Chapter 3. ELECTIONS.

§1. Scope of Chapter.—The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any general, special or primary election, unless restricted by the context: Provided, however, That such provisions shall not apply to municipal elections, or to independent school district elections, except as in this Code expressly made applicable, or in so far as made applicable by special acts incorporating or amending the charters of cities or creating independent school districts.

§2. General Elections.—General elections shall be held at the voting places in the several election precincts in the State on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in each even year.(Const. 1863, art. 3, §7, art. 7, §2; Const. 1872, art. 4, §7; 1872-3, c. 118, §1; 1882, c. 155, §1; 1885, c. 2, §1; 1891, c. 89, §1; Code 1923, c. 3, §1.)

§3. Manner of Voting.—In all elections the mode of voting shall be by ballot, but the voter shall be left free to vote by either open, sealed, or secret ballot, as he may elect. Unless the voter shall elect to vote an open ballot, he shall vote in the manner prescribed in articles four and five of this chapter.(Const. 1863, art. 3, §2; Const. 1863, c. 100, §20; 1872, art. 4, §2; 1872-3, c. 118, §21; 1882, c. 155, §10; 1891, c. 89, §17; Code 1923, c. 3, §17.)

§4. Presidential Electors; Members of the Congress.—Electors of president and vice president of the United States shall be elected at the general election to be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two and every fourth year thereafter. At the general election in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-four and at each general election in every sixth year thereafter, and at the general election in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-six, and in each sixth year thereafter, there shall be elected a member of the United States senate, and at the general election in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and in every second year thereafter, there shall be elected a member of the house of representatives in the congress of the United States for each congressional district of the State; each for the next ensuing term.(1872-3, c. 118, §3; 1875, c. 66, §3; 1882, c. 155, §3; 1891, c. 89, §3; 1917, c. 61, §3; Code 1923, c. 3, §3.)

§5. State Officers.—At the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and in every fourth year thereafter, there shall be elected a governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture, and state superintendent of free schools. At said general election in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and in every second year thereafter, there shall be elected a member of the state senate for each senatorial district, and a delegate or delegates to the legislature of the State from each county or each delegate district. At said election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and in every twelfth year thereafter, there shall be elected one judge of the supreme court of appeals, and at the election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-six, and in every twelfth year thereafter, two judges of the supreme court of appeals, and at the election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and forty, and in every twelfth year thereafter, two judges of the supreme court of appeals.(Const. 1863, art. 4, §3, art. 5, §§1, 7, art. 6, §§7, 16; Const. 1872, art. 4, §7, art. 5, §3, art. 6, §2, art. 7, §2, art. 8, §2; 1872-3, c. 118, §§1, 2; 1875, c. 66, §2; 1882, c. 155, §2; 1883, c. 1; 1891, c. 89, §2; 1903, c. 21, §2; Code 1923, c. 3, §2.)

§6. Judges of Circuit Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction; County and District Officers.—There shall be elected, at the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-six, and in every eighth year thereafter, one judge of the circuit court of every judicial circuit, except the first circuit, and of the first circuit two judges of said court; and at the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and in every fourth year thereafter, a sheriff, prosecuting attorney, surveyor of lands, and the number of assessors prescribed by law for the county, and the number of justices of the peace and constables in each magisterial district in the county to which the district is entitled by law, the number of justices and constables to be prescribed from time to time by the county court, and one school commissioner for each magisterial district; and at such election, and in every second year thereafter, a commissioner of the county court for each county; and at such election, and in every sixth year thereafter, a clerk of the county court and a clerk of the circuit court, for each county; at the general election in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-four, and in every fourth year thereafter, a county superintendent of free schools, and in each magisterial district a president of the board of education and one school commissioner; and at each general election next preceding the expiration of the term of any judge of any common pleas, criminal or other inferior court, a judge of such court; each for the term next ensuing after the date of the election.(Const. 1863, art. 6, §§4, 15, art. 7, §5; Const. 1872, art. 4, §7, art. 8, §§10,19, 30, art. 9, §§1, 2; 1872-3, c. 118, §2; 1875, c. 66, §2; 1882, c. 155, §2; 1883, c. 1; 1891, c. 89, §2; 1903, c. 21; 1919, c. 2, §§31, 41; 1921, c. 5; Code 1923, c. 3, §2, c. 45, §§31, 41.)

§7. Elective Offices Hereafter Created.—If the legislature shall hereafter create any elective office, or make any office now filled by appointment an elective office, in the State or in any subdivision thereof, the person to fill the same shall be elected at the general election last preceding the beginning of the term of such office.

§8. Vacancies Filled.—Any vacancy in any elective office may be filled at a general election.

§9. Election of President and Vice President.—The presidential electors shall meet in the office of the governor at the capitol of this State, on the day now appointed, or which shall hereafter be appointed, by the congress of the United States, and vote for the president and for the vice president of the United States in the manner prescribed by the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

Each presidential elector shall receive as compensation the sum of ten dollars a day for attending such meeting, including the time spent in traveling to and from the place of meeting, and in addition thereto the sum of ten cents for every mile necessarily traveled in going to and returning from the place of meeting, by the most direct route.(1863, c. 100; Code 1868, c. 8, §1; Code 1923, c. 8, §§1, 2.)

§10. Precincts; Designation; Number of Voters in Each.—The magisterial districts of each county shall be divided into election precincts, such precincts numbered and the boundaries thereof established, and at least one place of holding elections in each magisterial district designated, by the county court. Every magisterial district in which only one place of holding elections is designated shall constitute a precinct. There shall be but one voting place in a precinct, which shall be established as nearly as possible at the place most convenient for the voters of the precinct.

Each precinct within any urban center shall contain not less than six hundred nor more than eight hundred registered voters. Each precinct in a rural or less thickly settled area shall contain not less than two hundred nor more than seven hundred registered voters. If, at any time the number of registered voters shall exceed the maximum number in either case herein specified, it shall be the duty of the county court to, and it shall, rearrange the precincts within the political division so that the new precincts formed therefrom, or from any part thereof, shall each contain a number of registered voters within the limits above provided. If such county court fail to so act as herein directed, any qualified voter of the county may apply for a writ of mandamus to compel the performance of this duty.(Const. 1863, art. 7, §4; 1863, cc. 78,100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89; 1893, c. 25, §5; Code 1923, c. 3, §5; 1923, c. 25, §5.)

§11. Precinct Change; Precinct Record.—The county court of any county may change the boundaries of any precinct within such county, or divide any precinct into two or more precincts, or consolidate two or more precincts into one, or change any place of holding elections, whenever the public convenience may require it. If by reason of the destruction of the house or structure at which a voting place is established, or if for any other reason the election cannot be held thereat, and no provision has been made by the county court for holding the election at another place, the commissioners of election at such place may hold the election at the place nearest thereto which they can secure for the purpose; and in such case they shall make known by proclamation, to the voters assembled at such first named place of voting, the place at which the election will be held. And the county court shall, in such case, establish another place of voting for said precinct as soon thereafter as practicable: Provided, That no precinct shall be so enlarged as to contain more than the maximum number of electors specified in the preceding section: Provided further, That no order effecting such change, division, or consolidation shall be made by the county court within ninety days next preceding an election nor without giving notice thereof at least one month before such change, division or consolidation, by publication once a week for two successive weeks in two newspapers published in said county, if such there be, representing the two political parties which cast the highest and next highest number of votes in the State at the last preceding general election, and by notices posted at four public places in each precinct affected thereby.

Such court shall also, within fifteen days after the date of such order, cause a copy thereof to be published once a week for two successive weeks in two newspapers published as aforesaid.

Such court shall also, before the next succeeding election, cause the voters in the several precincts so affected by such order to be duly registered in the proper precinct or precincts.

The county court shall keep in a well-bound book, marked “election precinct record,” a complete record of all their proceedings in this and the next preceding section and of every order made creating a precinct or precincts or establishing a place of voting therein. Said “election precinct record” shall be kept by the county court clerk in his office, and shall, at all reasonable hours, when not actually in use by the county court, be open to inspection by any citizen of the county.(1891, c. 89, §4; 1893, c. 25, §5; 1895, c. 3, §6; Code 1923, c. 3, §6.)

§1. Persons Entitled to Vote.—The citizens of the State shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the precincts of the counties in which they respectively reside. But no person who is a minor, or of unsound mind, or a pauper, or who is under conviction of treason, felony or bribery in an election, or who has not been a resident of the State for one year, and of the county in which he offers to vote for sixty days next preceding such election, and who is not, at the time of the election, an actual and bona fide resident of the election precinct in which he offers to vote, or who has not been registered as a voter for such election as required by law, shall be permitted to vote at such election, while such disability continues; and no person in the military, marine or naval service of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State, by reason of his being stationed herein; nor shall any person in the employment of any incorporated company, or of this State, be deemed a resident of any county, or of any election precinct therein, by reason of being employed in such county or election precinct.[Const. 1863, art. 3, §1; Const. 1872, art. 4, §1; 1893, c. 25, §16; 1920, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 2, §1; Code 1923, c. 3, §§16, 98a(11).]

§2. Registration Books and Blanks.—The county court shall cause to be prepared suitable books and blanks for the registration of voters and in which to set out the facts required by this article, and the clerk of such county court shall distribute such books and blanks to the registrars of the respective voting precincts. The books shall be so arranged as to admit of the alphabetical classification of the names of the voters and ruled in parallel columns, in which the registrars shall enter, first, the number; second, the name in full of the person registered; third, sex and color; fourth, political affiliation; fifth, age; sixth, place of birth; seventh, time of residence in precinct, county and State; eighth, if naturalized, the date of the papers and the court by which issued; ninth, date of registration; tenth, place of residence.[1908, c. 19, §2; 1911, c. 45, §2; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(2); 1921, c. 54, §98a(2); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(2).]

§3. Registrars.—The county court of each county in this State shall hold a regular or special session at the courthouse of the county on the first Monday in March next before the election in a year in which a president of the United States is to be elected, and, in all other years in which a general election is held, on the first Monday in May next before such election, and shall then appoint for each voting precinct in the county two competent persons as registrars, one each from the political parties which, at the last preceding is election, cast the highest and next highest number of votes in the county in which the election is to be held. But if, at any time during such session, the county executive committee of either political party from which registrars are to be selected, through its chairman or secretary, shall present to the court, or shall, before any such appointments are made, at any time file in the office of the clerk of the county court a writing signed by the chairman of such committee, on behalf of the committee, requesting the appointment of a qualified voter of their political party in any election precinct, the court shall appoint the person named in such writing as such registrar. Every writing so presented shall be filed and preserved for one year by the clerk of such court in his office. No person shall be eligible to appointment as registrar, or in any way act as such, who has been convicted of a felony; or who holds any elective or appointive office, or is an employee, under the laws of this State, or of the United States; or who is not a qualified voter in the precinct for which appointed; or who cannot read or write the English language; or who is a candidate to be voted for at such election: Provided, That if in any precinct there should not be a competent person, in the opinion of the chairman of the executive committee, or the county court, the chairman of such committee may recommend, and the court shall appoint, some competent voter of such county from some other precinct therein to act as such registrar. If any such registrar shall fail or refuse to serve, the vacancy shall be filled either by the county court or by the clerk thereof, in vacation, in the manner provided for the appointment of registrars, and such clerk shall forthwith notify such person of his appointment as registrar, and record such appointment in the minute book of the county court. If no appointment be made to fill such vacancy, or if either of such registrars fail or refuse to act, it shall be lawful for the other registrar to register the voters in such precinct, and discharge his duties hereunder. Each registrar, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, shall take an oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of West Virginia, and perform the duties of the office to the best of his ability, and that he is a regular member of the party for which appointed. Such oath shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the county court.[1908, c. 19, §1; 1911, c. 45, §1; 1915, c. 28, §98a(1); 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(1); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(1).]

§4. Duties of Registrars.—The clerk of the county court shall, within five days after the appointment of registrars as aforesaid, notify each of the registrars so appointed of his appointment and give the name of the other registrar for the precinct, which notice may be sent by registered mail. A copy of such notice shall also be sent to the chairman of the county executive committee of each political party from which the registrars were selected. The clerk shall likewise, on or before the second Monday in March next before the election in the year in which a president of the United States is to be elected, and, in all other years, on the third Monday in May next before the election, deliver, or cause to be delivered, to such registrars, in person, if they shall call at the office of the county clerk for the same, or at the residence or usual place of abode of the registrars, if they shall not so call in person, copies of the books and blanks prepared as aforesaid for the registration of voters of the respective precincts. Upon the receipt of such books and blanks, the registrars shall meet together on the third Monday in said month of March next before the election in the year in which a president of the United States is to be elected, and, in all other years, on the first Monday in June next before the election, and proceed to register the names of all the qualified voters in their respective precincts, and shall endeavor to ascertain and register each and every qualified voter entitled to vote within the precinct, and for this purpose shall visit the usual place of abode of each and every voter. If either one of the registrars refuses or fails to register the voters of his precinct, as herein required, then the other registrar may, in the absence of such registrar so refusing, or failing, proceed to make or complete such registration; and it shall be the duty of such registrar, so refusing, or failing, to copy the names of the persons so registered by the other registrar, in his registration book, and if he fails to do so, then it shall be the duty of the county court to have the same done at its sittings for the purpose of completing and revising the registration list. From the action of the county court in registering or refusing to register any person, an appeal may be taken to the circuit court, and from the circuit court to the supreme court of appeals of this State. And in registering each voter, such registrar shall give the Christian name, and his surname, and shall designate the place of his residence, his age and color, and whether he is a native or foreign born, and such other information as is provided for in the next following section, which information shall be given in the proper column provided in the books furnished by the clerk of the county court, as hereinbefore provided: Provided, however, That when for any purpose a special election is held in any county or district thereof, at any time, it shall not be necessary for the registrars to list or register any of the voters, and the voters shall be listed and registered by the county court as provided in section ten of this article.[1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45, §3; 1913, c. 26; 1915, c. 28; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(3); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(3).]

§5. Examination of Applicant for Registration; Who Registered.—Before the registrars shall register the name of any person as a qualified voter, they must be satisfied of his qualifications, or have him make and subscribe the affidavit as hereinafter provided, showing his right to register; and for such purpose they are hereby given authority to administer oaths, and they may require the person desiring to register to answer under oath the following questions:

(a) Are you a citizen of the United States?

(b) Are you a native or naturalized citizen? If the person offering to be registered claims to be a naturalized citizen of the United States he shall produce for the inspection of the officer of registration a certificate or other evidence of naturalization, and also state, under oath, or affirmation, that he is the identical person named therein; but the production of the certificate shall not be required if the person offering to be registered states, under oath, when and where he was naturalized, that he had a certificate of naturalization, and that, against his will, the same is lost, destroyed, or beyond his power to produce; or if he states under oath that, by reason of the naturalization of his parents, or one of them, he has become a citizen of the United States, and where and when his parent or parents were naturalized.

(c) Will you have resided in this State for one year immediately preceding the next election? If so, where have you resided? Name two persons who know of your place or places of residence.

(d) Have you been absent from the State within a year immediately preceding the next election? (If “ Yes, ” when?)

(e) When you left this State did you leave for a temporary purpose with the intention of returning, or for the purpose of remaining away?

(f) Did you, while absent, look upon or regard this State as your home?

(g) Did you, while absent, vote in any other state?

(h) Will you have resided in this county for sixty days prior to the next election?

(i) When did you last come to this county?

(j) Are you an actual resident of this precinct?

(k) Are you twenty-one years of age or will you be such at the date of the next election, to the best of your knowledge and belief?

(1) What is your occupation and post-office address?

(m) With and to what party do you affiliate and belong?

No other question shall be asked the applicant for registration, and no one except the registrars shall ask the applicant any question affecting his qualifications to vote, at the time such person makes application to the registrars for registration.

Every person shall be registered who shall be entitled to vote at the first election next after the registration, by reason of arriving at twenty-one years of age before the date of such election, or by that date having resided for a sufficient length of time in the State and county, provided he is otherwise qualified.[1908, c. 19, §3; 1911, c. 45, §4; 1915, c. 28, §98a(4); 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(4); 1921, c. 54, §98a(4); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(4).]

§6. Affidavit Showing Right to Registration; Procedure Where Marked “Challenged”.—If the registrars, after examination, are not satisfied of the right of any applicant to be registered, they shall require of such applicant an affidavit in writing upon the blank form to be furnished by them, which shall be duly subscribed and sworn to by the applicant before either of the registrars, answering fully the questions provided to be asked, and giving the information required, in section five of this article. If the affidavit shows that the applicant is entitled to vote in the precinct, he shall be registered as a voter by the registrars. The registrars, having registered any voter upon affidavit, may mark the affidavit “challenged” and return the same with their lists of voters to the clerk of the county court, and the clerk shall preserve the affidavit in his office for one year, after which he shall destroy the same, unless the prosecuting attorney of the county shall notify the clerk to longer preserve the affidavit. Either registrar, or any citizen or voter in the county, may appear before the county court and have the right to registration of any voter registered upon affidavit, which affidavit is marked “challenged,” determined by the county court.[1911, c. 45, §5; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess. c. 6, §98a(5); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(5).]

§7. Correction of Registration by Registrars; Return of Lists; Furnishing Copy of List.—The registrars, after having completed the registration, shall, for the purpose of amending, correcting and completing such registration, sit together at some convenient place within the voting precinct for two days, commencing on the second Monday in April next before the election in the year in which a president of the United States is to be elected, and, in all other years, on the first Monday in July next before the election, from nine o’clock a. m. to one o’clock p. m., and from two o’clock p. m., to nine o’clock p. m. They shall give notice of the time and place of their sittings for such registration and correction by posting written or printed notices of the time and place of such sittings for ten days prior thereto, at not less than five of the most conspicuous places in the election precinct, one of which shall be at the place of voting in such precinct. At the time of such sittings the books of registration shall be open for public inspection; and the registrars, in the manner hereinbefore provided, shall register all qualified voters who have not theretofore been so registered by them, and complete and finish the registration of the voters within their precinct, and make out two alphabetical lists of the registered voters within such precinct entitled to vote at the ensuing election as registered by them, giving the information as to each voter hereinbefore required, and shall sign and return the same to the clerk of the county court on or before the third Monday in said month of April next before the election in the year in which a president of the United States is to be elected, and, in all other years, on or before the second Monday in the month of July next before the election, and the same shall be open for the inspection of the public when filed in the clerk’s office, until five days prior to the election.

Any person desiring a copy of the list of registered voters made by such registrars, as returned by them to the county court, may request the same at least five days before the date on which such lists are to be returned to the clerk of the county court, and the registrars shall make and deliver a copy of said list of registered voters to the person requesting the same, upon the payment to them of one cent a name for any copy so furnished.[1908, c. 19, §5; 1911, c. 45, §6; 1915, c. 28, §98a(6); 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(6); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(6).]

§8. Transfer of Registration From One Precinct to Another.—Any voter who shall have been registered in any precinct as in this article provided, and who shall have removed from such precinct to another precinct in the same county, may obtain from the registrars of the precinct in which he is registered, or from the clerk of the county court, in case the registration books have been filed with the clerk, a certificate of transfer and present the same to the election commissioners of the precinct wherein he resides, and if the commissioners of election in such precinct shall be satisfied that such voter is a legal resident in the precinct wherein he offers to vote, they shall register such voter and allow him to vote. When such certificate is issued, the name of the voter shall be stricken by the registrar, or the clerk of the county court, from the books from which such certificate is issued. Such certificate shall be preserved by the commissioners and returned with the election returns to the clerk of the county court. But no certificate shall be issued by any registrar or clerk later than the Saturday next preceding any primary or other election.[1908, c. 19, §10; 1911, c. 45, §9; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(9); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(9).]

§9. Compensation of Registrars.—Each registrar shall receive as compensation for his services under this article the sum of ten cents for each name registered, to be allowed by the county court and paid out of the county treasury.[1908, c. 19, §12; 1911, c. 45, §13; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(13); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(13).]

