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RESPECTING ELECTIONS.

River hundred, at the old storehouse of Wesley W. Stevenson, now unoccupied, being the place where the last general election was held; and in Lewes and Rehoboth hundred, at Lewes, Rehoboth. at the house now occupied as a tavern by Edward Watson.

Lewes and

SEC. 2. If at any time it shall be impracticable to hold the Change of election in any hundred at the place appointed by law, the in- place. spector of such hundred shall have power to appoint some other place in said hundred, as near as can be conveniently obtained to the place herein directed; and he shall give public notice of the place so appointed, by advertisements posted in at least five of the most public places of the hundred, if circumstances will admit of such notice being given; but if not, Notice of then he shall give such public and general notice as the circumstances will permit.

voters.

vol. 11;

vol. 12.

SECTION 3. The sheriff of each county shall, after the twenty-third and before the twenty-seventh day of October in the year of holding the general election, deliver to the inspector of each hundred of his county, two suitable ballot Ballot boxes. boxes, with a piece of tape and sealing wax, together with a list Lists. of all the officers to be chosen at the then next general election, an alphabetical list of the names of all the free white male Lists of citizens, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, residing Amendment, and assessed in such hundred, ["or election district, where a chap. 642, hundred is divided into two or more election districts,"] chap. 539. written or printed forms-of tally lists, of certificates of sec. 3, election in said hundred, of the oath or affirmation of the in- Tally lists spector and the persons to be taken as judges of the election, Certificates. and of the certificate of administering such oath or affirmation, with written or printed directions as to correcting, completing and signing such oath or affirmation, and certificate of administering the same, and shall also deliver to each inspector, as aforesaid, a stamp of not less than one inch in Stamp and diameter, with the name or number of the proper hundred, delivered to ward or election district, and the year, month, and day of the each month on which such general election shall be held; and also ink of a suitable kind to be applied to such stamp. The Description. said stamp shall be so arranged that the date may be changed.

ink to be

inspector.

SECTION 4. The ballot boxes shall each be of sufficient size Boxes, how to contain all the ballots of the hundred, with one of the tally lists and certificates of election; in the lid of one of the boxes there shall be a hole, sufficient only to admit with convenience one ballot; and it shall be furnished with a lock and key for securing the lid; the lid of the other box shall be without a hole, and it shall be so constructed as to be secured with tape and sealing wax.

Lists of voters.

RESPECTING ELECTIONS.

SECTION 5. The said alphabetical list shall be made and certified by the clerk of the peace of the county, under his hand and seal of office; and, as to every person whose name shall be contained in such list, and who shall appear by any certificate recorded in the office of said clerk, to be naturalNaturalized, ized, the word "naturalized" shall be distinctly affixed to the To be fur name of every such person; such alphabetical list shall be delivered by the clerk of the peace to the sheriff on some day in the month of August next preceding the general election.

nished in August.

Tally lists,

SECTION 6. There shall be two of the said tally lists, each how made. of which shall consist of a margin on the left for the names of the persons voted for, and squares formed by parallel lines, drawn from left to right, and from the bottom to the top of the sheet, each square to be sufficient to contain five distinct rows of five distinct dots of a pen in each row, and there shall be a sufficient number of squares in each row of squares from left to right, to contain more dots than any person will probably receive votes in the hundred.

Form of certificates.

SECTION 7. There shall be two of the said certificates of election, which may be according to the following form, viz;

Amendment,

county and hundred, ss. At the general election, chap. 362. held in said hundred, (Tuesday next after the first Monday.) in November, A. D, eighteen hundred and the votes stand

,

as follows:

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For the office of Senator in the General Assembly,

received

received

votes

votes

votes

votes

votes

votes

For the office of Senator in the General Assembly in lieu of,

received

votes

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For the office of Representative in the General Assembly,

received

votes

received

votes

and so on,

For the office of Levy Court Commissioners,

received

received

votes for

votes for

hundred

hundred

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And we further certify that the clerks appointed by us were duly sworn or affirmed according to law, and that we were duly sworn or affirmed. In testimony whereof, we the judges of said election for said hundred, have hereunto set our hands the day and year aforesaid. In the said written or printed forms of certificates, before the same shall be delivered by the Sheriff as above directed, the name of the county and hundred and the date of the year shall be inserted in the blanks for said purposes in the foregoing form; and the offices, to be filled at the election, shall be inserted with blanks under each to contain the names of the persons who may be voted for, with the number of votes; and the offices not to be filled at the election, shall be omitted.

oath.

