftn CongreSS-irom January 3
to January 5, because the Sd happens
to fall on Sunday-this is but minor
matter among the more serious COM
plications threatening because of the
haste with which the twentieth amend
ment, sponsored by Senator Norris of
Nebraska. was adopted, abolishing the
lame duck" session of Congress.
The first worry will come because
the counting of the electoral vote in
joint session is set by law for the next
day after Congress opens, and any
delay in the election of Speaker and
organization of the House presents
new problem.
The most important omission was
failure to designate the person who
would temporarily serve as President,
during the interregnum, in event an
election is thrown into the House.
Tangles Long Considered.
All the complications and tangles
that may result from advancing the
date of Inauguration, opening of
terms of members of Congress, meet
ing of the electoral college and elimi-
mating the after-election session of the
hangover Congress. have been set
forth in brief prepared some IA years
ago by William Tyler Page then clerk
Of the House for the Republican lead
ers They were also the subject of ex-
tensive hearings 1912 years ago before
the House Committee on Election of
President and Vice President. They
were discussed at that time in a series
of articles in The Star. But they have
not yet been obviated by the legiSla-
tion resulting in the twentieth amend
ment Some of these snarlS are likely
to prove vexing for some time to come.
When Congress realized that the
new opening date would fall on Sun
day, haste was made to correct it. The
House voted to make it Monday, the
4th, but the Senate changed that to
Tuesday. the 5th. to allow more time
after the Christmas-New Year holi-
days. But on January 6. under the
law, the two houses meet in joint Ses-
sion to count the electoral votes That
makes it the next day after Congress
convenes. Should there be any hitch
about organization-what will be done ?
Arrangement Time Short.
Under the twentieth amendment.
known as the Norris, or lame duck,
amendment. January is fixed as the
meeting day of Congress. but Congress
may fix another date by law-which
1t has done.
The advancement of the date from
March to January brings the meet
ing day so much closer to election
day-the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November. Thus, the four
months intervening between election
day and opening Of the new Congress
are cut in half. During this brief
period all the preliminaries to the
counting Of the electoral vote must be
attended to-f1rst, the meeting of the
electors in each State to count their
vote according to the popular vote;
then the transmission Of certificates of
election to the officials designated in
the law-namely the Vice President
the Secretary of State of the United
States. the secretary Of State of each
State and the United States district
State.
Should any question of the regu-
larity or validity of the election be
raised. as in the famous Tilden- Hayes
case. there would be delay in certify
ing the result of the election in each
State in which such question might be
raised.
Bill Provided Time.
Pending in the House during the
last session Of Congress was bill by
Representative Hatton w. Summers of
Texas. chairman of the House Ju-
dietary Committee, proposing to ad-
vance election day one month, max
ing it early in October, to have the
additional month in which to attend
to the aftermath of the election. No
action, however. was taken on that
bill
Congress is empowered by the Con-
stitution to fix uniform date for elec-
ton throughout the United States. ex-
cept in States where the State consti-
tuition provides another date for cleo
t1on of Representatives in Congress.
At one time there were three States
whose constitutions provided different
dates for such elections-Oregon in
June and Arkansas and Maine in Sep
tember, but Oregon and Arkansas
changed their constitutions to conform
with the other States. Maine is the
only ''out" State continuing to hold its
congressional election in September.
An interesting point in regard to
making the election date uniform
throughout the United States which
was done by act of Congress in the
40s. is that prior to that the States
fixed their own and different dates
, for election, and it was found that
thus they opened the door to vote
"repeaters." With different dates fixed
in contiguous States, people living on
or near the border would vote in one
State and soon thereafter migrate
across the border and vote again
fraudulently, of course 1t was not
until that became a rather general
practice that the uniform date was
fixed by Congress.
Tables Show Situation.
Here are brief tables showing how
the constitutional amendment has
shortened the time between election
day and Inauguration day, and how
some of the leaders in Congress are
figuring to extend it, to take care of
the work that must be done In between
Old System.
Election Day, Elapsed
November 3, 1886. Time
Old Congress Convened ..
December 2, 1936--- % Days
Electors meet - January 6,
1887 ----------------- "a Days
Dead line for receipt of GER
tiflcates-January- 20, 1887 13 Days
Electoral vote counted-Feb-
ruary 10. 1937- 20 Days
Inauguration of President
March 4, 1897 Al DAYS