§10. Correction of Registration by County Court; Appeals; Further Work by Registrars; Special Elections.—It shall be the duty of the county court of each county to convene in regular or special session on the third Tuesday next preceding any and every election to be held in that county, including primary, special and general elections, except those elections in which no registration is required, for the purpose of hearing any and all matters as to the registration of voters, at which session of the county court they shall examine the registration lists, filed in the clerk’s office, of the voters in the county, or, in case of a special election, throughout the county, district or districts wherein such special election is to be held, and, if they are satisfied that persons have been registered who are not entitled to vote, they shall cause their names to be stricken from the list of voters, and if they shall find that persons’ names have been omitted by the registrars who should be registered, either because the same have been omitted or by reason of such persons having become entitled to vote since such registration was made, the court shall cause their names to be registered as qualified voters. An affidavit taken before either one of the registrars, while making such registration, as provided in this article, shall be prima facie evidence before the county court that such applicant is entitled to registration in the voting precinct in which he applies for registration, and also prima facie evidence on appeal to the circuit court: Provided, That such affidavit shows that the applicant is entitled to registration.

It shall be the duty of the county court, when so sitting preceding any such special election as hereinbefore provided, to cause to be registered and listed the voters in the county or district in which such special election is about to be held, and in doing so the county court shall adopt the registration by registrars for the next preceding election prior thereto, and, if the county court is satisfied that persons have been registered who are not entitled to vote at such special election, they shall cause their names to be stricken from the list of voters; and if they find that the name of any person, who should be registered then, has been omitted by the registrars either because the name of such person has been omitted or by reason of such person having become entitled to vote since the registration for the then next preceding election was made, the court shall cause such person to be registered as a qualified voter; the county court shall accordingly correct the list so returned by the registrars for such county or district wherein and wherefor such special election is to be so held, and thereto certify by order entered of record, and thereby such county court shall be held to have duly registered and listed the voters in such county or district wherein such special election is to be held.

In no case shall the court cause the name of any voter to be stricken from the registration list, until he shall have had five days’ notice of the application to strike his name from such registration list and the right to rebut any evidence produced against him; and any voter shall have his name restored to such list if improperly stricken therefrom. From the decision of the county court an appeal may be taken by the voter, or by either of the registrars, or any voter of such county, to the circuit court of the county, and from the decision of the circuit court an appeal may likewise be taken to the supreme court of appeals. In no case shall the clerk enter any name on the list of registered voters, or strike any name therefrom, except by order of the county court entered of record.

The county court of each county shall, at least thirty days before any general election, transmit or cause to be transmitted to the registrars of such county, the books of registration of their respective precincts, whereupon such registrars, for the purpose of further amending, correcting and completing the registration of voters of their precincts, shall sit together, at some convenient place within the voting precinct, two days, beginning on the fourth Monday next prior to such election, from nine o’clock a. m. to one o’clock p. m. and from two o’clock p. m. to nine o’clock p. m., and shall give notice of the time and place of their sitting for such registration and correction by posting written or printed notices of the time and place of such sitting for five days prior thereto, at not less than five of the most conspicuous places in such voting precinct, one of which shall be at the place of voting in such precinct. And at the time of such sitting the books of registration shall be opened for public inspection, and such registrars, in the manner hereinbefore provided, shall register all qualified voters who have not heretofore been so registered by them, and complete and finish the registration of the voters within their precincts on said day, and make out two alphabetical lists of the registered voters within such precincts entitled to vote at the ensuing election as registered by them, giving the information as to each voter as hereinbefore required, and shall sign and return the same to the clerk of the county court within three days from the time of such sitting. For their services, each of such registrars shall, in addition to the compensation hereinbefore provided, receive the sum of two dollars per day.

And it shall be the further duty of the county court of each county to again convene in regular or special session on the Tuesday next preceding any general, special or primary election to be held in the county, or in any magisterial district in the county, for the purpose of adding to the list of voters, in the county or district, the names of any persons who may appear in person before such court and make application for registration, and who have not been registered by the registrars and who are entitled to be registered. But in no event shall such session of the court continue longer than two days; and no voter shall be entitled to register, except upon a certificate of transfer, after the adjournment of such session of court.[1908, c. 19, §7; 1911, c. 45, §7; 1913, c. 26, §7; 1915, c. 28, §98a(7); 1916,3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(7); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(7).]

§11. Furnishing Registration Lists to Election Commissioners; Special Elections.—The clerk of the county court shall furnish one of such registration books, filed with him by the registrars, to the election commissioners of the respective voting precincts, with the ballot boxes and other election supplies to be used by them in the conduct of the election in such voting precincts: Provided, That in case of special elections in the county or any district of the county, in lieu of such registration book, the clerk of the county court shall furnish a certified list of the voters of the respective precincts, as listed and registered by the county court for such special election, to the election commissioners of the respective voting precincts, with the ballot boxes and other election supplies to be used by them in the conduct of the election in such voting precincts; for which services in case of a special election the county clerk shall receive two cents a name for each copy so furnished by him, to be allowed by the county court payable out of the treasury of the county court or district, wherein is held such special election.[1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45; 1913, c. 26; 1916, c. 6; Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(10).]

§12. Sessions of Courts in Registration Cases.—It shall be the duty of the circuit court and the supreme court of appeals to hold such sessions as may be necessary to determine any cases involving the registration of voters in this State, but, in any case where a voter has been registered by order of the county court or by registrars, he shall be entitled to vote at any election held, until such order of the county court or registrars is reversed.[1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45, §8; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a (8); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(8).]

§1. Political Party Defined.—Any affiliation of voters representing any principle or organization which, at the last preceding general election, polled for its candidate for governor a least one per cent of the total number of vote cast for all candidates for that office in State, shall be a political party, within the meaning and for the purpose of this chapter.[1915 c. 26, §1; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §1; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(1).]

§2. Party Committees in Office.—The members of all state, congressional, senatorial, judicial, and county executive committees for political parties in office at the time this article becomes effective, and the various officers of such committees, shall hold their several offices and discharge the duties thereof until their successors are chosen and installed in accordance with the provisions of this article.[1915, c. 26, §3; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78, §3; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(3); 1923, c. 23.]

§3. Executive Committees of Political Parties.—At the May primary in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two and in every fourth year thereafter, the voters of each political party, in each senatorial district, shall elect two male and two female members of the state executive committee of the party, not more than two of whom shall be residents of the same county: Provided, however, That the committee so elected shall appoint three additional members of such committee from the State at large; and at the same time there shall be elected by such voters, in each county, one male and one female member of the party congressional and senatorial district, and judicial circuit, executive committees of the respective congressional and senatorial districts and judicial circuit, in which such county is located, and in each magisterial district one male and one female member of the party county executive committee; and, in any county containing a city of ten thousand or more in population there shall be elected from each ward of such city one male and one female member of such party county executive committee in addition to the members chosen from the magisterial district or districts in which such city is located. All members of executive committees selected for each political division, as herein provided, shall reside within the county or district, senatorial or magisterial, or ward, from which chosen.

The term of office of all members of executive he committees so elected shall begin on the first day of June, following said May primary, and shall continue for four years thereafter and until their successors are elected and qualified. Vacancies in the state executive committee shall be filled by the members of the committee for the unexpired term. Vacancies in the congressional, judicial, senatorial and county executive committees shall be filled by the executive committee of the county in which such vacancy exists, and shall be for the unexpired term.

As soon as possible after the first day of June, following the election of the new executive committees, as herein provided, they shall convene within their respective political divisions, on the call of the chairman of corresponding outgoing executive committees, and proceed to select a chairman, a treasurer, and a secretary, and such other officers as they may desire, each of which officers shall for their respective committees perform the duties that usually appertain to such offices.[1915, c. 26, §3; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78, §3; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(1), (3); 1923, c. 23.]

§4. Powers of State Executive Committee; Central or Subcommittees.—The state executive committee of each party may make such rules for the government of such party, not inconsistent with law, as may be deemed expedient; and it may also revoke, alter, or amend, in any manner not inconsistent with law, any present or future rules of such party; and all acts of such state or other committees may be reviewable by the courts.

Any party executive committee may create and appoint subcommittees, campaign, or central committees, and delegate to them such powers and authority in the executive and administrative work of the committee as they shall deem advisable; but no power or authority shall be delegated to such subcommittee, campaign committee, or central committee, in contravention of any law of the State.

The state executive committee shall adopt a party emblem or device for the party to distinguish and identify the party ticket, and shall certify the same to the ballot commissioners, and it shall be printed on the party ticket. The devices or emblems of no two parties shall be similar or of such a nature as to mislead or confuse the voter. If two or more parties seek the same device, or similar devices, preference shall be given to the party polling the largest number of votes for the candidate for governor at the last election for such office.[1907, c. 71, §34; 1908, c. 21; 1915, c. 26, §3; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §27; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(27), 34.]

§5. Members of National Party Committee.—The members of the national party executive committee of any political party, to which the State is entitled under the national organization and the rules and regulations of the national committee of the party, shall be elected by the state executive committee of such party, unless the rules of the national party otherwise provide, in which latter event they shall be selected in all respects as provided for the selection thereof by the rules and regulations of the national organization of the political party and the resolutions of the delegated representatives of the political party passed and adopted by any national convention of such political party. A vacancy in the membership of a national party executive committee shall be filled by the state committee of the party unless the rules of the national party otherwise provide.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §27; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(27).]

§6. Other Party or Group Committees.—The members of any political party which, at the last preceding general election, polled, for its candidate for governor, fewer, than ten per cent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for that office in the State, and groups of citizens, not constituting a political party, which nominate candidates for offices to be voted for at any election, may select members of committees and officers thereof, for such political parties and such groups of citizens, in such manner as they may devise and adopt.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §3; 1919, c. 78, §3; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a (3); 1923, c. 23.]

§1. May and August Primaries.—Primary elections shall be held at the voting place in each of the voting precincts in the State for the purposes set forth in this article, as follows:

On the second Tuesday in May, in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and in each fourth year thereafter, to be known as the May primary;

On the first Tuesday in August, in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-four, and in each fourth year thereafter, to be known as the August primary;

The time of holding a primary election and a statement describing the object thereof shall be published in two newspapers, if such there be, of the two opposite political parties which on polled the highest and the next highest number of votes for governor at the preceding general election, in each county in the State, and of general circulation therein, once a week for two successive weeks preceding the date of such primary election. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to prepare and publish such notice and statement, and the expense of such publication shall be paid out of the general fund of each county;

At such elections the polls shall be opened and closed at the hours provided for opening and closing the polls in a general election.[1915, c. 26, §2; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §2; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(2).]

§2. Persons Entitled to Vote.—At any primary election, any person possessing the qualifications of a voter, under sections one and two, article two of this chapter, who shall have been registered as a voter of a particular political party, and whose political affiliations are disclosed by the list of registered voters of the precinct; and also any person, registered in the voting precinct as a voter and as a member of a political party, who shall be entitled to vote at the general election next to be held after the date of the primary election, by reason of arriving at the age of twenty-one years at and before the date of such general election, or by that time having resided within the State for one year and within the county in which the person offers to vote for a period of sixty days next preceding the date of the general election, shall be entitled to vote the primary party ballot of the political party to which he belongs.

Any person, registered as a voter in any election precinct in the county, who presents a certificate of transfer entitling him to vote in another election precinct, which certificate discloses the political party to which the voter belongs, shall be entitled to vote at the primary election in the election precinct to which the voter is by such certificate transferred. No person shall be permitted to vote at any primary election whose political affiliations are not disclosed by the registration list of voters or a transfer certificate.[1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45; 1915, c. 28; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(11); 1921, c. 54, §98a(11); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(11).]

§3. Delegates to National Convention; Election.—At each May primary there shall be elected by the voters of each political party of the State the number of persons to which the party is entitled as delegates and alternate delegates at large, and by the voters of each political party in each congressional district in the State the number of delegates and alternate delegates to which the district is entitled, in the national convention of the party to be next held after the date of such primary. The persons receiving the highest number of votes in the State as delegates at large, to the number to which the State is entitled, shall be elected delegates, and the persons receiving the highest number of votes in the State as alternate delegates at large, to the number to which the State is entitled, shall be elected alternate delegates. The persons receiving the highest number of votes as delegates in any congressional district, to the number to which the district is entitled, shall be elected delegates, and the persons receiving the highest number of votes as alternate delegates in any congressional district, to the number to which the district is entitled, shall be elected alternate delegates.[1915, c. 26, §30; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §§1, 30; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(1), 26a(30).]

§4. Presidential Preference.—In presidential election years, in addition to the candidates hereinbefore required to be nominated at the general primary election, the qualified voters of each political party shall have the opportunity of voting for their choice among those aspiring to be the candidates of their respective parties for president of the United States. The names of such aspirants shall be printed on the official election ballot of their respective parties, as provided in section twelve of this article, upon the filing with the secretary of state the announcement as provided in section seven of this article, and the ballot shall be marked and the vote shall be counted, canvassed and returned under the same conditions as to names, certificates and other matters, as the names and certificates of the party aspirants for the party nomination for the office of governor.

Any person or persons who shall become a candidate for delegate or alternate to the national convention as herein provided shall file with his announcement, or include therein, a statement as to whether or not he will support the popular choice of such primary.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §31; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(31).]

§5. Nomination of Candidates for Offices.—At each primary election, the candidate or candidates of each political party for all offices to be filled at the ensuing general election by the voters of the entire State, of each congressional district, of each state senatorial district, of each county and of each magisterial district, in the State, shall be nominated by the voters of the different political parties, except that no candidate for judge of the supreme court of appeals or judge of any circuit or inferior court or presidential elector shall be nominated at a primary election. The person receiving the highest number of votes of each political party in all cases wherein one person only is to be elected, and the persons receiving the highest number of votes, to the number to be elected, in all cases in which two or more persons are to be elected to the same office, in and throughout the political division in which the person is a candidate, and voted for as such, shall be nominated as the party candidate, or candidates, for the office, or offices, for which they are voted for at the primary election.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §1; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(1).]

§6. Announcement of Candidacies.—Any person who is eligible to hold an office (including that of member of a state or county executive committee) may file with the secretary of state, if it be an office to be filled by the voters of more than one county, or with the clerk of the circuit court, if it be for an office to be filled by the voters of a county or a subdivision less than a county, a certificate declaring himself a candidate for the nomination for such office, which certificate shall be in form or effect as follows:

Such announcement shall be signed and acknowledged by the candidate before some officer qualified to administer oaths, who shall certify the same: Provided, That no person may be a candidate for nomination for office in any political party, unless it be openly known that such person is a bona fide member of such party.

Such certificate shall be filed at least thirty days before the primary election day.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78, §8; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(8).]

§7. Ballot Commissioners.—The ballot commissioners for conducting the general election shall perform the duties of ballot commissioners for primary elections.

§8. Certification and Posting of Candidacies.—At least thirty days before the day fixed for the primary election, the secretary of state shall arrange the names of all the candidates who have filed announcements with him, as provided in this article, and who are entitled to have their names printed on any political party ballot, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, and shall forthwith certify the same under his name and the lesser seal of the State, and file the same in his office, and make and transmit a duplicate thereof by registered mail to the clerk of the circuit court of each county, in the State, in which such candidate or candidates is or are to be voted for. He shall also post a duplicate of such list or lists in a conspicuous place in his office, and keep the same posted until after the primary election. In case of emergency, the secretary of state may transmit such duplicate list or lists by telegraph. The certificates to be made by the secretary of state as herein provided shall give the name and residence of each candidate, the office for which he is a candidate, the name of the political party of which he is a candidate, and upon what ballot his name is to be printed.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §9; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(9).]

§9. Publication and Printing of Ballots.—At least twenty-five days before the holding of any primary election, the ballot commissioners of each county shall prepare from the list and certificate or certificates of announcements furnished by the secretary of state, and the certificates of announcements filed with the circuit clerk, as provided in this article, a sample official primary ballot for each party, placing thereon the names of all candidates of such party to be voted for at such primary election, and publish the same in two issues of a newspaper of general circulation published in such county and representing such party, if one there, be; if not, then in some other newspaper published in such county, in two issues of such paper.

The ballot commissioners shall cause official ballots, to at least one and one-half times the number of registered voters in each election precinct of each political party, to be printed and delivered to them for holding the primary election.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §11; 1919, c. 78, §11; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(11).]

§10. Announcements Not Certified; Vacancies on Ticket Filled.—If, by satisfactory evidence, it shall appear to the primary ballot commissioners of any county that announcements have been made in conformity with the provisions of this chapter and no certificate thereof has been received by them, they shall include such persons among the names of candidates to be printed upon the ballots, as in this article provided.

If, after the time is closed for announcing as a candidate for any office, and not later than the fifth day preceding the date of the primary election, any person who has filed an announcement of candidacy shall withdraw and decline to stand as a candidate for the office, or shall die, the executive committee of the party, for the political division within which such candidate was to be voted for, may, in its discretion, fill the vacancy caused by such withdrawal or death, by naming another candidate for such office.

The ballot commissioners, upon receiving a certificate signed by the chairman of the executive committee of the political party for the political division, shall print the name of such candidate upon the official ballot, if the ballots to be used at the primary election have not theretofore been printed. If the ballots have been printed before receipt of such certificate, the ballot commissioners shall cause the name of the candidate designated by the chairman of the executive party committee to be printed on “stickers” and supplied to the election officials appointed to hold the primary election at the different precincts in the county.[1891, c. 89, §§27, 29; 1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(20), 27, 29.]

§11. Primary and Sample Ballots; Color of Paper.—There shall be a separate ballot printed on different colored paper, for each political party participating in the primary election, and the ballot of no two parties shall be of the same color or tint. The secretary of state shall select and determine the color of the paper of the ballot of each of the parties, and shall notify the clerk of the circuit court of each county thereof, at the time he certifies the names of the candidates of the various parties to said clerk, as herein provided.

The same color of paper selected and designated by the secretary of state for any party shall also be used for sample ballots of such party; but there shall be printed across the face of such sample ballot in large letters the words “sample ballot,” and no sample ballot shall be voted or counted.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78, §10; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(10).]

§12. Form and Contents of Ballots.—The official primary ballot shall contain, at the left of each column of names of candidates, a perpendicular column, and be so printed as to leave a square at the left of each name on the ballot.

On such primary ballot, the names of candidates for president of the United States for United States senator, for representatives in congress, and for delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention of the party, shall be placed in the first column of candidates; the names of candidates for all the state offices, except judges of the supreme court of appeals and all other offices to be filled by the voters of a political division greater than a county, including the state executive committee (except judges of the circuit courts), in the second column; the names of all candidates for county offices, including members of the house of delegates, and congressional, judicial and senatorial executive committees (except judges of the circuit court, in cases where a single county constitutes a judicial circuit, and judges of inferior courts), in the third column; and the names of all candidates for office in the magisterial districts, including members of the county executive committee, in the fourth column.

The face of every primary election ballot shall conform as nearly as practicable to the form given below, and in all respects the general form of the ballot used, both front and back, shall be that of the ballot used at the general election.

The secretary of state, or the circuit court clerk, as the case may be, shall arrange the names of the candidates to be printed on the ballot in alphabetical order, according to the surname, under the title of the respective offices upon the ballot.

In printing each set of ballots the positions of the names of the candidates shall be changed in each office division as many times as there are candidates in that office division. As nearly as possible an equal number of ballots shall be printed after each change. In making the change of position, the printer shall take the line of type containing the first name in the office division concerned and place it at the bottom of the list of names in that division and shove up the column so that the name that before was second shall be first, after the change. After the ballots are printed they shall be kept in separate piles, one pile for each change of position, and shall then be gathered by taking one from each pile. Sample ballots shall be in the same form as the official ballot, but the order of the names thereon need not be alternated.

All ballots used in primary elections shall be printed on paper conforming as nearly as practicable in weight, texture and color, to the samples furnished by the secretary of state, and the paper shall be sufficiently thick so that the printing cannot be discernible from the back. On the back of the ballot shall be printed in black ink, and in plain, legible, black face pica type, the name of the political party as contained in the heading, followed by the word “ballot.” Under this designation shall be printed two blank lines followed by the words “poll clerks.”[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §12; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(12).]

§13. Procuring Ballots and Other Primary Supplies.—It shall be the duty of the board of ballot commissioners to appoint one of the commissioners of election at each precinct of the county to attend at the offices of the clerks of the circuit and county courts at least three days before each primary election, to receive the ballots, ballot boxes, poll books and all other supplies and material for conducting the election at his precinct; and the said clerks shall deliver to such commissioner ballots for each party to the number of one and one-fifth times the number of registered voters of such party in the election precinct, the ballot boxes, election booths, and other supplies, required to be furnished by this chapter for conducting the election at such precinct, and take from him receipts for same, which shall be filed in their respective offices. It shall be the duty of such commissioner to attend at such clerk’s offices and to receive such ballots and all other election supplies to be used in conducting the election at his precinct, and to deliver the same, with the seal of all sealed packages unbroken, at his election precinct, in time to open the election. Such commissioner shall receive the per diem and mileage prescribed by law for this service.