SECTION 8. The form of the oath or affirmation to be ad- Form of ministered to the inspector an I judges shall be as follows, viz; Ido solemnly swear (or affirm) that in the election to be this day held, I will not knowingly, or willfully, receive, or consent to the receiving of, the vote of any alien, and also that I will not receive, or consent to the receiving of, the vote of any person whom I shall believe not entitled to vote, unless my associates shall adjudge such person to be entitled to vote; that I will not receive or reject, nor concur in receiving or rejecting, any vote through partiality or under bias; and that I will determine every matter that shall come before me, and perform every act and duty by law required of me touching the said election, truly, faithfully and impartially, according to the best of my skill and judgment; that I will cause the ballots, that shall be taken at this election to be fairly read and ascertained, and a true statement thereof to be made, according to the best of my knowledge and ability; and that if I shall discover any partiality, unfairness, or corruption in the conducting of the said election, I will disclose the same to the attorney general, to the end that the subject may be investigated, so help me God, (or so I solemnly affirm.) There shall be three distinct forms of the foregoing oath or affirmation written or printed on one sheet; which forms shall be numbered and distinguished as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. On the same sheet, after the last of said forms, shall be written or printed a form for the certificate of the qualification of the inspector and judges, as follows, to wit :

Certificates.
Amendment,

vol. 11.

RESPECTING ELECTIONS.

-county, and hundred, ss. We, the subscribers, inspec

chap. 362, tor and judges for said hundred of the general election, therein held on (the Tuesday next after the first Monday) of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and certify, that on said day, before opening the said election in said hundred, the foregoing oath or affirmation was duly administered to each of us, according to law; the blanks in which said certificate shall be filled by the sheriff, or by his order, before delivering the same to the inspector.

Notice of election.

SECTION 9. The inspector of each hundred shall, within two days after receiving from the sheriff a list of officers to be chosen at the general election, give public notice of the time and place of holding the then next general election in his hundred, and of the officers to be voted for at such election, by advertisements posted in at least five of the most public places in his hundred.

Substitute SECTION 10. If at the time for holding the general election for inspector. there shall be no inspector of any hundred, or if he shall be absent from the place of election at nine o'clock of the forenoon of the day of the election, the electors there shall proceed forthwith, without ballot, to choose from among the qualified voters of the hundred there present, an inspector of the hundred; and in choosing such inspector, the justices or justice of the peace residing in the hundred, and if no such justice shall be present, the constables or constable of the hundred who may be present, and if no such constable shall be present, then two qualified voters of the hundred, to be nominated and appointed by the electors, shall be the judge or judges.

Judges of election.

SECTION 11. The inspector shall be a judge of the general election, and the presiding officer. There shall also be two other judges of the said election, to be chosen from among the qualified voters of the hundred, as follows, that is to say; one of How chosen the said judges shall be chosen by the inspector, and the other by the person who at the election for inspector next previous, received the next highest number of votes for said office. If at the time for opening the general election, the said judges or either of them shall not have been chosen as aforesaid, a majority of the voters then present may select such judge, or judges, in such manner as at the time may be deemed most expedient for ascertaining the sense of the majority.

Penalty for refusal to

serve.

SECTION 12. If any person chosen to be a judge of an election, shall refuse to serve, he shall forfeit and pay to the State a fine

:

RESPECTING ELECTIONS.

of fifty dollars, upon conviction thereof by indictment in the court of General Sessions of the peace and jail delivery in the county where such offence is committed.

election

SECTION 13. Before opening the election the inspector and Oath of judges shall each take an oath or affirmation, according to the officers. form prescribed in section 8, such oath to be administered to the judges by the inspector, and by one of them to him; and they shall each, after taking such oath or affirmation, sign one Signed. of the written or printed forms thereof delivered to the inspector by the sheriff of the county, as provided in section 8, that is to say: the form distinguished as No. 1, shall be signed by the inspector, his name being first inserted in the blank; the form No. 2, shall be signed by one of the judges, his name being first inserted in the blank; and the form No. 3, shall be signed by the other judge, his name being first inserted in the blank. Before signing the said forms,it shall be ascertained whether the inspector, or either of the judges, conscientiously refuses to take an oath; and in case of such conscientious refusal, the form for the person so refusing shall be made correct by effacing the words "swear or" in the beginning, and "so help me God" in the end of the form: but as to the person who shall not conscientiously refuse to take an oath, the form shall be made correct by effacing the words, "or affirm," in the beginning, and the words "or so I solemnly affirm," at the end of the form. The inspector and judges shall also sign the certificate of their qualification as written or printed upon the sheet containing the aforesaid forms.

SECTION 14. Each of the said judges, after being duly qual- Clerks of ified, shall choose one clerk of the election, to whom the in- election. spector, or one of the judges, shall administer an oath or affirmation as follows :

You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that as clerk of this elec-Oath tion you will not use or assent to any falsehood, fraud or deceit, and that you will keep the polls, and perform your duties, truly, faithfully and impartially, so help you God (or so you solemnly. affirm.) If in reading the votes and keeping the tally lists. it shall become necessary to appoint one or more additional clerks, the inspector and judges may do so; administering to each clerk, so appointed, the foregoing oath or affirmation. No other certificate need be made of the oath or affirmation administered to the clerks than that contained in the form of the certificate of election prescribed in the second section.

SECTION 15. Before opening the election, the inspector and Boxes, judges shall also examine the ballot box provided with a lock

how kept.

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