At the same time there shall be delivered to the election commissioner designated by the ballot commissioners one copy of the list of registered voters for the election precinct and the proper poll books bearing on the front page the following heading: “Names of Persons Voting for Candidates at Precinct No............... in the District of........................, in the County of................................, on this the...................day of......................., 19...., of the................party.” Such poll books shall have columns headed respectively: “Number of Voters,” “Name of Voter,” “Residence of Voter,” “Party Affiliation.” Forms for oaths of commissioners of election and poll clerks shall be written or printed on the poll books, and two copies of such poll books shall be supplied at each voting precinct for each political party appearing on the primary ballot.

In case any commissioner of election so appointed shall fail to appear at the offices of the clerks of such county and circuit courts, by the close of the second day prior to any election, as required by this section, the board of ballot commissioners, or the chairman thereof, shall forthwith dispatch a special messenger to the precinct with the ballots, poll books, ballot boxes, registration lists and other supplies for such precinct. Such messenger shall be allowed two dollars for his time, and five cents a mile for the distance necessary to be traveled by him, and shall promptly report to the clerk of the circuit court and file with such clerk the receipt of the person to whom he delivered such ballots and other supplies, and his affidavit, stating when and to whom he delivered them.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §15; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(6), (15), 98a(10).]

§14. Loss or Destruction of Primary Ballots or Supplies.—If, by any accident or casualty, the ballots, ballot boxes, poll books or any of the other supplies delivered to a commissioner of election or to any messenger, shall be lost or destroyed, it shall be the duty of such commissioner or messenger to report the loss forthwith to the board of ballot commissioners, or the clerk of the court from whom the same were obtained, and make affidavit of the circumstances of the loss; whereupon such board or clerk shall at once send a new supply by the commissioner or by messenger.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §16; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(16).]

§15. Commissioners and Clerks for Primary.—The county court of every county shall hold a regular or special session at the courthouse of the county on the second Tuesday of the month preceding that in which any primary election is to be held, and shall appoint for each precinct in the county three commissioners of election and two poll clerks, who shall be legal voters in the magisterial district in which such precinct is located. Such commissioners and poll clerks shall be persons of good standing and character and not addicted to drunkenness. They shall be selected from the two political parties which, at the last preceding general election, cast the highest and next highest number of votes in the county in which the election is to be held, and not more than two of such commissioners or one clerk shall belong to the same political party: Provided, however, That for every precinct in which there are four hundred or more registered voters, there shall be two boards of election officers, each board consisting of three election commissioners and two poll clerks, one of which boards shall be designated the “receiving board” and the other the “counting board,” and not more than two commissioners and one poll clerk of each board shall be appointed from the same political party. If, at any time prior to or during such session, the county executive committee of either political party from which such commissioners of election and poll clerks are to be selected or appointed, as herein provided, shall present to such court a writing signed by them, or by the chairman or secretary of such committee on their behalf, requesting the appointment of a qualified voter of their political party, for commissioner and/or poll clerk, who is otherwise qualified to act as such under the provisions of this chapter, it shall be the duty of the county court to appoint the person so named in such writing as such commissioner and/or poll clerk. No person shall be eligible to appointment as commissioner or poll clerk, or in any way to act as such, who has anything of value bet or wagered on the result of such primary election, or has received a promise, agreement or understanding that he is to receive appointment as deputy by any candidate to be voted for at such primary election, or has any agreement, understanding or arrangement that he shall receive any sum of money or any portion of the salary, fees or emoluments of any office, for which any candidate is to be voted for at such primary election, should such candidate be nominated at such primary election and elected to such office at the ensuing general election, or who is a candidate to be voted for at such primary election.

If any of the commissioners of election and poll clerks of the receiving board so selected shall fail to appear at the hour appointed for the opening of the polls, the remainder of the commissioners of such board may select a commissioner and poll clerk, if necessary, who shall be of the same political party as the absent commissioner or poll clerk; but if the qualified voters of the party of such absent commissioner or poll clerk, present at the opening of the polls, shall nominate a voter, having the qualifications to act under the provisions of this section, for commissioner or poll clerk, or both if necessary, such nominee or nominees shall be appointed. If none of the commissioners of election or poll clerks of such board appear at the hour appointed for opening the polls, the qualified voters present, being at least ten in number, shall elect three commissioners of election and two poll clerks for such board to act in their stead, by a viva voce vote; not more than two of such commissioners and one poll clerk for such board shall belong to or be elected by the voters of the same political party. A vacancy or vacancies on the counting board shall be filled in the manner herein provided for filling a vacancy or vacancies on the receiving board, except that such vacancy or vacancies shall be determined and filled as of the hour appointed in this chapter for the counting board to attend at the polls. A list of all commissioners and poll clerks appointed by the county court, as herein provided, shall be published in two newspapers of general circulation in the county, of opposite politics, if such there be, for at least two weeks prior to such primary election.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §4; 1917, c. 37; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(4) (33) (34); 1923, c. 25, §26a(33).]

§16. Oaths of Primary Commissioners and Clerks.—Each commissioner and clerk of the primary election, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, shall take and subscribe the following oaths, respectively:

Said oaths may be taken before any person authorized to administer oaths, but if no other person be present at any place of holding any primary election, they may be taken before, and administered by, one of the commissioners of such election so appointed, who in turn may take the same before another of such commissioners. Either of the commissioners may administer the oaths to the poll clerks. For the purposes of this chapter all commissioners of election are authorized to administer oaths.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §7; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(7).]

§17. Conducting Primary; Voting.—On entering the election room, the voter shall announce his name and the name of the party the ballot of which he desires to vote, and if he is duly registered, or has obtained a transfer as provided by law, such registration or transfer certificate showing his party affiliation, he shall be allowed to cast the ballot of the party of which he is registered as a member.

The clerks shall write their names at the place designated on the back of the official ballot called for and deliver it to the voter, who shall have but one ballot unless he shall return the same spoiled; if he shall return the same spoiled, the clerks shall immediately destroy the ballot so spoiled, and deliver to him another ballot in the same manner as they delivered the first one. The voter shall then forthwith, and without leaving the room, retire alone to the booth or compartment prepared for the purpose, and there prepare his ballot. Any voter who so desires shall receive the assistance as provided for in article five of this chapter.

After preparing the ballot the voter shall fold the same so that the face shall not be exposed, but so as to show plainly the name of the political party and the names of the poll clerks signed thereon. The voter shall then announce his name and present his ballot to the commissioner of his party, if there be one, who shall hand the same to another election officer, who shall deposit it in the ballot box, if such ballot is the official one and properly signed. The poll clerks shall then enter the name of the voter on their respective poll books, and number the same in the order in which the ballot was cast, and enter in the proper column the address and the party affiliation of the voter. When the voter has voted, he shall retire immediately from the election room, and beyond the sixty foot limit thereof, and shall not return, except by permission of the commissioners.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §13; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(6), (13).]

§18. Ascertainment of Result of Primary; Certificates.—When the polls are closed, the commissioners of election and the poll clerks shall proceed to ascertain the result of the election as follows:

(a) All ballots remaining not voted shall be immediately destroyed by burning or otherwise, and before the ballot box is opened;

(b) The commissioners and clerks shall ascertain from the poll books, and set down therein, the total number of ballots of each party cast;

(c) The ballot box shall be opened and one of the commissioners shall take therefrom one ballot at a time, in the presence of all the other officers, and shall announce what political party’s ballot it is, and shall read therefrom the result of the vote on such ballot for each office, and hand the ballot to another of the commissioners differing in politics from himself, who, if satisfied that it is correctly read, shall string the same on a thread. The ballots of each party shall be strung on separate threads. Each poll clerk shall keep an accurate tally of the contents of each ballot of each party on tally papers, which shall be provided for the purpose, so as to show the number of votes received by every person for any office. The ballots shall be counted as they are strung upon the thread, and, whenever the number counted for any party shall equal the number of votes entered upon the poll book of that party, any other ballot of such party found in the ballot box shall be immediately destroyed by fire or otherwise, without unfolding the same, or allowing any one to examine or know the contents thereof;

(d) As soon as the results at the precinct are ascertained, the commissioners and clerks shall make out and sign four certificates, for each party represented, of the vote for all candidates of such party, in the following form:

Three of such certificates of result of election, for each party, shall then be sealed in separately addressed envelopes, furnished for the purpose, and shall be disposed of by the precinct commissioners as follows: One certificate for each party shall be returned, under seal, to the clerk of the county court, with the election returns; one for each party shall be delivered by the commissioners to the clerk of the circuit court of the county; and one for each party shall be sent by registered mail to the secretary of state: Provided, however, That it shall not be necessary for the precinct commissioners and clerks to include, in the certificates to the secretary of state, the votes cast for any candidates for county and district offices, other than for members of the legislature. The one not sealed up shall be posted on the outside of the front door of the polling place in said precinct.

All ballots voted for candidates of each party shall be sealed up in separate envelopes and the commissioners and clerks shall each sign his name across the seal.

In all precincts in which a receiving board and a counting board of election officers are appointed, the work of counting the votes and of ascertaining and certifying the result shall be divided between the two boards, and be performed by them, respectively, in the same manner provided in article five of this chapter for counting the votes and ascertaining and certifying the result of a general election.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §§14, 35, 36; 1917, c. 37; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(14), (35), (36).]

§19. Delivery of Primary Ballots, Supplies and Election Returns to County and Circuit Clerks.—It shall be the duty of the commissioner of election at each precinct who was appointed to attend at the offices of the clerks of the county and circuit courts, respectively, and receive ballot boxes, ballots, registration list of voters, poll books and other supplies for the precinct, within twelve hours after the completion of the count, tabulation and declaration of the result, to return to the clerk of the county court the ballot boxes, registration list, and the several packages of ballots, poll books, tally sheets and certificates, and all other returns of election, except the packages to be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court, which latter packages shall contain one poll book, one tally sheet, and one certificate of each political party, which packages he shall deliver within the twelve hours aforesaid, to such clerk, and the certificate to be mailed to the secretary of state, and the one to be posted at the voting place in the precinct. If, for any good reason, such commissioner cannot act, one of the other commissioners shall be selected by them to discharge said duty.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §17; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(17), 98a(14).]

§20. Canvass of Primary Election Returns; Certificates.—When any such election is held in a county or district, the county court sitting as a board of canvassers shall meet at the court house thereof on Friday next succeeding any primary election, and publicly, carefully and impartially ascertain the result of such election in the county and district, and election precincts thereof, and cause to be prepared and recorded, in the primary election precinct record book, a table or tables which shall show, as to each candidate of each political party for each office, the number of votes cast for him at each precinct, and the total number thereof cast in the entire county. The board shall then make up and enter in said record book a certificate for each political party, showing, as to each candidate for each political party for each office, the total number of votes (in words and also in figures) cast for him in the entire county and the number of votes received by all the candidates of such party in such district, which shall be in the following form:

The board of canvassers of the county of ...................................., State of West Virginia, having carefully and impartially examined the returns of the primary election held in said county on the..........day of...................., 19...., do hereby certify that in said county or district, at said election, on the official ballot of the .... party for the office of..........A. B. received .... (.........) votes; C. D. received .... (....) votes.

And so on for each office for each political party according to the truth. When the certificates are all entered, the report shall be signed by the members of the board or a majority there of. Such members shall also sign separate certificates of the result of said election, within the county, for each of the offices to be filled by each political party, as provided by the following section.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §18; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(18).]

§21. Disposition of Certificates; Certification of Nominations.—The certificates of the board of canvassers made pursuant to the preceding section shall be by them disposed of as follows: One of the certificates showing the votes received by each candidate of each party for each office to be filled by the voters of a political division greater than a county, including members of the state executive committee, shall be filed with the secretary of state, and by him preserved in his office, and a copy thereof filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county of such board, to be preserved by such clerk, and which shall be open to public inspection; one certificate showing the votes received by each candidate of each party for each office to be filled by the voters of the county or magisterial district within such county, including members of the county executive committee, shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court, and by him preserved in his office. If requested, the board of canvassers shall furnish to the county chairman of each political party a certificate showing the number of votes received by each of the candidates of such party in the county or any magisterial district therein.

The secretary of state shall certify, under the seal of the State, to the clerk of the circuit court of each county in which a candidate is to be voted for, the name of the candidate of each political party receiving the highest number of votes in the political division in which he is a candidate, and who is entitled to have his name placed on the official ballot in the general election as the nominee of the party for such office. The secretary of state shall also certify in the same manner the names of all candidates nominated by political parties or by groups of citizens, not constituting a political party, in any manner provided for making such nominations in this chapter.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §19; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(19).]

§22. Plurality to Govern; Tie Vote.—Of the candidates for each office, respectively, including party committeemen and delegates and alternate delegates to national conventions, where only one such is to be nominated or chosen, the one receiving the highest number of votes cast by the political party in the political division, and where more than one such is to be nominated or chosen, the number of candidates for each office to be nominated, and the number of committeemen and delegates and alternate delegates to be chosen, receiving the highest number of votes, to which the party is entitled in the political division, shall be the nominee, nominees, committeeman, committeemen, delegate, delegates, alternate delegate, or alternate delegates, as the case may be. In the case of a tie between two candidates for a nomination or for election as committeeman, delegate or alternate delegate, the choice of the political party shall be determined by lot by the executive committee of the party for the political division of which the person is a candidate.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §§20, 30; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a (20), (30).]

§23. Vacancies in Nominations.—If any vacancy shall occur in the party nomination of candidates for office, caused by death, withdrawal, failure to make a nomination for the office at the primary election, or otherwise, it may be filled and the name of the candidate certified by the executive committee of the political party for the political division in which the vacancy occurs. If such vacancy be not filled by the executive committee, if it be for an office to be filled by the voters of the entire State, within thirty days next preceding the date of election, or if it be for any other office, within twenty days next preceding the date of election, if such committee fail or refuse to meet, it shall be lawful for the chairman of the political party executive committee for the political division to fill such vacancy and make a certificate thereof and file the same with the officer with whom the original certificate of nomination was, should or might have been, regularly filed. And it shall be the duty of the officer with whom such certificate is filed to receive and proceed with the same in all respects as an original nomination.[1891, c. 89, §29; 1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a-(20), 29.]

§24. Leave of Absence for Voting.—Any person entitled to vote at any primary or convention shall, on the day of such primary or convention, be entitled to absent himself from any service or employment, in which he is then engaged or employed, for a period of three hours between the time of opening and closing the polls. He shall not be liable to any penalty and no deduction from his usual salary or wages shall be made on account of such absence. Any circuit court, or the judge thereof in vacation, may enforce the provisions of this section by mandamus, or otherwise, upon the application of any voter.[1891, c. 89: 1921, c. 56, §1; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(13a), 52.]

§25. Contests; Review by the Courts.—Any candidate for nomination for an office to be filled by the voters of a county, school district or of a magisterial district, or any candidate for membership of any county political executive committee, may contest the primary election before the county court of the county. The procedure in such case shall be the same as that governing the contest of a general election by candidates for county offices or offices in school districts or magisterial districts. The decision of the county court upon such contest may be reviewed by the circuit court of the county and by the supreme court of appeals of the State.

Any action of a political party executive committee in the discharge of any of the duties imposed upon such committee by this article, or of any board of election officials in conducting and ascertaining the result of the primary election, or of any board of canvassers in canvassing and certifying the result of the primary election for the county, may be reviewed by the circuit court of the county, upon the petition of any candidate, political committeeman or delegate voted for at such primary and affected adversely by the action of such committee, board of election officials, or board of canvassers. From the judgment of the circuit court in any such proceeding, an appeal shall lie to the supreme court of appeals of the State.

Any such contest, or petition for review, of a candidate for a nomination not finally determined within ten days next preceding the date of the next election after the primary, or of a candidate for delegate to any convention within ten days next preceding the date fixed for holding the convention, shall stand dismissed, and the person shown by the face of the returns of the primary election to be nominated for any office shall be entitled to have his name printed upon the regular ballot to be voted at the election, and the person shown upon the face of the returns to have been elected as a delegate to any convention shall be entitled to sit in such convention as a delegate.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §22; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(22).]

§26. Expense of Conducting Primary Elections.—The ballot commissioners, election commissioners, poll clerks, and other officers conducting primary elections shall receive the same compensation for services as provided in article five of this chapter to be paid to like officials conducting general elections, and the same together with the other expenses shall be allowed, audited and paid as provided in article five of this chapter.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78, §21; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(21).]

§27. Nominations by Party Conventions.—Candidates for presidential electors, for judge of the supreme court of appeals, for judge of any judicial circuit, and for judge of any inferior court, all shall be nominated by the delegated representatives of the political party assembled in convention for the State, the judicial circuit, or the county, as the case may be. The delegates to such conventions shall be apportioned among the several counties of the State, the several counties of the judicial circuit, or the several magisterial districts of the county, in proportion to the votes cast in the State, the judicial circuit and the county, respectively, for the party candidate for governor, at the last preceding general election at which a governor was elected. The state executive committee of the party shall designate the place and fix the date of the state convention, which shall be between the first and the fifteenth days of August next preceding any general election at which presidential electors or a judge or judges of the supreme court of appeals are to be elected; and by a resolution shall prescribe the number of delegates and apportion them among the several counties of the State on the basis aforesaid; and shall designate the offices for which candidates are to be nominated at such convention.

Within five days after the date is fixed for holding the state convention, the party executive committee of the judicial circuit shall designate the place and the date of holding any convention for the nomination of a candidate for judge of the circuit court, which place shall be at the county seat of the county entitled to the largest number of delegates as herein provided, and which date shall be between the first and the fifteenth days of August next preceding the general election at which a judge of the circuit is to be elected, but not within two days of the date fixed for the state convention, and shall by resolution prescribe the number of delegates to the convention and apportion them among the counties making up the judicial circuit on the basis herein provided.

The party county executive committee shall designate the place and date for holding any convention for the nomination of a candidate for judge of any inferior court in the county, which date shall be between the fifteenth day of July and the fifteenth day of August preceding the election at which such candidate is to be voted for. Such committee shall prescribe the number of delegates to the convention and apportion them among the several magisterial districts of the county in the manner herein provided.

At least sixty days prior to the date fixed for holding any state convention and at least fifty-five days prior to the date fixed for holding any judicial circuit convention, the chairman of the party executive committee for the State or circuit shall cause to be delivered to the chairman of the party executive committee for each county in the State or in the circuit, as the case may be, a copy of the resolutions fixing the time and place of holding the convention and prescribing the number of delegates from each county to such convention. Within ten days after receipt of a copy of such resolutions, the party executive committee of each county shall meet and by resolutions apportion the delegates to the state convention and to the judicial circuit convention among the several magisterial districts of the county, on the basis of the vote received in the county by the candidate of the party for governor at the last preceding general election at which a governor was elected: Provided, Each magisterial district shall be entitled to at least one delegate to any convention. The county executive committee shall call a meeting of the members of the political party in mass convention in the several magisterial districts of the county, which meeting shall be held at least thirty days prior to the date fixed for any state or judicial circuit convention, to elect the number of delegates to which the magisterial district is entitled to the state convention and to the judicial circuit convention, and to any county convention. The meeting place in the magisterial district shall be as central and convenient as can reasonably be selected, and all recognized members of the political party shall be entitled to participate in any such mass convention and in the selection of delegates. Notice of the time and place of holding the several magisterial district mass conventions and of the person who shall act as temporary chairman thereof shall be given by publication in at least two issues of a newspaper of the political party, if any such there be, published in the county, the first publication to be not more than fifteen and the second publication to be not less than five days prior to the date fixed for holding the convention. If no such newspaper be published in the county, notice may be given by posting the same in at least five conspicuous places in the magisterial district, at least ten days before the date of the mass convention. The notice published or posted shall specify the number of delegates which each magisterial district in the county is entitled to elect to the state and the judicial circuit and county conventions.

Upon assembling, the mass convention of each magisterial district shall choose a chairman and a secretary, who, within five days after the holding of such convention, shall certify, to the chairman of the state executive committee of the political party and the chairman of the judicial circuit executive committee of the political party and the chairman of the county committee of the political party, the names and addresses of the parties selected as delegates to the convention of the State, judicial circuit, and county, respectively.

All contests over the selection of delegates to either of said conventions shall be heard and determined by the party executive committee of the county from which the delegates are chosen, and such county executive committee shall meet for the purpose within ten days after the holding of such magisterial district mass convention. The circuit court of the county and the supreme court of appeals of the State shall have concur rent original jurisdiction to review, by mandamus or other proper proceeding, the decision of a county executive committee in any contest.

The delegates chosen and certified by and from the several magisterial districts in the State, or in the judicial circuit, or in the county, as the case may be, and, in the event of any contest, those prevailing in the contest, shall make up the state convention, the judicial circuit convention, and the county convention, respectively. The number present of those entitled to participate in any convention shall cast the entire vote to which the county is entitled in such convention, and it shall require a majority vote to nominate any candidate for office.

All nominations made at state and judicial circuit conventions shall be certified within twenty days thereafter, by the chairman and the secretary of the convention, to the secretary of state, who shall certify them to the clerk of the circuit court of each county concerned, in the State, and the names of the persons so nominated shall be printed upon the regular ballot to be voted at the ensuing general election. The name of any candidate nominated at any such county convention shall be certified, within twenty days thereafter, by the chairman and secretary thereof to the clerk of the circuit court of the county, and the name of such candidate shall be printed upon the official ballot to be voted at the ensuing general election.

The delegates to any state convention may formulate and promulgate such party platform or declaration of party principles as to them shall seem advisable.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5, §29; 1919, c. 78, §29; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(29).]

§28. Convention Nominations by Party Casting Less Than Ten Per Cent Vote.—Any political party which polled less than ten per cent of the total vote cast for governor at the general election immediately preceding may nominate candidates and select committees by party conventions, provided such nominations are made and the certificates thereof filed within the time and in the manner provided in section thirty-one of this article, or such nominations may be made by certificate in the same manner as groups of citizens may make nominations as provided in the following section.

No delegate or person participating in the selection of delegates under this section shall vote in any primary election held in that year.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(3).]

§29. Certificate Nominations.—Groups of citizens having no party organization may nominate candidates for public office otherwise than by conventions or primary elections. In such case, a certificate shall be signed by voters resident within the State, district, or other political division for which the candidate is presented, to a number equal to one per cent of the entire vote cast at the last preceding general election in the State, circuit, district, county or other division for which the nomination is made: Provided, however, That the number of signatures so required shall not be less than twenty-five, and that the names need not all be signed on one certificate. No voter signing such certificates shall be counted unless his residence and post-office address be designated. Such certificates shall state the name and residence of each of such candidates; that he is legally qualified to hold such office; that the subscribers desire, and are legally qualified to vote for, such candidates; and may designate, by not more than five words, a brief name of the party which such candidates represent and adopt a device to be printed on the official ballot. No person signing such certificate shall vote at any primary election to be held to nominate candidates for office to be voted for at the election to be held next after the date of signing such certificate. All candidates nominated by the signing of such certificates shall have their names placed on the official ballot as candidates, as if otherwise nominated under the provisions of this chapter. Such certificates shall be in the following form or to the following effect:

[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, C. 78, §23; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a (3), (23).]

§30. Certificates; Where Filed; Time of Filing.—All certificates nominating candidates for office under the preceding section, including a candidate for the office of presidential elector, shall be filed, in the case of a candidate to be voted for by the voters of the entire State or by any subdivision thereof other than a single county, with the secretary of state, and in the case of all candidates for county and magisterial district offices, including all offices to be filled by the voters of a single county, with the clerk of the circuit court of the county, not later than the day preceding the date on which the primary election is held; and after such date no such certificate shall be received by such officers.[1915, c. 26; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 5; 1919, c. 78; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(23).]

§1. Election Rooms and Booths.—The county court in each county, before each election, shall secure, in each voting precinct in the county, a suitable room or building in which to hold the election, and shall cause the same to be suitably provided with a sufficient number of booths or compartments, each containing a table, counter or shelf, and furnished with proper supplies for preparing ballots, at or in which voters may conveniently prepare their ballots, so that in the preparation thereof they may be secure from the observation of others. The number of such booths or compartments shall not be less than two nor more than five.(1891, c. 89, §45; Code 1923, c. 3, §45.)

§2. Ballot Commissioners.—In each county in the State, the clerk of the circuit court while holding such office, and two persons by him appointed, one from each of the two political parties which cast the largest and second largest number of votes in the State at the last preceding general election, shall constitute a board of ballot commissioners, of which board the said clerk shall be chairman. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said court to notify the chairman of the respective county executive committees of such two parties, at least five days before making such appointments, of the time and place of making the same, and if at any time after such notice is given, and before or on the day so fixed for making such appointments, the chairman of either of said committees shall designate, in writing, a member of such party as ballot commissioner having the qualifications of a voter, he shall be appointed. Ballot commissioners shall be appointed between the fifteenth and thirtieth days of March in each year in which a general election is to be held, for a term of two years beginning on the first day of April next ensuing. They shall perform the duties of such commissioners at all general, special and primary elections held in the county or any magisterial district thereof during their term of office. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as an original appointment, but immediate notice of a vacancy shall, where necessary, be deemed compliance with the five day notice provision.(1891, c. 89, §32; Code 1923, c. 3, §32.)

§3. Ballots; Printing.—It shall be the duty of the board of ballot commissioners for each county to provide printed ballots for every election for public officers in which the voters or any of the voters within the county participate, and cause to be printed, on the appropriate ballot, the name of every candidate whose name has been certified to or filed with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in any manner provided for in this chapter. The printing of the ballots, and all other printing caused to be done by the board of ballot commissioners, shall be contracted for with the lowest responsible bidder. Ballots other than those caused to be printed by the respective boards of ballot commissioners, according to the provisions of this chapter, shall not be cast, received, or counted in any election.(1891, c. 89, §33; Code 1923, c. 3, §33.)

§4. Form and Arrangement of Ballots.—All ballots prepared under the provisions of this article shall be printed in black ink on number two white book paper sufficiently thick so that the printing cannot be distinguished from the back, and shall contain the names of every candidate whose nomination for any office to be voted for at the election has been certified and filed according to law, and no others, except that if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the ballot commissioners that a person has been legally nominated as a candidate for an office and is lawfully entitled to have his name upon the ballot and no certificate of the nomination has been received by the clerk of the circuit court, they shall print the name of such candidate upon the ballot in its proper place.

The tickets, except the heading, which shall be in display type, shall be printed in brevier type; the name or designation of the office and the residence of the candidate in lower case letters, and the name of the candidate in capital letters. The name and residence of the candidate may be printed in the same line. The name of each candidate shall be printed in a space defined by ruled lines, and with a blank square on its left inclosed by heavy dark lines. If, upon any ticket, there be no candidate or candidates for a designated office, a blank space equal to the space that would be occupied by such name or names, if they were printed thereon, with the blank space herein provided for, shall be left. The heading of each party ticket, including the name of the party and the device or emblem above and the large circle between the device or emblem and such name, shall be separated from the rest of the ticket by heavy lines, and the circle above the name of the party in which the voter is to place the cross mark, if he desires to vote the straight ticket, shall be defined by heavier lines than the lines defining the blank spaces before the names of candidates, and such circle shall be surrounded by the following words printed in heavy face nonpareil type: “For a straight ticket mark within this circle.” Each party ticket shall be separated from other party tickets and bordered on either side by a heavy border, or a broad solid line, at least one-sixteenth of an inch wide, and the edges of the ballot on either side trimmed off to within one-half inch of the border or solid line described.

The names of the candidates shall be arranged on the ballot in tickets or lists, in separate columns under the respective party or political or other designation certified, each column or ticket containing the names of candidates nominated by the same political party and no others. In elections for presidential electors the names of the candidates for president and vice president of the United States shall be placed on the ticket immediately following the name of the party, and preceding the names of the presidential electors, and shall be certified to the clerks of the circuit courts by the chairman and secretary of the state executive committee of the political party making the nomination. The names of the candidates on each ticket shall be arranged in groups, with a heading over each group printed in heavy faced brevier type to indicate the political division in which such group is to be voted for. The arrangement of the ballot shall conform as nearly as practicable to the plan here given:

The tickets of the several political parties shall be printed on the ballot in parallel columns, each ticket in a separate column headed by the chosen device, and the tickets in such order on the ballot and the names of the offices in such order on the ticket as the secretary of state shall direct, preference, however, being given to the political party which cast the highest number of votes for the head of the ticket at the last preceding presidential election, and so on. No ticket or list of candidates shall be printed under the name of any party containing more candidates for any office than are to be elected.

The ballot shall be so printed as to give each voter a clear opportunity to designate by a cross mark in a large, blank, circular space, three quarters of an inch in diameter, below the device and above the name of the party at the head of the ticket or list of candidates, his choice of a party ticket and desire to vote for each and every candidate thereon; and by a cross mark, in a blank, inclosed space on the left and before the name of each candidate, his choice of particular candidates.

On the back of the ballot shall be printed or stamped in black ink the words “Official Ballot,” with the date of the election, and underneath shall be two blank lines, followed by the words “Poll Clerks.”(1891, c. 89, §27; 1893, c. 25; 1907, c. 71; 1908, c. 21, §34; Code 1923, c. 3, §§27, 34.)

§5. Number of Ballots; Packages.—The board of ballot commissioners shall, for each general election to be held in their county, cause to be printed official ballots to at least one and one-half times the number of registered voters in the county. The ballots so printed shall be wrapped and tied in packages, one for each precinct in their county, containing ballots to the number of one and one-fifth times the number of registered voters in such precinct. Each package of ballots shall be sealed with wax, and plainly marked with the number of ballots therein, the name of the magisterial district, and the number of the voting place therein, to which it is intended to be sent. The names of the ballot commissioners shall also be indorsed thereon.(1891, c. 89, §36; Code 1923, c. 3, §36.)

§6. Cards of Instruction to Voters; Sample Ballots.—The board of ballot commissioners of each county shall cause to be printed in large, clear type, on cards, instructions for the guidance of voters in preparing their ballots. They shall furnish twelve of such cards to the commissioner of election at the same time they deliver to him the ballots for the precinct. The commissioners of election shall cause to be posted one of such cards in each place or compartment provided for the preparation of ballots, and the others in and about the polling place, and one or more of the cards outside of the sixty foot limit provided for in this article, on the day of election. Such cards shall contain full instructions to the voters as to what shall be done:

(a) To obtain ballots for voting;

(b) To prepare the ballots for deposit in the ballot boxes;

(c) To obtain a new ballot in place of one accidentally spoiled;

(d) They shall also contain a copy of sections seven, eight, ten, eleven and twelve of article seven of this chapter.

Said ballot commissioners shall also cause to be printed, on colored paper, ten or more copies of the ballots provided for each voting place, at each election therein, which shall be called sample ballots, and shall be furnished and posted with the cards of instruction at each voting place, and marked so as to indicate the manner of marking the tickets not voted.(1891, c. 89, §44; Code 1923, c. 3, §44.)

§7. Vacancy Filled After Ballots Are Printed.—If a nomination to fill a vacancy be made by a political committee or the chairman thereof and be certified to the clerk of the circuit court after the ballots to be used at the ensuing election shall have been printed, it shall be lawful for the chairman of the party executive committee for the political division to provide, or cause to be provided, and deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the election commissioners of each precinct in which such candidate is to be voted for, a number of stickers, containing only the name of such candidate, at least equal to the total number of ballots provided for such precinct; but no such stickers shall be furnished to or received by any person except a commissioner of election. It shall be the duty of the commissioners holding the election to deliver such stickers to the poll clerks, who shall, in the presence of the election commissioners, affix one of such stickers in a careful manner at the proper place for the name of the candidate, upon each ballot to be voted at the election, before the poll clerks shall sign their names on the ballots. Such stickers may be delivered to the election officers, by the clerk of the county court, with the ballots, poll books and other supplies.(1891, c. 89, §29; Code 1923, c. 3, §29.)

§8. Publication of Nominations.—At least ten days before an election to fill any public office at which the voters of any county are entitled to vote, the clerk of the circuit court of such county shall cause to be published in two newspapers, if such there be published within the county, representing the political parties which at the last preceding general election cast the largest and second largest number of votes in the State, or, if there be only one newspaper published therein, then in such newspaper, the nominations for office certified to him and filed in his office, excepting nominations for offices to be filled by the voters of any subdivision less than a county. He shall make two publications thereof in each of such newspapers before the election, the second of which, in each newspaper, shall be on the last day upon which such newspaper is issued before the election. If there be no newspaper published in the county, the clerk of the circuit court shall, at least ten days before the election, cause to be posted in his office, and at some public place in each voting precinct in the county, a printed notice of the nominations for office certified to and filed by him as aforesaid. Whenever it shall appear by affidavit that an error or omission has occurred in the publication of the names or description of candidates nominated for public office, or in the printing of the ballots, the board of ballot commissioners shall correct such error. The list of nominations published or posted by clerks of the circuit courts of the several counties shall be arranged in the order and form in which they will be printed upon the ballot.(1891, c. 89, §§30, 31; Code 1923, c. 3, §§30, 31.)

§9. Appointment of Commissioners and Clerks.—The county court of each county shall hold a regular or special session at the courthouse of the county on the first Tuesday of the month next preceding the date on which any election is to be held and appoint three commissioners and two clerks, to hold the election in each precinct in the county, to be selected from the two political parties which at the last preceding election cast the highest and second highest number of votes in this State: Provided, however, That for every precinct in which there are four hundred or more registered voters, there shall be two boards of election officers, each board consisting of three election commissioners and two poll clerks, one of which boards shall be designated the “receiving board” and the other the “counting board,” and not more than two commissioners and one poll clerk of each board shall be appointed from the same political party. If, at any time before or during the session of the county court, the county executive committee of either or both of the political parties, from which commissioners and clerks of election are to be selected, shall file with or present to the county court a writing signed by them, or by the chairman or secretary of such committee on their behalf, requesting the appointment of a member and of one clerk of each board of the political party for which such committee, chairman or secretary is acting, and designating persons who are qualified under this article for such appointment for each election precinct in the county, the county court shall appoint the persons so designated.

If any person appointed receiving commissioner or clerk of election shall fail to appear at the voting place at the hour for opening the polls, the remaining commissioner or commissioners of election of the political party to which the absentee belongs shall select another commissioner or clerk, as the case may be, of such political party. But if the qualified voters of his party present at the polls shall nominate a voter of his party qualified to act under the provisions of this section, such nominee shall be appointed. If none of the receiving commissioners of the election or poll clerks shall appear at the voting place at the hour appointed for opening the polls, the qualified voters present, being at least ten in number, of the political party which cast the highest number of votes in the county at the last preceding election, shall select two commissioners and one clerk and those of the political party which cast the next highest number of votes in the county at such election shall select one commissioner and one clerk of the receiving board of such precinct, and the persons so selected shall constitute the receiving board for the precinct. A vacancy or vacancies on the counting board shall be filled in the manner herein provided for filling a vacancy or vacancies on the receiving board, except that such vacancy or vacancies shall be determined and filled as of the hour appointed in this chapter for the counting board to attend at the polls. Any commissioner of election acting at any election precinct is hereby empowered and authorized to administer oaths and to take and certify affidavits in relation to any matter or thing required or permitted to be done by any of the provisions of this article in conducting and holding the election.[1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §§7, 8; 1917, c. 37, §§1, 2; Code 1923, c. 3, §§7, 8, 26a (33), (34); 1923, c. 25, §26a(33).]

§10. Qualifications of Commissioners and Clerks.—No person shall be eligible for appointment as a member or clerk of any election board who is not a qualified voter in the magisterial district or who has anything of value bet or wagered on the result of, or who is a candidate to be voted for, at the ensuing election, or who is addicted to drunkenness, or who is not of good character and standing, or who has in his employment, or, as agent or superintendent, has under his control or management, ten or more employees who are voters entitled to vote in the precinct.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §§7, 8; Code 1923, c. 3, §§7, 8.)

§11. Oaths of Election Officers.—Each commissioner of election, appointed or selected as aforesaid, shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, take and subscribe an oath to the following effect:

Each poll clerk, appointed or selected as aforesaid, shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, take and subscribe an oath to the following effect:

Such oaths may be taken before any person authorized to administer oaths, and shall appear properly certified on one of the poll books of every election precinct.(1863, c. 100; 1866, c. 126; 1871, c. 144; 1872-3, c. 118; 1879, c. 75; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §11; Code 1923, c. 3, §11.)

§12. Supplies for Holding Election.—The clerk of the county court of each county shall provide the poll books, tally sheets, ballot boxes, voting booths, strong and durable envelopes upon which to make returns, blank forms for certifying returns and whatever further supplies are needed for holding the election and making due return thereof. The poll books shall bear upon the first page the following heading: “Names of persons voting at precinct No..........., in the district of............., in the county of................ on this..........day of............, in the year..........” On each page of the poll books there shall be a column with the heading, “Names of voters,” in which the names of the persons voting shall be written, and another column headed, “Number of voters,” in which the persons voting shall be numbered consecutively. The poll books shall also contain forms of oaths to be made and taken by the commissioners and clerks, respectively, holding the election. Each ballot box shall be provided with two locks with different keys so that the key for one lock will not open the other, and shall be so constructed as to be safely and securely closed and locked, with an opening in the lid of the box sufficient only for the passage of a single ballot.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §§9, 10, 12, 13; Code 1923, c. 3, §§9, 10, 12, 13.)

§13. Delivery of Ballots and Supplies to Election Commissioners.—The board of ballot commissioners or the circuit clerk, chairman thereof, shall, at least five days before the holding of any election, designate in writing one of the commissioners of election appointed for each precinct in the county, who shall attend at the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county not more than four nor less than two days before the election and receive from the clerk of said court the ballots for the voting precinct. The clerk shall deliver the ballots in sealed packages and take a receipt for the same from the commissioner to whom they are delivered, which receipt shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court. On the same date the commissioner so designated shall attend at the office of the clerk of the county court of the county and said clerk shall deliver to the commissioner two ballot boxes for each precinct for which a receiving and counting board of election commissioners have been appointed, one copy of the list of registered voters of the precinct, two poll books, the necessary tally sheets, blank forms for affidavits, envelopes in which to make returns and all other supplies necessary for holding the election and making the required return of the result, and take from the commissioner a proper receipt for the supplies so delivered.[1891, c. 89, §37; 1917, c. 37, §5; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(37), 37, 98a(10).]

§14. Special Messenger for Ballots.—In case any commissioner of election shall fail to appear at the office of the clerk of the circuit and county court of the county by the close of the second day prior to any election, as required by section thirteen of this article, the board of ballot commissioners or the chairman thereof shall forth with dispatch a special messenger with the ballots for such precinct. Such messenger shall be allowed two dollars for the time and five cents a mile for the distance necessarily traveled, and shall promptly report to the clerk of the circuit court and file with such clerk the receipt of the person to whom he delivered the ballots, and his affidavit, stating when and to whom he delivered such ballots; and the commissioner of election so failing to appear at such clerk’s office shall receive no compensation for his services at such election.(1891, c. 89, §40; Code 1923, c. 3, §40.)

§15. Loss or Destruction of Ballots; Substitutes.—If, by any accident or casualty, the ballots or ballot box or boxes delivered to a commissioner of election, or to any messenger, shall be lost or destroyed, it shall be the duty of such commissioner or messenger to report the loss forthwith to the board of ballot commissioners and clerk of the county court from whom the same were, or was, obtained, and make affidavit of the circumstances of the loss; whereupon such board and clerk shall at once send a new supply by special messenger, as provided in other cases. If, for any reason, there should be found no ballots, or ballot box, or other necessary means or contrivances for voting, at the opening of the polls, it shall be the duty of the commissioners of election to secure the same as speedily as possible; and, if necessary, the ballot commissioners may have ballots printed or written, and the election commissioners may have a ballot box or boxes made.(1891, c. 89, §42; Code 1923, c. 3, §42.)

§16. Opening and Closing the Polls.—At every primary, general or special election the polls shall be opened in each precinct on the day of such election at six-thirty o’clock in the forenoon and be closed at six-thirty o’clock in the afternoon, eastern standard time. In all precincts wherein two election boards shall have been appointed the receiving board shall attend at the time and open the polls.

At the time of opening the polls, the election commissioners shall examine the ballot box and ascertain that there are no ballots in the same, and they shall thereupon securely lock the box and give one key to one of the commissioners and one to a commissioner of the opposite political party, who shall hold the same, and such boxes shall not be again opened until the time to begin counting the votes arrives and for that purpose.

At or before opening the polls, the commissioners of election shall open the packages containing the ballots in such a manner as to preserve the seals intact and thereupon deliver all of the ballots to the poll clerk.

Before any voter is permitted to vote, the commissioners of election shall proclaim that such election is opened. When the polls are closed, proclamation must be made of the fact by one of the commissioners of election to the people outside, in a loud and audible tone of voice, and a minute of such proclamation, and of the time when it was made, must be entered on the poll books by the clerks, and, after such minute has been made and entered, no ballot of any voter shall be cast or received.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §§13, 14, 15, 55; Code 1923, c. 3, §§13,14,15, 55; 1925, c. 85, §14.)

§17. How Election Conducted by Double Board.—In each precinct wherein double boards of election officers are appointed, the counting board shall attend at the voting place not later than three hours after the opening of the polls, and shall take charge of the ballot box containing the ballots theretofore cast in that precinct. They shall retire to a partitioned room or space in the voting place and there proceed to count and tabulate the ballots cast, as they shall find them deposited in the ballot box. The receiving board shall continue to receive the vote of electors in the other box, until such time as the counting board shall have finished counting and tabulating the ballots cast in the first ballot box. The counting board shall, before exchanging the ballot boxes as herein provided, seal the ballots counted by it in envelopes to be provided for the purpose, which shall not be opened until the two boards shall together proceed with counting, tabulating and summarizing the votes as by this chapter provided. The two boards shall then exchange the first box for the second box, and so continue until the hour of closing the polls arrives.[1917, c. 37, §3; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(35).]

§18. Delivery of Ballots to Voters; Name and Residence of Voters to be Given.—On entering the election room the voter shall give his name and residence to one of the poll clerks, who shall thereupon announce the same in a loud and distinct tone of voice. If he is duly registered or has obtained a transfer as provided by law, the poll clerk shall then deliver to him one, and only one, ballot, except as in this chapter otherwise provided. Each poll clerk shall personally sign his name on the back of the ballot before delivering it to the voter, and no election commissioner shall deposit in the ballot box any ballot upon which the names of the poll clerks do not appear.[1891, c. 89, §§56, 61; Code 1923, c. 3, §§34, 56, 61, 98a(11).]

§19. Preparation and Casting of Ballot.—On receipt of the ballot the voter shall forthwith, and without leaving the election room, retire alone to one of the booths or compartments provided for the purpose and shall prepare the ballot, using a black lead pencil for the purpose, and observing the following rules:

(a) If the voter desires to vote a straight ticket, or, in other words, for each and every candidate of one party for whatever office nominated, he shall either:

(1) Make a cross mark in the circular space below the device and above the name of the party at the head of the ticket; or

(2) Make a cross mark on the left and opposite the name of each and every candidate of such party in the blank space provided therefor; or

(3) Mark out, by lines, all the tickets on the ballot, other than the ticket he desires to vote.

(b) If the voter desires to vote a mixed ticket, or, in other words, for candidates of different parties, he shall either:

(1) Omit making a cross in the circular space above the name of the party, and make a cross mark in the blank space before the name of each candidate for whom he desires to vote on whatever ticket the name may be; or

(2) Make a cross mark in the circular space above the name of the party for some of whose candidates he desires to vote, and then make a cross mark before the name of any candidate of any other party for whom he may desire to vote; in which case the cross mark in the circular space above the name of the party will cast his vote for every candidate on the ticket of such party, except for offices for which candidates are marked on other party tickets, and the cross marks before the names of such candidates will cast his vote for them; or (3) Write with black lead pencil the name of any person for whom he desires to vote, in the space immediately below the name of the opposing candidate for the same office, on the ticket voted by him, and the name so written shall be counted.

If, in marking either a straight or mixed ticket as above defined, a cross mark is made in the circular space above the name of a party at the head of the ticket, and also one or more cross marks made before the name or names of candidates on the same ticket for offices for which candidates on other party tickets are not individually marked, such marks before the names of candidates on the ticket so marked shall be treated as surplusage and ignored.

If the voter desires to vote for any person whose name does not appear on the ticket, he can substitute the name by writing it with black lead pencil in the proper place, and making a cross mark in the blank space at the left of the name so written.

If the voter mark more names than there are persons to be elected to an office, or if, for any reason, it is impossible to determine the voter’s choice for an office to be filled, the ballot shall not be counted for such office.

No ballot shall be rejected for any technical error which does not make it impossible to determine the voter’s choice.

After preparing the ballot, the voter shall fold the same so that the face thereof shall not be exposed, and so that the names of the poll clerks thereon shall be seen, unless he elect to vote openly. When the voter has prepared the ballot he shall then vote forthwith, and before leaving the polling place. He shall give his name and present the ballot to one of the commissioners of election, who shall proclaim in a loud and distinct tone the name of the person offering to vote, and hand the ballot to another of said commissioners of election of a different political party, and if a majority of such board are satisfied that the ballot is single, and that the person is entitled to vote at such election, one of the commissioners of election shall deposit the ballot in the ballot box, and the poll clerks shall enter the name of the voter on the poll books, numbering the voters in the order in which they vote. The commissioners of election may inspect every ballot before it is deposited in the ballot box, to ascertain whether it is single, but without unfolding or unrolling it, so as to disclose its contents. When the voter has voted, he shall retire immediately from the election room and beyond the sixty foot limit thereof.(1891, c. 89, §57; 1893, c. 25; 1907, c. 71; 1908, c. 21, §34; Code 1923, c. 3, §§34, 57.)

§20. Defaced and Unused Ballots.—Any voter who shall spoil, deface or mutilate the ballot delivered to him, on returning the same to the poll clerks, shall receive another in place thereof. Every person who does not vote any ballot delivered to him shall, before leaving the election room, return such ballot to the poll clerks. When a spoiled or defaced ballot is returned, the poll clerks shall make a minute of the fact on the poll books, at the time, and such ballot shall then be destroyed by them in the presence of the commissioners of election.(1891, c. 89, §59; Code 1923, c. 3, §59.)

§21. Assistance to Illiterate or Disabled Voters in Preparing Ballot.—Any voter who declares or indicates to the poll clerks that he cannot read or write, or that by reason of physical disability he is unable to prepare the ballot, may declare his choice of candidates to the poll clerks, who, in the presence of the voter and in the presence of each other, shall prepare the ballot for voting in the manner hereinbefore provided, and, on request, shall read over to such voter the names of candidates on the ballot as so prepared; or such voter may require the poll clerks to indicate to him the relative position of the names of the candidates on the ballot, whereupon the voter shall retire to one of the booths or compartments to prepare his ballot in the manner hereinbefore provided.(1891, c. 89, §60; Code 1923, c. 3, §60.)

§22. Number of Persons in Booth; Time for Voting.—Not more than one person shall be permitted to occupy any booth or compartment at one time; and no person shall remain in or occupy a booth or compartment longer than may be necessary to prepare his ballot, and in no event longer than five minutes. No voter, or person offering to vote, shall hold any conversation or communication with any person other than the poll clerks or commissioners of election, while in the election room.(1891, c. 89, §58; Code 1923, c. 3, §58.)

§23. Number of Voters Allowed in Election Room; Persons Not Permitted Within Five Feet of Booth or Ballot Box.—Not more than one voter for each compartment or booth at the precinct shall be allowed in the election room at one time, and no person shall approach nearer than five feet to any booth or compartment while the election is being held, except the voters to prepare their ballots, or the poll clerks when called on by a voter to assist in the preparation of his ballot, and no person, other than election officers and voters engaged in receiving, preparing and depositing their ballots, shall be permitted to be within five feet of any ballot box, except by authority of the board of election commissioners, and then only for the purpose of keeping order and enforcing the law.(1891, c. 89, §§45, 53; Code 1923, c. 3, §§45, 53.)

§24. Persons Not Permitted Within Sixty Feet of Election Room.—No person, except the election officers and voters while going to the election room to vote and returning therefrom, shall be or remain within sixty feet of such room while the polls are open; but this section shall not apply to persons living or carrying on business within that distance of the election room, while in the discharge of their legitimate business, or to persons whose business requires them to pass and repass within sixty feet of such room.(1891, c. 89, §54; Code 1923, c. 3, §54.)

§25. Challenges.—If any person offering to vote shall be challenged by a commissioner or poll clerk, and the person so challenged is registered as a voter in the precinct, or presents to the election commissioner a proper certificate of transfer from another precinct to the one in which he seeks to vote, the person challenged shall be permitted to vote. The party challenging the voter shall make a statement in writing of the name of the voter challenged, the grounds on which the challenge is based, and the fact whether the voter was or was not permitted to vote, and sign the same. All such statements shall be returned to the clerk of the county court with the ballots cast at the precinct.(1891, c. 89, §49; Code 1923, c. 3, §49.)

§26. Illegal Voting; Affidavit; Arrest; Proceedings.—If at any time during the election any qualified voter shall make affidavit, before a commissioner of election, that any person who has voted is an illegal voter in such precinct, the person accused shall at once be arrested by any constable or other person designated by the election commissioners to make the arrest, and by him delivered to the civil authorities. Any person desiring to make such affidavit shall be admitted to the election room for that purpose. Immediately after the close of the election, the commissioners of election shall deliver such affidavit to some justice of the peace in the magisterial district, who shall proceed thereon as if the affidavit had been made before him.(1891, c. 89, §50; Code 1923, c. 3, §50.)

§27. Disorder at Polls.—The commissioners of election shall preserve order at, and in the vicinity of, the polls, and keep the way to the polls open and free from obstruction, and may direct disorderly persons to be removed therefrom, and, if necessary and proper, to be taken and held in custody until sunrise of the next day, or for any shorter time, which may be done by any sheriff or constable or other person or persons designated by the commissioners of election; and for such purpose no warrant or authority in writing shall be necessary; and the jail of the county or other place designated by the commissioners of election may be used as the place of custody; but any person so arrested shall have an opportunity to vote, if he be entitled to do so, before he shall be committed to jail, if he so desires and shall be prepared to do so promptly.(Const. 1863, art. 3, §12; 1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §46; Code 1923, c. 3, §46.)

§28. Time Allowed Employees to Vote.—Every person entitled to vote at any election, who may be employed by another on the day on which an election shall be held in this State, shall be given some period of three hours, or more if necessary, between the opening and the closing of the polls, on said day, for the purpose of enabling such person to repair to the place of voting to cast his vote and return; and he shall not be liable to any penalty and no deduction from his usual salary or wages shall be made on account of such absence. Any circuit court, or the judge thereof in vacation, may enforce the provisions of this section by mandamus, or otherwise, upon the application of any voter.[1891, c. 89, §52; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(13a), 52.]

§29. Counting and Destruction of Ballot Not Voted; Recordation of Number of Voters.—Immediately on closing the polls, the commissioners of election shall count all the ballots remaining not voted, record the number of the same on the tally sheets, and destroy all of such ballots immediately, by fire or otherwise. They shall then count the names entered on the poll books and set down at the foot of the lists in both words and figures the number of voters listed. The election commissioners and poll clerks and, in case of two election boards, the commissioners and clerks constituting the receiving board, shall sign their names immediately following the number of persons entered on the poll books as aforesaid.(1891, c. 89, §64; Code 1923, c. 3, §§64, 65.)

§30. Ascertaining the Result of the Election.—When the polls are closed in the election precinct where two election boards have served, both the receiving and counting boards shall conclude the counting of the votes cast, the tabulating and summarizing of the number of the votes cast, unite in certifying and attesting to the returns of the election, and join in making out the certificates of the result of the election provided for in this article. They shall not adjourn until the work shall be completed.

In all election precincts wherein the election shall be conducted by a single election board, immediately on closing the polls the commissioners and clerks shall proceed to ascertain the result of the election in the following manner: The ballot box shall then be opened, and one of the commissioners taking therefrom one ballot at a time, in the presence of all the other officers, shall read therefrom the designations of the offices to be filled, and the names of the persons voted for, for each office, and hand the ballot to another of such commissioners, differing in politics from himself, who, if satisfied that it was correctly read, shall string it on a thread. The contents of the ballots, as they are read, shall be entered by the poll clerks, under the supervision of the commissioners, on tally sheets for the purpose, by suitable marks, in ink, made opposite to or under the name of each person voted for, so as to show the number of votes received by every person, for any office to be filled. The ballots shall be counted as they are strung upon the thread, and whenever the number counted shall be equal to the number of votes entered upon the poll books, the excess, if any, remaining in the ballot box shall immediately be destroyed by fire or otherwise, without unfolding or unrolling the same, or allowing any one to examine or know the contents thereof.

They shall not adjourn until all of the votes are counted and certificates of the result made and signed by them. In precincts wherein there are double boards, the counting boards, in counting the ballots, shall proceed in the manner prescribed in this section.[1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89; 1917, c. 37; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(35), 63, 65.]

§31. Irregular Ballots; Notations Thereon; Memorandum of Votes Cast.—If two or more ballots be found folded or rolled together and the names voted for thereon be the same, one of them only shall be counted; but if the names voted for thereon be different, in any particular, neither of them shall be counted except as hereinbefore provided; and in either case, the commissioners of election shall, in writing in ink, place a common number on such ballots and state thereon that they were folded or rolled together when voted. If any ballot be found to contain more than the proper number of names for any office, such ballot shall not be counted as to such office. In any election for state senator, if a person be voted for on any ballot who is not a resident of the proper county, as required by the fourth section of the sixth article of the Constitution, such ballot shall not be counted for said office. Any ballot which is not indorsed with the names of the poll clerks, as provided in this chapter, shall be void and shall not be counted; and any ballot, or part of a ballot, from which it is impossible to determine the elector’s choice of candidates, shall not be counted as to the candidate or candidates affected thereby.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89; 1893, c. 25, §66; Code 1923, c. 3, §66.)

§32. Precinct Returns; Delivery of Certificates, Ballots and Ballot Boxes to County and Circuit Clerks.—As soon as the results are ascertained, the commissioners of election and poll clerks at each place of voting, shall make out and sign four certificates thereof, in the following form or to the following effect: “We, the undersigned, who acted as commissioners and poll clerks of the election held at precinct No........, in the district of ......, and county of ......., on the..........day of................, do certify that, having been first duly sworn, we have fairly and impartially held the said election according to law, and the result thereof is as follows: For the office of..................., (here designate the office, as for example, ‘Delegate for the county of Barbour,’ or ‘Senator for the first senatorial district,’ ‘Judge of the first circuit,’ ‘Representative in the congress of the United States for the first congressional district,’ ‘Governor of the State,’ ‘Judge of the supreme court of appeals,’ ‘Justice of the peace of said district,’ and so forth, as the case may be), ‘A. B. received.........votes, C. D........... votes, E. F...........votes,’ and so on throughout, stating, according to the truth, the full name of every person voted for, for every office, and in words at length, and also in figures, the number of votes received; and concluding as follows: Given under our hands this.........day of........................” The certificates shall contain complete returns of the polls taken at such place of voting for every office to be filled, and shall be sealed and disposed of as is provided in article four of this chapter for certificates as to the result of a primary election. When the certificates are signed, the ballots shall be inclosed by the commissioners in an envelope, which they shall seal up, and write their names in ink across the place or places where it is sealed, and indorse in ink on the outside of the envelope as follows: “Ballots of the election held at precinct No................., in the district of..............., and county of..............., the.......... day of.................” One of the commissioners of the election shall, within twelve hours after the completion of the count, tabulation and declaration of the result, deliver the ballots so sealed up, one set of the poll books and tally sheets, one of such certificates, the registration book and the ballot box or boxes, to the clerk of the county court, and one certificate and set of poll books and tally sheets, to the clerk of the circuit court, all of which shall be preserved in the respective offices of said clerks as in this chapter provided.[1863, c. 100; 1864, c. 16; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89; Code 1923, c. 3, §§37, 67, 98a(14).]

§33. Canvassing Board.—The commissioners of the county court shall be ex officio a board of canvassers, and, as such, shall keep in a well-bound book, marked “election record,” a complete record of all their proceedings in ascertaining and declaring the result of every election in their respective counties. They shall convene as such canvassing board at the courthouse on the fifth day (Sundays excepted) after every election held in their county, or in any district thereof, and the officers in whose custody the ballots, poll books, tally sheets and certificates have been placed shall lay the same before them for examination. They may, if deemed necessary, require the attendance of any of the commissioners, poll clerks or other persons present at the election, to appear and testify respecting the same, and make such other orders as shall seem proper, to procure correct returns and ascertain the true result of the election in their county; but in such case all the questions to the witnesses and all the answers thereto, and evidence, shall be taken down in writing and filed and preserved. All orders made shall be entered upon the record. They may adjourn from time to time, but no longer than absolutely necessary, and, when a majority of the commissioners are not present, their meeting shall stand adjourned till the next day, and so from day to day, till a quorum be present. The board, before proceeding to canvass the returns of the election, shall open each sealed package of ballots so laid before them, and, without unfolding them, count the number in each package and enter the same upon their record. The ballots shall then be again sealed up carefully in a new envelope, and each member of the board shall write his name across the place where such envelope is sealed. After canvassing the returns of the election, the board shall, upon the demand of any candidate voted for at such election, open and examine any one or more of the sealed packages of ballots, and recount the same; but in such case they shall seal the same again, along with the envelope above named, and the clerk of the county court and each member of the board shall write his name across the place or places where it is sealed, and indorse in ink, on the outside: “Ballots of the election held at precinct No.............. in the district of........................, and county of ................., on the.........day of............................” When they have made their certificates and declared the results as hereinafter provided, they shall deposit the sealed packages of ballots, poll books, tally sheets, and precinct certificates, with the clerks of the county and circuit courts, from whom they were received, who shall carefully preserve the same for sixty days, and if there be no contest pending as to any such election, and their further preservation be not required by any order of a court, such ballots, poll books, tally sheets and certificates shall be destroyed by fire or otherwise, without opening the sealed packages of ballots; and if there be such contest pending, then they shall be so destroyed as soon as the contest is ended. If the result of the election be not changed by such recount, the costs and expenses thereof shall be paid by the party at whose instance the same was made.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §68; Code 1923, c. 3, §68.)

§34. Record of Canvass.—Whenever an election is held in any county or district to fill any national, state, county, or district office, the board of canvassers of the county, or a majority of them, under the regulations prescribed in the next preceding section, shall carefully and impartially ascertain the result of the election in their county and in each district thereof, and shall record the same in the following form, or to the following effect: “The board of canvassers of the county of.................., having carefully and impartially examined the returns of the election held in said county, in each district thereof, on the..........day of................., do hereby certify that in said county for the office of ..............., A....B.... received.................votes, C...…. D...…… received................votes, and E.... F……… received...............votes. And we further certify that at said election held in the district of................, in the said county, to the office of.............., G.... H.... received...............votes, and I...…. J....… received...............votes.” (And so on as to each particular office.) In such certificates shall be set forth, according to the truth, the full name of every person voted for, and, in words at length, the number of votes received for any office. When the certificates are all entered, the record shall be signed by the board or a majority of them. The board shall then sign separate certificates of the result of the election within the county, for each of the offices to be filled.(Const. 1863, art. 7, §4; 1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §69; Code 1923, c. 3, §69.)

§35. Disposition of Certificates; Declaration of Result.—The separate certificates of the board of canvassers, made pursuant to the preceding section, shall be by them disposed of as follows: Of the certificates respecting the election for delegate or delegates in the legislature, they shall transmit one to each person voted for as delegate, and shall transmit one to the secretary of state, who shall submit the same to the house, on the first day of the next ensuing session, together with a list of the persons appearing thereby to be elected. Of the certificates respecting the election of state senator, they shall transmit one to each person voted for as state senator, and shall transmit one to the secretary of state, to be submitted by him to the senate, on the first day of the next ensuing session, together with a list of persons appearing thereby to be elected. Of the certificates respecting (the election of state officers, one, as to each of such officers, except judge of the supreme court of appeals, shall be sealed and transmitted by such commissioners to the secretary of state indorsed on the envelope as follows: “Returns of the election for state officers. ” The secretary of state shall deliver the same to the speaker of the house of delegates, on the first day of the next session of the legislature; and the speaker shall, immediately after the organization of the house, and before proceeding to other business, open and publish the same, in the presence of a majority of each house of the legislature, which bodies shall, for that purpose, assemble in the hall of the house of delegates. The person having the highest number of votes for any one of such offices shall be declared duly elected thereto; but if two or more persons have the same and the highest number of votes for the same office, the legislature shall, by a joint vote of the two houses, choose one of said persons for such office; and one of each of such last mentioned certificates shall also be transmitted, under seal, to the governor, who shall immediately tabulate the vote in all the counties, for each office, and cause the same to be printed in some newspaper published at the seat of government. Of the certificates respecting the election for United States senator, member of the house of representatives in the congress of the United States, judge of the supreme court of appeals, judge of a circuit court, and electors of president and vice president of the United States, respectively, the commissioners shall transmit one in each case to the person voted for, and one to the governor; and the governor shall ascertain who are elected, and make proclamation thereof. Of the certificates respecting the election of all county and district officers, one shall be transmitted to each person for whom votes were cast.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89; 1917, c. 61, §70; Code 1923, c. 3, §70.)

§36. Tie Vote; Decision.—Whenever the governor is, or the board of canvassers of a county are, to declare the result of an election, and it appears to him or them that two or more of the persons voted for have received the highest and an equal number of votes for the same office, so that the election to the office is not decided by the returns, he, or they, being required to declare the result, shall decide the tie by the election of one of such persons: Provided, however, That in case of a tie in the vote for school commissioner or president of a district board of education of a county, the county superintendent shall appoint one of the contestants as commissioner or president.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §71; 1919, c. 2, §42; Code 1923, c. 3, §71, c. 45, §42.)

§37. Disposition of Affidavits Used at Polls.—All affidavits provided for in this chapter, to be used on the day of election, at the several polling places, shall, unless in this chapter otherwise directed, at the close of the count, be placed in a strong and durable envelope, by the commissioners of election, and be securely sealed by them, and each of them shall indorse his name on the back of such envelope, which shall, within two days after the election, be delivered by one of the commissioners of election to the clerk of the circuit court of the county, whose duty it shall be to carefully preserve the same, and deliver it, with the seal unbroken, to the foreman of the grand jury when next in session. It shall be the duty of such grand jury to inquire into the truth or falsity of such affidavits.(1891, c. 89, §83; Code 1923, c. 3, §83.)

§38. Destruction of Unused Ballots.—The board of ballot commissioners of each county, or the chairman thereof, shall preserve the ballots that are left over in their hands, after supplying the precincts as provided, until the close of the polls on the day of election, and such ballots shall then be destroyed by such board, or the chairman thereof, by fire or otherwise.(1891, c. 89, §43; Code 1923, c. 3, §43.)

§39. Destruction of Registration Lists, Affidavits, Certificates, and Designation of Election Officers.—At the expiration of one year after any election, the affidavits taken and returned by any registrar or any election officer, applications for absent voters’ ballots, rejected absent voters’ ballots, and certificates of nominations of candidates shall be destroyed; at the expiration of two years from the date of any election, the written designations of election officers and of ballot commissioners shall be destroyed; whenever a new registration of the voters shall be made and the new registration lists returned and filed in the office of the clerk of the county court, the old registration lists then on file in such office shall be destroyed. If the further preservation of any of the documents mentioned in this section shall be required by the order of any court, the same shall be destroyed at the expiration of the time fixed for the further preservation thereof by such order.[1891, c. 89; 1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6; Code 1923, c. 3, §§28, 98a(14).]

§40. Compensation of Election Officers; Expenses.—Each commissioner of election, poll clerk, and ballot commissioner, shall be allowed a sum to be fixed by the county court, not exceeding five dollars for each day he shall serve as such, including the time necessary to procure from and return to the clerk of the county and circuit courts the ballots, ballot boxes, poll books, tally sheets and other supplies: Provided, That the ballot commissioners shall not receive allowance for more than five days each for services at any primary, general or special election. The compensation of election officers, cost of printing ballots, and all other expenses incurred in providing for holding and making the return of elections shall be audited by the county court and paid out of the county treasury.[1863, c. 100; 1864, c. 16; 1872-3, c. 118; 1881, c. 10; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §87; 1911, c. 61; 1917, c. 37; 1920, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 2, §6; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(37), 86, 87, c. 4, §12; 1923, c. 24, §6.]

§41. Mandamus, Certiorari, or Prohibition to Election Officers.—Any officer or person, upon whom any duty is devolved by this chapter, may be compelled to perform the same by writ of mandamus. The circuit courts, or the judges thereof in vacation, shall have jurisdiction by such writ, and shall, upon affidavit filed, showing a proper case, issue such writ, to be returned, heard and determined without unnecessary delay. If a circuit court, or a judge thereof in vacation, shall proceed against any board of canvassers by mandamus, or otherwise, to control, in any manner, the action of such board in the performance of its duties, under the provisions of this article, in any case concerning the election of a member of the house of delegates, or a state senator, and shall fail to enter a final order in such proceedings, settling all questions presented therein within fifteen days from the commencement of such proceedings, unless delayed by proceedings in the supreme court of appeals, or a judge thereof in vacation, the same shall thereupon be dismissed; and such board shall convene within not less than five days thereafter, and proceed forthwith to the performance of its duties under the provisions of this article. A mandamus shall lie from the supreme court of appeals, or any one of the judges thereof in vacation, returnable before said court, to compel any officer herein to do and perform legally any duty herein required of him. And respecting the election of a member of the house of delegates and state senator, a writ of certiorari, mandamus or prohibition shall lie from the supreme court of appeals, or a judge thereof in vacation, returnable before said court, to correct any error of law, and review and correct the proceedings of any circuit court, or the judge thereof in vacation, or any board of canvassers. When any such writ of mandamus, prohibition or certiorari shall be issued by said court, or a judge thereof in vacation, it shall be the duty of said court to convene in special session at the state capital, not later than ten days from the date of the writ, to hear and determine all matters arising upon such writ, which matters shall have precedence over all other business pending in said court, and be determined within five days from the assembling thereof, and, in any case, in ample time for the case to be remanded and final action taken by the circuit court and the board of canvassers, in order that such board may perform its duty and issue the certificate of election before the second Wednesday in January, then next following. In mandamus and prohibition proceedings under this section the same may be upon affidavit alone.[1891, c. 89; 1893, c. 25, §89; 1911, c. 45, §16; 1916, c. 6; Code 1923, c. 3, §§89, 98a(16).]

§1. Persons Absent From State May Vote.—Any qualified elector of the State of West Virginia, having duly registered, who, by reason of the nature of his employment, business, or on account of other unavoidable causes, expects to be absent from the State on the day holding any primary, general or special election, may vote at any such election as hereinafter provided. The provisions of this article shall apply only to electors necessarily absent from the State on election day by reason of business, employment, illness, or other unavoidable cause.(1921, c. 55, §1; Code 1923, c. 3, §101.)

§2. Application for Absent Voter’s Ballot.—An elector, as designated in section one of this article, expecting to be absent from the State on the day of any primary, general or special election, may, not more than thirty nor less than ten days prior to the date of any such election, make application to the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which his voting precinct is situated for an official absent voter’s ballot or ballots to be voted at such election.(1921, c. 55, §2; Code 1923, c. 3, §102.)

§3. Blanks Furnished by Clerk; Oath.—Application for an absent voter’s ballot shall be made in person or by mail, on a blank to be furnished by the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the applicant is a qualified elector. Such blank shall, upon request, be sent to the applicant by mail by such clerk, or delivered to such applicant in person upon his appearance at the office of such clerk. Application for an absent voter’s ballot shall be substantially in the following form, and shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant, as hereinafter provided, before some officer authorized by law to administer oaths, and having an official seal. If the applicant appears in person at the office of the clerk of the circuit court, such clerk shall administer the necessary oath.

(1921, c. 55, §3; Code 1923, c. 3, §103.)

§4. Other Duties of Clerk.—Upon receipt of such application the clerk of the circuit court shall file the same in his office and enter the name of the elector, his home address, the address to which the ballot or ballots are to be sent, and the date of receiving the application, upon a list to be kept for that purpose. As the matters occur, he shall enter upon such list the date of mailing the ballot or ballots to such elector, the date of receiving the ballot or ballots from such elector, and such other information as may seem necessary or advisable.(1921, c. 55, §4; Code 1923, c. 3, §104.)

§5. Mailing of Ballots.—The clerk of the circuit court of the county in which an applicant is a qualified elector, on the tenth day prior to the election at which the absent voter’s ballot is to be used, but not before said tenth day, shall mail to all duly registered applicants who have executed and filed their applications on or before said tenth day, postage prepaid, to the address named in the application, an official ballot or ballots (if more than one are to be voted at such election), or the applicant may obtain such ballot or ballots by applying personally at the office of such clerk of the circuit court not more than ten nor less than four days before such election. The clerk of the circuit court, on each and every day after said tenth day until and including the fourth day before the election at which such absent voter’s ballot is to be used, but not after said fourth day, shall mail to each duly registered applicant, on the day of the filing of the application an official ballot or ballots in the manner that the ballots were mailed on said tenth day. In computing the tenth and the fourth day before the election day, the date of the election shall be excluded. Before any ballot is mailed or delivered, the clerk shall affix his official seal and he and the other members of the board of ballot commissioners shall place their signatures near the lower left hand corner on the back thereof.(1921, c. 55, §5; Code 1923, c. 3, §105.)

§6. Ballot Envelopes.—The clerk of the circuit court of the county shall enclose the ballot or ballots in an envelope, unsealed, to be furnished by such clerk, which envelope shall bear upon the face thereof the name, official title and post-office address of such clerk and upon of the other side a printed affidavit in substantially the following form:

(1921, c. 55, §6; Code 1923, c. 3, §106.)

§7. Affidavit of Absent Voter; Marking and Return of Ballot.—Such absent voter shall make and subscribe to the affidavit provided for in section six of this article before any officer authorized by law to administer oaths and having an official seal, and such voter shall thereupon, in the presence of such officer, and of no other person, mark such ballot or ballots, but in such manner that such officer cannot know how such ballot or ballots are marked, and such ballot or ballots shall then, in the presence of such officer, be folded by such voter so that each ballot will be separate and so as to conceal the marking, and shall, in the presence of such officer, be inclosed in such envelope, together with any unused ballot, and the envelope shall be securely sealed. The envelope shall then be mailed by such voter, by registered mail, postage prepaid, to the officer issuing the ballot, or, if more convenient, it may be delivered in person. Any such ballot to be valid shall be received by the clerk of the circuit court of the county in time for him to deliver the same to the election commissioners before the closing of the polls.(1921, c. 55, §7; Code 1923, c. 3, §107.)

§8. Filing of Voted Ballots.—Upon receipt of an absent voter’s ballot, the clerk of the circuit court of the county shall forthwith inclose the same, unopened, together with the application made by such absent voter, in a large carrier envelope, which shall be securely sealed and indorsed with the name and official title of such clerk and the words: “This envelope contains an absent voter’s ballot to be voted at precinct No………………....in...................district in................county, and must be opened only at the polls on election day while such polls are open.” The clerk shall insert the name of the district and the number of the precinct in which the absent voter intends to vote; and shall thereafter keep the same securely in his office until delivered by him as provided in section nine of this article.(1921, c. 55, §8; Code 1923, c. 3, §108.)

§9. Delivery of Ballots to Commissioner.—In the event that an absent voter’s ballot shall be received by the clerk of the circuit court prior to the delivery of the official ballots to the election commissioner of the precinct in which such elector resides, such inclosed ballot and application, sealed in the carrier envelope, shall be delivered to the election commissioner of such precinct along with such official ballots; but if received after the delivery of such official ballots, the same shall be delivered to the election commissioners of such precinct, by the clerk in person, or by messenger, before the closing of the polls, provided such ballots are received by the clerk in time to make such delivery.(1921, c. 55, §9; Code 1923, c. 3, §109.)

§10. Canvass of Ballots.—At any time between the opening and closing of the polls on such election day, the commissioners of election of such precinct, in the presence of each other, shall open the outer or carrier envelope only, announce the absent voter’s name and compare the signature upon the application with the signature upon the affidavit on the ballot envelope. In case the election commissioners find the affidavit properly executed and attested, that the signatures correspond, that the applicant is a duly qualified elector of the precinct, that he is duly registered, and that the applicant has not voted in person at such election, or, in case of a primary election, if he has not previously exercised the right of suffrage, if he shall have executed the proper declaration relative to his age and qualifications and the party with which he intends to affiliate, the election commissioner shall open the envelope containing the absent voter’s ballot in such manner as not to deface or destroy the affidavit thereon and take out the ballot or ballots inclosed therein, without unfolding or permitting the same to be unfolded or examined. The commissioners shall then deliver such ballot or ballots to the poll clerks, who shall at once proceed to write their names on the back of each of such ballots, in the same manner as other ballots are required to be indorsed. A commissioner shall thereupon deposit the same in the ballot box, and the poll clerks shall enter the absent voter’s name in the poll books the same as if he had been present and voted in person. In the event that such affidavit is found to be insufficient, or that the signatures do not correspond, or that the applicant is not a duly qualified elector in such precinct, or that he has voted in person at such election, or that he has not registered, or that the ballot is open, or has been opened and resealed, or that the ballot envelope contains more than one ballot of any one kind, or, in case of a primary election, if he shall have failed to execute the proper declarations relative to his age and qualifications and the party with which he intends to affiliate, such ballot or ballots shall not be accepted or counted. Every ballot not accepted or counted for any of the reasons hereinbefore enumerated shall, without unfolding the same to disclose how it is marked, be indorsed on the back thereof with the word “Rejected” (giving the reason or reasons therefor). All rejected absent voters’ ballots shall be inclosed and securely sealed in an envelope, on which the election commissioners shall indorse the words “Absent voters’ defective ballots,” and returned to the same officer and in the same manner as by law provided for the return and preservation of official ballots cast at the election.(1921, c. 55, §10; Code 1923, c. 3, §110.)

§11. Right to Challenge.—The vote of any absent voter may be challenged for any cause for which it could be challenged if the voter was present and voting in person.(1921, c. 55, §11; Code 1923, c. 3, §111.)

§12. Deceased Voter’s Ballot.—Whenever it shall be made to appear by due proof to the commissioners that any voter, who has marked and forwarded his ballot as hereinbefore provided in this article, has died, then the ballot of such deceased voter shall be returned by the commissioners with defective ballots, but the casting of an absent voter’s ballot of a deceased voter shall not invalidate the election.(1921, c. 55, §12; Code 1923, c. 3, §112.)

§13. Return of Voter to Residence.—This article shall not be so construed as to prohibit any absent voter, returning to his place of residence, from voting in person at the proper precinct at any election contemplated in this article, notwithstanding that he may have made application for an absent voter’s ballot or ballots, and such ballot or ballots may have been mailed or otherwise delivered by the proper clerk: Provided, however, That such voter has not availed himself of the privileges of an absent voter, as provided in this article, and voted the ballot or ballots mailed or otherwise delivered by such clerk: Provided further, That he shall return such ballot or ballots, if received, to the commissioners of the election of the precinct of his residence, by whom the same shall be marked “Cancelled,” and be destroyed with the unused ballots.(1921, c. 55, §16; Code 1923, c. 3, §116.)

§14. Official Character and Record of Ballots.—The ballot or ballots, to be delivered to and marked by any absent voter, shall be of the regular official type of ballot to be used at such election. The clerk shall keep a record of all ballots so delivered for the purpose of absent voting, as well as all ballots, if any, marked before him, and shall deliver to the commissioner of the election to whom the ballots for the precinct are delivered, and at the time of the delivery of such ballots, a certificate stating the number of ballots delivered or mailed to absent voters, and those marked before him, if any, and the names of the voters to whom such ballots have been delivered or mailed, or by whom they have been marked, if marked before him.(1921, c. 55, §17; Code 1923, c. 3, §117.)

§15. Printing and Distribution of Ballots.—Absent voters’ ballots shall be in all respects like other ballots. Not less than fifteen nor more than thirty days prior to the date on which any primary, general or special election is to be held, the clerk of the circuit courts of the several counties shall estimate and determine the number of absent voters’ ballots of all kinds which will be required in their respective counties for any such election. The ballots for the election of all officers, or the ratification, acceptance or rejection of any measure or proposition, to be voted for by the electors, shall be prepared and printed under the direction of the board of ballot commissioners. The several county boards of ballot commissioners shall prepare and have printed, in such number as they shall determine, such absent voters’ ballots as are to be printed under their directions as hereinbefore provided, and such ballots shall be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court of the county not less than ten days prior to the day of the election at which they are to be used.(1921, c. 55, §18; Code 1923, c. 3, §118.)

§1. False Return of Election; Tampering With Ballots, Certificates or Returns.—When any person named in the following subdivisions shall offend in any of the particulars therein specified he shall be punished as provided in the last subdivision:

(a) Any commissioner of election or poll clerk who shall knowingly make or cause to be made, or conspire with others to make, a false return of the result of the votes cast for any candidate at any precinct in an election held pursuant to law; or

(b) Any commissioner of election receiving the ballot of a voter to be deposited in the ballot box at any election precinct, who shall put another ballot in the box instead of the one received by him; or

(c) Any commissioner of election or poll clerk, who knowingly shall count and string a ballot not taken from the ballot box, in lieu of one taken, or which should have been taken from such ballot box; or

(d) Any commissioner of a county court, whether acting as such or ex officio as a member of a board of canvassers or otherwise, clerk of a county court, or other person, who shall, except as authorized by law, abstract any ballot from any package of ballots voted, sealed or returned from any election precinct, either before or after they are filed with the clerk of the county court, or who shall in any manner change any such ballot from what it was when voted by the voter, or who shall put another ballot in such package in the place of the one so abstracted therefrom; or

(e) Any commissioner of a county court, whether acting as such commissioner or ex officio as a member of a board of canvassers, or a otherwise, who shall knowingly make and enter of record, or in any way aid, counsel, or advise the same to be done, or permit the same to be done without objection on his part, any false or fraudulent statement of the result of any election held within the county; or

(f) Any person who shall falsely make, or fraudulently deface, or fraudulently destroy, any certificate of nomination, or any part thereof, or file any certificate of nomination, knowing the same, or any part thereof, to be falsely made, or suppress any certificate of nomination which has been duly filed, or any part thereof; or erase, deface, or change in any manner, any election record, or any ballot, poll book, tally sheet or certificate of election, deposited with either of the clerks of the county or circuit courts; or conspire with another to do any of said acts; or induce or attempt to induce any other persons to do any of said acts; or

(g) Any person who shall aid, assist, counsel or advise in the commission of any of the offenses above specified, whether or not said acts, or any of them, be committed or attempted to be committed;

(h) Every such offender shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years.(1891, c. 89, §§74, 78; Code 1923, c. 3, §§74, 78.)

§2. False Swearing; Aiding and Abetting.—If any election official, or other person, making any affidavit required under any provision of this chapter, shall therein knowingly swear falsely, or if any person shall counsel, advise, aid or abet another in the commission of false swearing, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction therefor, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned in the county jail for a period of not more than one year.[1891, c. 89; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6; 1921, c. 55; Code 1923, c. 3, §§51, 98a(5), 114.]

§3. Forgery; Employing Forged Document.—Any person, who, without the assent of another, shall sign the name of such other person to any certificate, affidavit, ballot, report, statement or writing, required under any provision of this chapter, with intent to mislead and deceive; or who shall use or employ any certificate, affidavit, ballot, report, statement or writing to which the name of a person has been signed without the authority of such person, knowing that such name has been so signed with intent to mislead or deceive, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years.

§4. Unauthorized Printing or Delivery of Ballots.—No one, except the person employed and authorized by the ballot commissioners to do so, shall print any ballot for any election. No person engaged or employed in printing such ballots shall deliver any ballot to any person except a member of the board of ballot commissioners, or knowingly permit any other person to obtain possession of any ballot; or print, or cause to be printed, any ballot in any other form, or with the names of any other persons thereon, or with the names thereon spelled or arranged in any other manner than that prescribed by the ballot commissioners. No person shall print, have in his possession, or deliver, any imitation ballot having a similitude or likeness to the official ballot, and which would be calculated to deceive: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall prohibit any person from printing or having in his possession a sample ballot printed on paper of a color different from the official ballot, and not calculated to deceive. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years.(1891, c. 89, §35; Code 1923, c. 3, §§35, 38, 74.)

§5. Failure of Commissioner to Call for Election Supplies.—Any commissioner of election who has been designated to call for election supplies as provided in articles four and five of this chapter and who shall willfully or negligently fail to appear at the offices of the clerks of the circuit and county courts of his county and procure such supplies, as provided in such articles, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars.(1891, c. 89; Code 1923, c. 3, §41.)

§6. Opening, Destruction or Misdelivery of Ballots.—Any clerk of court, poll clerk, member of the board of ballot commissioners, commissioner of election, or messenger intrusted with the custody of the ballots, who shall open unlawfully any of the packages in which the ballots are contained, or permit any of them to be opened, or destroy any of such ballots, or permit them to be destroyed, or give, or deliver any such packages or ballots to any person not lawfully entitled to receive them, as in this chapter provided, or conspire to procure, or in any way aid, abet, or connive at any robbery, loss or unlawful destruction of any such ballots or packages, shall be guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years.(1891, c. 89, §§38, 75; Code 1923, c. 3, §§38, 75.)

§7. Disclosing How Voter Voted; Electioneering; Marks on Ballot; Receiving and Delivering Ballot.—No officer of election shall disclose to any person the name of any candidate for whom a voter has voted. No officer of election shall do any electioneering on election day. No person shall do any electioneering on election day within any polling place, or within sixty feet of any polling place. No person shall apply for or receive any ballot in any polling place, other than that in which he is entitled to vote, nor shall any person examine a ballot which any voter has prepared for voting, or solicit the voter to show the same, nor ask, nor make any arrangement, directly or indirectly, with any voter, to vote an open ballot. No person, except a commissioner of election, shall receive from any voter a ballot prepared by him for voting. No voter shall receive a ballot from any person other than one of the poll clerks; nor shall any person other than a poll clerk deliver a ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted by such commissioner. No voter shall deliver any ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted, except the one he receives from the poll clerk. No voter shall place any mark upon his ballot, or suffer or permit any other person to do so, by which it may be afterward identified as the ballot voted by him. Whoever shall violate any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.(1891, c. 89, §§77, 79; Code 1923, c. 3, §§77, 79.)

§8. Procuring Distinguishing Marks to be Placed on Ballot.—If any person shall induce, or attempt to induce, any voter to write, paste or otherwise place on his ballot the name of any person, or any sign or device of any kind, as a distinguishing mark by which to indicate to any other person how such voter voted, or shall enter into or attempt to form any agreement or conspiracy with any other person to induce or attempt to induce a voter to so place a distinguishing name or mark on his ballot, whether or not such act be committed or attempted to be committed, such person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.(1891, c. 89, §76; Code 1923, c. 3, §76.)

§9. Interference With Ballots or Other Record.—Any person not duly authorized by law who shall, during the progress of any election in this State, or after the closing of the polls and before the ballots are counted and the results ascertained, or within twelve months thereafter, open without breaking, or break open or violate, the seals or locks of any ballot box, paper, envelope, or bag, in which ballots have been deposited at or after such election, or who shall obtain possession of such ballot box, paper, envelope or bag containing such ballots, and cancel, withhold, or destroy such ballots, or who shall fraudulently or forcibly add to or diminish the number of ballots legally deposited therein, or who shall fraudulently make any erasure or alteration of any kind, upon any tally sheet, poll book, list of voters, or election returns, deposited therein, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years.[1890, c. 16, §5; Code 1923, c. 5, §8a(5).]

§10. Unlawful Removal or Possession of Ballots.—Any person who shall unlawfully take or remove, with or without the consent of the law ful custodian thereof, any ballot from the place at which such ballots are lawfully kept for the time being; or unlawfully remove or attempt to remove any ballot from the election room; or have in his possession outside of the election room during the election any ballot, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail for not more than one year.(1891, c. 89, §§39, 62; Code 1923, c. 3, §§39, 62.)

§11. Removal or Destruction of Supplies.—If any person shall, during the election, remove or destroy any of the supplies or other conveniences placed in the booths or compartments as aforesaid, or delivered to the voter for the purpose of enabling the voter to prepare his ballot, or shall, during an election, remove, tear down or deface, the cards printed for the instruction of the voters, or shall, during an election, destroy or remove any booths or other convenience provided for such election, or shall induce or attempt to induce any person to commit any of such acts, whether or not any of such acts be committed, or attempted to be committed, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.(1891, c. 89, §82; Code 1923, c. 3, §82.)

§12. Entering Election Room or Remaining Within Sixty Feet of Polling Place.—If any person, not herein authorized so to do, shall enter or attempt to enter the election room, except upon a lawful errand and for a proper purpose, or shall remain within sixty feet of the polling place, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than thirty days.(1891, c. 89, §81; Code 1923, c. 3, §81.)

§13. Unlawful Registration or Rejection of Voter.—Any registrar or county clerk who shall willfully register the name of any person not a qualified voter in his precinct, or willfully reject from registration the name of any such qualified voter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §98a(12); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(12).]

§14. Failure to Make Return of Election; Divulging Result.—Any election officer who shall willfully fail, neglect or refuse to prepare and return certificates of the result of election in the manner provided, within twelve hours after the completion of the count, tabulation and declaration of the result; or who shall divulge the result of the count of the ballots at any time prior to the closing of the polls, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1917, c. 37, §6; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a(38).]

§15. Violence in Preventing or Interfering With Election.—Any person who shall, by force, menace, fraud or intimidation, prevent or attempt to prevent any officer whose duty it is by law to assist in holding an election, or in counting the votes cast thereat, and certifying and returning the result thereof, from discharging his duties according to law; or who shall, by violence, threatening gestures, speeches, force, menace or intimidation, prevent or attempt to prevent an election being held; or who shall in any manner obstruct or attempt to obstruct the holding of an election, or who shall, by any manner of force, fraud, menace or intimidation, prevent or attempt to prevent any voter from attending any election, or from freely exercising his right of suffrage at any election at which he is entitled to vote, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.(Const. 1863, art. 3, §12; Const. 1872, art. 4, §11; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 139, §7; Code 1923, c. 5, §7.)

§16. Failure to Assist in Preventing Disorder.—Any person who, being thereto commanded by the commissioners of election, or either of them, shall fail or refuse to assist to the utmost of his power, in whatever may be necessary or proper to prevent intimidation, disorder or violence at the polls, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars.(1891, c. 89; Code 1923, c. 3, §47.)

§17. Bribery to Procure Nomination at Convention.—Any person, being a candidate for nomination to any office of profit or trust under the Constitution or laws of this State, or of the United States, before any convention held by any political party, who loans, pays or gives, or promises to loan, pay or give, any money or other thing of value, to any delegate; or who furnishes or pays the transportation or expenses of any delegate to any convention, for the purpose of securing the vote or influence of such delegate, for his nomination; and whoever hires or otherwise employs for consideration any person to work for the nomination of any person to any office, or to work for the selection of any delegate to be chosen at any party convention, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1890, c. 16, §1; Code 1923, c. 5, §8a(1).]

§18. Bribery by Candidates in Election.—Whoever, being a candidate for any office, loans or gives, directly or indirectly, or offers or promises to loan, or give, any money, or other thing of value, to any elector, for the purpose of influencing or retaining the vote of such elector, or inducing such elector to work or labor for the election of such candidate, or to refrain from working or laboring for the election of any other candidate; or to any person to secure or to retain the influence or vote of such elector, in his behalf as such candidate, or to be used by such person in any way to influence the vote of any elector, or of electors generally, for himself or any candidate or ticket, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1890, c. 16, §2; Code 1923, c. 5, §8a(2).]

§19. Bribery by Any Other Person; Furnishing Money for Such Purpose.—Any person who shall hire, or otherwise employ for consideration, another to work at the polls on election day, for the election of any candidate to be voted for at such election, or shall, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf give, lend or agree to give or lend, or offer, promise, or promise to procure, any money or valuable consideration, or any place or employment, public or private, to or for any voter, or to or for any person on behalf of any voter, or to or for any person in order to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote for any particular person or candidate or object, or to refrain therefrom; or shall do any such act as aforesaid on account of such voter having voted or refrained from voting at an election, or having voted for any particular person or candidate or object, or refraining therefrom; or shall advance, pay or contribute, or cause to be paid or contributed, any money or other thing of value to or for the use of any other person with the intent that such money or other thing of value, or any part thereof, shall be expended in bribery at any primary or other election; shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be confined in jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1890, c. 16; 1905, c. 43; 1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §14; Code 1923, c. 3, §100, c. 5, §8b(14), (f), (g).]

§20. Bribery by a Corporation.—Any corporation which shall, by its officers, agents or otherwise, offer, give or use, or cause to be offered, given or used, or place or cause to be placed, in the possession, under the control or at the disposal of another, to be offered, given or used, directly or indirectly, money or other thing of value, for the purpose of influencing any voter or voters to vote for a particular candidate, or in any particular manner, or upon any particular side of any question to be decided at any such election, or to influence the result of any such election, it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than five thousand nor more than twenty thousand dollars for every such offense, at the discretion of the jury.(1882, c. 139, §8; Code 1923, c. 5, §8.)

§21. Receiving or Soliciting a Bribe.—Any voter who shall, before or during any election, directly or indirectly, by himself, or by any other person on his behalf, solicit, demand, receive, agree or contract for any money, gift, loan, or valuable consideration, office, place or employment, or solicit any indorsement on a note or other paper, public or private, for himself or for any other person, for voting or agreeing to vote, or for voting for any person or candidate or object, or agreeing so to vote, or from refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting at any election; or any person who shall, after any election, directly or indirectly, by himself, or by any other person on his behalf, solicit, demand or receive any money or valuable consideration on account of any person having voted or refrained from voting, or having induced any other person to vote or refrain from voting at any election, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1905, c. 43; 1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §14; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(14), (e).]

§22. Illegal Voting; Deceiving Voters.—If any person knowingly vote when not legally entitled; or vote more than once in the same election; or knowingly vote or attempt to vote more than one ballot for the same office, or on the same question; or procure or assist in procuring an illegal vote to be admitted, or received, at an election, knowing the same to be illegal; or a legal vote to be rejected, knowing the same to be legal; or, with intent to deceive, alter the ballot of a voter by marking out the name of any person for whom such voter desires to vote; or, with like intent, write the name of any person on such ballot other than those directed by the voter; or with like intent, make any alteration thereof, whether such ballot be voted or not; or defraud any voter at any election, by deceiving and causing him to vote for a different person for any office than he intended or desired to vote for, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall for each offense be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the county jail for not more than a one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.(1863, c. 100; 1882, c. 139; 1887, c. 57, §5; Code 1923, c. 5, §5.)

§23. Improper Transfer Certificate.—Any registrar, or any clerk of any county court, who shall issue any transfer certificate to any person, transferring such person from one election precinct to another in the county, knowing, or having reason to believe, that such person is not entitled to such certificate; or any voter who shall receive from any registrar or clerk any such transfer certificate, knowing, or having reason to believe, that he is not entitled to such certificate, and shall present the same to an election officer at any voting precinct in the county and vote or attempt to vote because of having presented the same, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1908, c. 19; 1911, c. 45; 1916, c. 6, §98a(9); Code 1923, c. 3, §98a(9).]

§24. Voting in Primary When Not Entitled.—Any person voting, in any primary election, any ticket of a party other than that of which he is registered as a member, and any election officer receiving the vote of any such person, knowing, or having reason to believe, that such voter is not a member of the party the ticket of which he is voting; or who, having signed or joined in any petition or certificate nominating any candidate for office, shall, at the primary election to be held to nominate candidates for the same office, vote at such primary election; shall in each in stance be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.[1915, cc. 26, 28; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., cc. 5, 6; Code 1923, c. 3, §§26a(23), 98a (11).]

§25. Violations Concerning Absent Voters’ Ballots.—Any person who, having procured an absent voter’s official ballot or ballots, shall wilfully neglect or refuse to return the same as provided in article six of this chapter, or who shall otherwise wilfully violate any of the provisions of said article six of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than two hundred and fifty dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than three months. If the clerk of the circuit court of any county, or any member of the board of ballot commissioners, or any election officer, shall refuse or neglect to perform any of the duties required of him by any of the provisions of article six of this chapter, or shall otherwise violate any of the provisions of said article six of this chapter, he shall, in each instance, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than six months.(1921, c. 55, §14; Code 1923, c. 3, §114.)

§26. Employees; Time to Vote.—Any corporation which, and any officer, agent or manager of any corporation, or any employer, who, shall prevent or attempt to prevent any voter in its or his employ from attending any election, or from freely exercising his right of suffrage, at any election, at which he is entitled to vote, by any threat, direct or indirect, express or implied, to discharge such voter or deprive him of his employment, or shall discharge such voter or deprive him of his employment because of any vote he may cast, or refuse to cast, at any election at which he is entitled to vote, under the provisions of this chapter, shall, in each instance, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars.(1882, c. 139, §7; 1891, c. 89, §52; Code 1923, c. 3, §52, c. 5, §7.)

§27. Failure to Destroy Unused Ballots.—For failure to destroy the ballots left over after supplying the polls, as provided in article five of this chapter, each member of the board of ballot commissioners shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars.(1891, c. 89; Code 1923, c. 3, §43.)

§28. Betting on Elections.—If any person bet or wager money or other thing of value on any election held in this State, he shall forfeit the value of such money or other thing and fifty dollars in addition thereto for every such offense.(Code 1868, c. 5, §9; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 139; Code 1923, c. 5, §9.)

§29. Punishment Where no Other Penalty Prescribed.—Any person who shall commit any act made an offense by any provision of this chapter, for which no penalty or punishment is prescribed by any other provision contained therein, or any person who shall fail to perform any duty prescribed therein which has not been specifically made an offense, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail for not more than one year.(1882, c. 139; 1887, c. 57; 1891, c. 89; Code 1923, c. 3, §80, c. 5, §§1, 16.)

§30. Limitation of Prosecutions.—No person shall be prosecuted for any crime or offense under any provision of this chapter, unless upon an indictment found and presentment made within one year after the date of the commission of the crime or offense.(1908, c. 18, §1; Code 1923, c. 5, §16a.)

§1. Definition of Terms Used in Article.—The term “candidate” shall include any person whose name is printed on an official ballot for public office, and any person who has been proposed for nomination or election to public office, and who either tacitly or expressly consents to so be considered, except candidates for president and vice president of the United States, and presidential electors.

The term “financial agent” shall include any person acting for and by himself, or any two or more natural persons acting together or cooperating in a financial way to aid or take part in the nomination or election of any candidate for public office, or to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party or principle at any election, or any proposition submitted to a vote at a public election.

The term “public office’’ shall include any elective office provided for by the Constitution or laws of the United States or of this State to which a salary or other compensation attaches.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §2; Code 1923, c. 5, 8b (2).]

§2. Accounts of Expenditures in Elections.—At all primary elections for the nomination of candidates, and for the election of party committeemen, and at all other elections for public officers (except elections for officers in towns or cities and for magisterial and school district officers), records of receipts and expenditures for political purposes shall be kept by or on behalf of all candidates; sworn statements of such receipts and expenditures shall be made and filed as public records by all candidates and by their political agents, representatives, or any person acting for or on behalf of any candidate, and the treasurers of all political committees; and such receipts and expenditures shall be subject to regulation by the provisions of this article.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §1; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(1).]

§3. Treasurers of Political Committees.—Every political committee shall appoint and retain a treasurer, to receive, keep and disburse all sums of money which may be collected or received by such committee, or by any of its members, for election expenses; and, unless such treasurer is first appointed and thereafter retained, it shall be unlawful for a political committee or any of its members to collect, receive or disburse money for any such purposes. All moneys collected or received by any political committee, or by any of its members, for election expenses, shall be paid over to, and pass through the hands of, the treasurer, and shall be disbursed by him; and it shall be unlawful for any political committee, or any of its members, to disburse any money for election expenses unless such money shall be paid to, and disbursed by, the treasurer. The same person may be designated to act as treasurer for two or more political committees.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §3; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(3).]

§4. Written Designation of Treasurer or Financial Agent.—No person shall act as the treasurer of any political committee, or as financial agent for any candidate for nomination or election to any office to be filled by the voters of the entire State, delegates and alternates at large to a national convention, and candidates for president of the United States, unless a written statement designating him as such treasurer or financial agent shall be filed with the secretary of state, at least sixty days before the election at which he is to act. No person shall act as treasurer of any political committee or as financial agent for any candidate to be nominated or elected by the voters of any political division less than the entire State, and greater than a county, including delegates to national conventions, unless a written statement designating him as such treasurer or financial agent is filed with the clerk of the county court of each county within such political division at least sixty days before the election at which he is to act. No person shall act as treasurer of any political committee, or as financial agent for any candidate to be nominated or elected by the voters of a county or district therein, or as the treasurer or financial agent for a candidate for the nomination or election to any other office not herein mentioned, unless a written statement designating him as such treasurer or financial agent shall be filed with the clerk of the county court at least sixty days before the election at which he is to act.[1915, c. 27, §4; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(4).]

§5. By Whom and How Accounts Kept.—Every candidate, financial agent, and the treasurer of every political committee, shall keep detailed accounts of all money, or its equivalent, received by them, and of all expenditures and disbursements made, and liabilities incurred, by such candidate, agent or political committee, for political purposes, or by any of the officers or members of such committee, or any person acting under its authority or on its behalf.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §5; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(5).]

§6. Sworn Financial Statements.—Not less than seven nor more than fifteen days before each primary or other election, and again within thirty days after each primary or other election, every candidate for public office, and every financial agent, and the treasurer of every political committee, shall file with the officers hereinafter prescribed a detailed itemized statement subscribed and sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, setting forth all financial transactions in connection with such primary or other election. Such statements shall show each and every sum of money or other thing of value contributed or advanced; the name of each person, firm, association or committee by whom it was contributed or advanced; the amount and purpose of every expenditure made or liability incurred, and the name of each person, firm, association or committee to whom such expenditure was made or liability incurred, with dates of each transaction. Any unexpended balance, remaining in the hands of any financial agent, or of the treasurer of any political committee at the time of making the statements herein provided for, shall be properly accounted for in said statement, and shall appear as a balance in the next following report of such agent or treasurer or his successor in office. Such sworn statements shall be filed with the secretary of state, by candidates for state and other offices to be nominated or elected by the voters of a political division greater than a county, and with the clerk of the county court, by candidates for offices to be nominated or elected by the voters of a county or district therein, and by all candidates for other offices not otherwise provided for.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §6; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(6).]

§7. Forms for and Filing of Such Statements Preservation; Destruction.—Blank forms for all financial statements required under this article shall be prepared by the secretary of state, and copies thereof, together with a copy of this article, shall be furnished through the county clerk or otherwise, as the secretary of state may deem expedient, to all treasurers of political committees, to all political financial agents, and to all candidates for nomination or election to any office, upon the filing of a petition or announcement for nomination, and to all other persons required by law to file such statements who shall apply therefor. All statements filed in accordance with the provisions of this article shall be received, indorsed and filed by the secretary of state and county clerks, and shall be preserved for one year after the election to which they relate; after which time they may be destroyed, if not required to be further preserved by the order of any court.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §7; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(7).]

§8. Failure to File Financial Statements.—Any candidate, financial agent, or treasurer of a political committee, who shall fail to file a sworn, itemized statement as in this article provided, within the time required, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court. Forty days after any such primary or other election, the secretary of state, or county clerk, as the case may be, shall give notice of any failure to file such statement by any candidate, financial agent or treasurer of a political committee, to the prosecuting attorney of the county where such delinquent resides. No candidate nominated at a primary election, who has failed to make a sworn statement as required by this article, shall have his name placed on the official ballot for the ensuing election, unless there has been filed by or on behalf of such candidate, or by his financial agent, if any, the financial statement relating to nominations required by this article; and it shall be unlawful to issue a commission or certificate of election, or to administer the oath of office, to any person elected to any public office who has failed to file a sworn statement as required by this article; and no such person shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed such statement, nor shall he receive any salary or emolument for any period prior to the filing of such statement.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 26, §26, c. 27, §8; 1916, c. 5; Code 1923, c. 3, §26a (26), c. 5, §8b(8).]

§9. Campaign Contributions by Corporations.—No officer of any corporation, or agent or person on behalf of such corporation, whether incorporated under the laws of this or any other state, or foreign country, shall pay, give or lend, or authorize to be paid, given or lent, any money or other thing of value belonging to such corporation, to any candidate, financial agent or political committee or other person, for the payment of any primary or other election expenses whatever. No person shall solicit or receive such payment, contribution or other thing from any corporation, officer or agent thereof, other person acting on behalf of such corporation. Any person or corporation violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §9; Code 1923, c. 5, §8(b).]

§10. Lawful and Unlawful Election Expenditures.—No candidate, financial agent, or treasurer of a political committee, shall pay, give or lend, or agree to pay, give or lend, either directly or indirectly, any money or other thing of value for any election expenses, except for the following purposes:

(a) For rent, maintenance and furnishing of offices to be used as political headquarters and for the payment of necessary clerks, stenographers, typists, janitors and messengers actually employed therein;

(b) For printing and distributing books, pamphlets, circulars and other printed matter relating to political issues and candidates, and painting, printing and posting signs, banners and other advertisements;

(c) For renting and decorating halls for public meetings and political conventions; for advertising public meetings, and for the payment and traveling expenses of speakers and musicians at such meetings;

(d) For the necessary traveling and hotel expenses of candidates, political agents and committees, and for stationery, postage, telegrams, telephone, express, freight and public messenger service;

(e) For preparing, circulating and filing petitions for nomination of candidates;

(f) For examining the lists of registered voters, securing copies thereof, investigating the right to vote of the persons listed therein, and conducting proceedings to prevent unlawful registration or voting;

(g) For conveying voters to and from the polls;

(h) For securing publication in newspapers of documents, articles, speeches, arguments and any information relating to any political issue, candidate, or question or proposition, submitted to a vote.

Every liability incurred and payment made shall be at a rate and for a total amount which is proper and reasonable and fairly commensurate with the services rendered.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §10; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(10).]

§11. Limitation of Election Expenditures.—No payment shall be made and no liability shall be incurred by or on behalf of any candidate for office in this State to aid in securing his nomination or election, or both, which shall in the aggregate exceed the amounts herein provided for, that is to say: Candidates for United States senate or any state office, the sum of seventy-five dollars for each county in the State, for the primary election, and a like amount for the general election; candidates for members of the legislature, the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars for each county in which such candidate is voted for, for the primary election, and a like amount for the general election; for members of the United States house of representatives, the sum of seventy-five dollars for each county in the district, for the primary election, and a like amount for the general election; for any county office, a sum not to exceed two hundred dollars in each county, for the primary election, and a like amount for the general election; and for any other office, not hereinbefore mentioned, a sum not to exceed fifty dollars in the political division in which such person is a candidate, for the primary election, and a like amount for the general election. Any candidate may delegate to a financial agent or a political committee, in a writing duly subscribed by him, the expenditure of any portion of the total expenses authorized to be incurred by him, or on his behalf; but the aggregate of all expenses made and incurred by such candidate, by any political agent on his behalf and by any political committee on his behalf, shall not exceed the amounts hereinbefore provided. No payments shall be made and no liability shall be incurred by any financial agent or political committee which shall exceed in the aggregate the sum of the amounts theretofore delegated to such committee by the candidate, in writing, as herein provided: Provided, That there shall not be included in arriving at the several amounts which may be expended, or liability incurred for items mentioned in subdivisions (b) to (h), both inclusive, of the next preceding section.[1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §11; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(11); 1927, c. 64.]

§12. Specific Acts Forbidden; Penalties.—(a) Any person, other than a financial agent or a member of a political committee duly appointed and designated as provided in this article, who shall solicit from any candidate for nomination or election to any public office, any money, gift, contribution, emolument, or other valuable thing, for the support, assistance, benefit or expenses of any person or persons, club, company, organization, religious body, society, association, or for any other purposes except as herein provided, or for the expenses of any primary or other election campaign; or

(b) Any person who shall demand, solicit, ask or invite any candidate to make any contribution or incur any obligation to any religious, charitable or fraternal cause, or organization other than political committees duly designated under the provisions of this article, or to buy tickets to any entertainment or ball, or to subscribe or pay for space in any book, program, periodical, newspaper or other publication; or any candidate who shall make or promise any such payment or contribution with the apparent hope or intent to influence the result of any election: Provided, That this paragraph shall not apply to the solicitation of any business advertisements in a periodical in which such candidate regularly advertised prior to his candidacy, nor to ordinary business advertising, nor to the regular and normal payments to any religious, charitable or other organization to which he may have been a contributor for more than six months before his candidacy; or

(c) Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, by himself, or by any other person on his behalf, make use of, or threaten to make use of, any force, violence or restraint, or inflict, or threaten to inflict, any damage, harm or loss, upon or against any person, or by any other means attempt to intimidate or exert any undue influence, in order to induce such person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting, at any election, or who shall, by abduction, duress or any fraudulent device or contrivance, impede or prevent the free exercise of the suffrage by any elector, or shall thereby compel, induce or prevail upon any elector either to vote or refrain from voting for or against any particular candidate or measure; or

(d) Any person who, being an employer, or acting for or on behalf of any employer, shall give any notice or information to his employees, containing any threat, either express or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political view or actions of the workmen or employees; or

(e) Any person who shall, knowingly, make or publish, or cause to be made or published, any false statement in regard to any candidate, which statement is intended or tends to affect any voting at any election whatever; or

(f) Any person who shall pay any owner, publisher, editor or employee, or any newspaper or other periodical, to advocate or oppose editorially, any candidate for nomination or election, or any political party, or any measure to be submitted to the vote of the people; or any owner, publisher, editor, or employee, who shall solicit or accept such payment:

Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year.[1905, c. 43; 1908, c. 22; 1915, c. 27, §12; Code 1923, c. 3, §100, c. 5, §8b (12).]

§13. Circulation of Written Matter; Newspaper Advertising; Solicitation of Contributions.—(a) No person shall publish, issue or circulate, or cause to be published, issued or circulated, any anonymous letter, circular, placard, or other publication tending to influence voting at any election;

(b) No owner, publisher, editor, or employee of a newspaper or other periodical shall insert, either in its advertising or reading columns, any matter, paid for or to be paid for, which tends to influence the voting at any election whatever, unless distinctly designating it as a paid advertisement and stating the name of the person authorizing its publication and the candidate in whose behalf it is published;

(c) No person shall, in any room or building occupied for the discharge of official duties by any officer or employee of the State or a political subdivision thereof, solicit orally or by written communication delivered therein, or in any other manner, any contribution of money or other thing of value for any party or political purpose whatever, from any postmaster or other officer or employee of the federal government, or officer or employee of the State, or a political subdivision thereof. No officer, agent, clerk, or employee of the federal government, or of this State, or any political subdivision thereof, who may have charge or control of any building, office or room, occupied for any official purpose, shall knowingly permit any person to enter the same for the purpose of therein soliciting or receiving any political assessments from, or delivering or giving written solicitations for, or any notice of, any political assessments to, any officer or employee of the State, or a political subdivision thereof.

Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year.[1915, c. 27, §13; Code 1923, c. 5, §8b(13).]

§1. County and District Offices.—In all cases of contested elections, the county court shall be the judge of the election, qualifications and returns of their own members, and of all county and district officers.(Const. 1863, art. 7, §4; Const. 1872, art. 8, §24; 1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §72; Code 1923, c. 3, §72.)

§2. Same; Notice and List of Votes.—A person intending to contest the election of another to any county or district office, including judge of any criminal, intermediate, common pleas, or other inferior court, or any office that shall hereafter be created to be filled by the voters of the county or of any magisterial or other district therein, shall, within ten days after the result of the election is declared, give the contestee notice in writing of such intention, and a list of the votes he will dispute, with the objections to each, and of the votes rejected for which he will contend. If the contestant object to the legality of the election, or the qualification of the person returned as elected, the notice shall set forth the facts on which such objection is founded. The person whose election is so contested shall, within ten days after receiving such notice, deliver to the contestant a like list of the votes he will dispute, with the objections to each, and of the rejected votes for which he will contend; and, if he has any objection to the qualification of the contestant, he shall specify in writing the facts on which the objection is founded. Each party shall append to his notice an affidavit that he verily believes the matters and things set forth to be true. If new facts be discovered by either party after he has given notice as aforesaid, he may, within ten days after such discovery, give an additional notice to his adversary, with the specifications and affidavit prescribed in this section.(Const. 1872, art. 4, §11, art. 8, §24; 1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §§1, 2; Code 1923, c. 6, §§1, 2.)

§3. Same; Trial; Evidence; Appeal.—Subpoenas for witnesses for either party shall be issued by the clerk of the county court, and served as in other cases, and the witnesses shall be entitled to the same allowances and privileges, and be subject to the same penalties, as witnesses attending a circuit court in a civil suit. The notice of contest shall be presented to the county court at its first term after the same is delivered to the person whose election is contested, and the same shall be docketed for trial in such court. At the trial of such contest, the court shall hear all such legal and proper evidence that may be brought before it by either party, and may, if deemed necessary, require the production of the poll books, certificates and ballots deposited with its clerk, and examine the same. The hearing may be continued by the court from time to time, if it be shown that justice and right require it, but not beyond three months from the day of election. At the final trial of such contest the court shall declare the true result of such election, and cause the same to be entered on the records of the court. When the result of the election is declared, as aforesaid, a certified copy of the order declaring such result shall, if required, be delivered by the clerk of the court to the person declared elected, if such be the result of the trial, and such copy shall be received in all courts and places as legal evidence of the result of the election therein declared. Either the contestant or contestee shall have the right of appeal to the circuit court of the county from the final order or decision of the county court in such proceeding, upon the filing of a bond with good personal security, by the party desiring the appeal, to be approved by the county court, in a sum deemed sufficient by such court, with condition to the effect that the person proposing to appeal will perform and satisfy any judgment which may be rendered against him by the circuit court on such appeal. But such appeal shall not be granted unless the party desiring the appeal shall make application for such appeal, and file such bond, within thirty days from the entering of the final order in such proceeding; and the circuit court may at any time require a new bond or increase the penalty thereof when the court deems it necessary. When such appeal is taken to the circuit court, as hereinbefore provided, it shall be heard and determined upon the original papers, evidence, depositions and records filed before and considered by the county court, and the circuit court shall decide the contest upon the merits. From the decision of the circuit court, an appeal shall lie to the supreme court of appeals, as in other cases, but such appeal shall be heard upon the original papers and copies of all orders made, without requiring the same to be printed.(1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103; 1901, c. 80, §3; Code 1923, c. 6, §3.)

§4. Members of Legislature; Notice and List of Votes.—Any person intending to contest the election of another as senator or delegate shall, within twenty-one days after the election, in case of delegate, and within thirty days after the election, in case of a senator, give him notice thereof in writing, and a list of the votes he will dispute, with the objections to each, and of the votes rejected for which he will contend. If the contestant object to the legality of the election, or the qualification of the person returned, the notice shall set forth the facts on which such objection is founded. The person whose election as delegate is contested shall, within fourteen days after receiving such notice, and the person whose election as senator is contested shall, within twenty days after receiving such notice, deliver to the contestant a like list of the votes he will dispute and of the objection to each, and of the rejected votes he will claim; and, if he has any objection to the qualification of the contestant, shall specify in such notice the facts on which the objection is founded. Each party shall append to the notice an affidavit that the matters therein set forth, so far as they are stated of his knowledge, are true, and that, so far as they are stated on the information of others, he believes them to be true. If new facts be discovered by either party after he has given notice as aforesaid, he may give an additional notice or notices to his adversary, with specifications and affidavit as above prescribed.(Const. 1872, art. 6, §24; 1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §§4, 6; Code 1923, c. 6, §§4, 6.)

§5. Same; When and How Depositions Taken and Delivered.—Either party may begin to take the depositions at any time after the delivery of the original notice by the contestant. But reasonable notice of every such deposition shall be given, and such notice shall specify the names of the witnesses to be examined. The depositions may be taken before a justice, notary, or any officer authorized to take depositions in civil suits; and the officer before whom they are taken shall certify and seal the same, and indorse his name across the place where they are sealed, and address and transmit the same, by mail or otherwise, to the clerk of the body in which the seat is contested. When the contest is referred to a committee, the clerk shall deliver the depositions to such committee for examination and report.(1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §7; Code 1923, c. 6, §7.)

§6. Same; Witnesses.—Subpoenas for witnesses shall be issued by the clerk of the circuit court, or by a justice, upon application of either party; and witnesses shall be entitled to the same allowances and privileges, and be subject to the same penalties, as if summoned to attend before the circuit court in civil suits.(1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §8; Code 1923, c. 6, §8.)

§7. Same; Time to Conclude Depositions.—The parties shall finish taking depositions five days at least before the second Wednesday of January next following.(1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §9; Code 1923, c. 6, §9.)

§8. Same; Additional Depositions.—Neither party shall have the benefit of any deposition taken otherwise than as aforesaid, unless further time be given by resolution of the proper branch of the legislature.(1863, c. 112; 1882, c. 103, §10; Code 1923, c. 6, §10.)

§9. Same; Presentation of Notice of Contest to Legislature.—The notice of contest shall be presented to the proper branch of the legislature, within ten days after its meeting.(Const. 1872, art. 6, §24; 1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 112; 1882, c. 103, §11; Code 1923, c. 6, §11.)

§10. Same; Decision of Tie Vote.—If it be ascertained that an equal number of legal votes was given for the contestant and the person returned, the senate or the house of delegates, as the case may be, in which the contest is pending, shall declare which of them is elected.(Const. 1872, art. 6, §24; 1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §12; Code 1923, c. 6, §12.)

§11. Certain State Officers and Judges; Notice; Depositions.—If the election of governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, state superintendent of free schools, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture, a judge of the supreme court of appeals, or a judge of a circuit court, be contested, the contestant shall give notice, with specifications and affidavit, to the person whose election is contested, within sixty days after the day upon which the election was held, in case the election of governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, state superintendent of free schools, attorney general, or commissioner of agriculture, be contested, and within forty-five days after the day upon which the election was held in case the election of a judge of the supreme court of appeals, or a judge of a circuit court, be contested; and within thirty days thereafter the return notice shall be given to the contestant. The parties shall finish taking depositions within forty days after the last mentioned notice is delivered. The depositions shall be transmitted to the clerk of the house of delegates, to be delivered by him to the joint committee or special court hereinafter provided for. In other respects the regulations contained in this article respecting contests for a seat in the legislature shall be observed, so far as they are applicable.118; 1882, c. 103; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 3, §13; Code 1923, c. 6, §13.)

§12. Governor; Reference to Joint Committee; Hearing of Contest.—When the election of governor is contested, the notice of contest and the depositions shall be referred to a joint committee of the two houses, for examination and report, which committee shall consist of two senators elected by ballot by the senate, and three delegates elected in the same manner by the house of delegates. The contest shall be determined by the legislature, both houses thereof sitting in joint session in the hall of the house of delegates, and the president of the senate shall preside.(Const. 1863, art. 5, §5; Const. 1872, art. 7, §3; 1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §14; Code 1923, c. 6, §14.)

§13. Other State Officers and Judges; Special Court; Procedure.—Where the election of secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, state superintendent of free schools, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture, or of a judge of the supreme court of appeals, or of a circuit court, is contested, the case shall be heard and decided by a special court constituted as follows: The contestee shall select one, the contestant another, and the governor a third person, who shall preside in said court; and the three, or any two of them, shall meet at a time and place within the State to be appointed by the governor, and, being first duly sworn impartially to decide according to law and the truth upon the petition, returns and evidence to be submitted to them, shall proceed to hear and determine the case and certify their decision thereon to the governor. They shall be entitled to ten dollars a day each, and the same mileage as members of the legislature, to be paid out of the treasury of the State, and such special court is hereby given authority to employ a stenographer at a reasonable compensation, to be also paid out of the treasury of the State. In all hearings or proceedings before such special court, the evidence of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence may be required at any designated place of hearing by such special court, or any member thereof; and in case of disobedience to a subpoena or other process of such special court, or any member thereof, such special court, or any member thereof, or either of the parties to such contest, may invoke the aid of any circuit court in requiring the evidence and testimony of witnesses and the production of papers, books and documents. And such court, in case of a refusal to obey the subpoena issued to any person, shall issue an order requiring such person to appear before such special court and produce all books and papers, if so ordered, and give evidence touching the matter in question. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. A written record shall be kept of all testimony and other proceedings before such special court.

Either party to such contest feeling aggrieved by the final decision of such special court may present his petition in writing to the supreme court of appeals, or a judge thereof in vacation, within thirty days after such final decision is certified to the governor, as hereinbefore provided, praying for the suspension, setting aside, or vacation of such final decision. The applicant shall deliver, or cause to be delivered, a copy of such petition to the other party to such contest, or, in case of his absence from the State or from his usual place of abode, he shall mail, or cause to be mailed, a copy of such petition addressed to his last known post-office address, before presenting the same to the court, or the judge. The court, or the judge, shall fix a time for the hearing on the application, but such hearing shall not be held sooner than five days, unless by agreement of the parties, after the presentation of such petition, and notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be forthwith delivered to the other party to such contest, or, in case of absence from the State or from his usual place of abode, such notice may be given by mailing, or causing to be mailed, the same, or a copy thereof, addressed to him at his last known post-office address. If the court, or the judge, after such hearing, be of the opinion that a suspending order should issue, the court in its, or the judge in his, discretion, may suspend such final decision and may require bond upon such conditions and in such penalty, and impose such terms and conditions upon the petitioner, as are just and reasonable; and the court, or the judge, shall fix a time for the final hearing on the application. The hearing of the matter shall take precedence over all other matters before the court. For such final hearing, and before the day fixed therefor, the special court shall file with the clerk of the supreme court of appeals all papers, documents, testimony, evidence, and records, or certified copies thereof, which were before it at the hearing resulting in the final decision from which the petitioner appeals, together with a copy in writing of its final decision; and, after argument by counsel, the court shall decide the matter in controversy, both as to the law and the evidence, as may seem to it to be just and right. The supreme court of appeals is hereby given jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this section by writ of prohibition, mandamus and certiorari, as may be appropriate.(Const. 1872, art. 4, §11; 1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103; 1916, 3rd Ex. Sess., c. 2, §15; Code 1923, c. 6, §15.)

§14. Correction of Returns as to Illegal or Rejected Votes.—Though illegal votes be received, or legal votes be rejected, at any place of voting, the returns of the votes taken at such place shall not be set aside for that cause, but it may be shown, by proper evidence before the tribunal authorized by law to hear and determine contested elections, for whom such illegal votes or any of them were cast, or for whom the legal votes which were rejected would have been given, and the returns shall be corrected only to the extent that it is so shown.(1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 155; 1891, c. 89, §73; Code 1923, c. 3, §73.)

§15. Cost of Contested Elections.—The cost of every contested election shall include only the expenses of serving notices, taking depositions and the allowance to witnesses; and shall be noted at the foot of every deposition or set of depositions, by the person taking the same. If the contestant fail in setting aside the election, there shall be awarded against him the amount of such costs incurred or expended by the person who was returned or declared elected. Otherwise, each party shall pay his own costs; unless it appears that the person returned or declared elected was guilty of fraud or malpractice in the election, or in procuring such return or declaration, in which ease costs shall be awarded against him in favor of the contestant. Where costs are awarded in favor of either party, the amount thereof shall be ascertained under direction of the house, joint session, or court, which decides the case, and a certificate thereof, authenticated by the signature of the presiding officer, shall be delivered to the party in whose favor they are awarded, which certificate shall have the force of a judgment, and if such costs be not paid within ten days after the date thereof, the clerk of the circuit court, of the county in which the party against whom the costs were awarded resides, may issue execution on such certificate, upon its delivery to such clerk, in like manner as upon a judgment of the circuit court. But no person contesting the seat of an other in the legislature shall be entitled to pay or mileage if the contest fail.(1863, c. 112; 1872-3, c. 118; 1882, c. 103, §§3, 16; 1901, c. 80, §3; Code 1923, c. 6, §§3, 16.)

§1. Elections to Fill Vacancies in Office.—Elections to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired term, and shall be held at the same places, and superintended, conducted and returned, and the result ascertained, certified and declared, in the same manner, and by the same officers, as in general elections; and the persons elected, having first duly qualified, shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices.(Const. 1863, art. 3, §7; Const. 1872, art. 4, §7; 1863, c. 100; 1872-3, cc. 118, 177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10, §1; Code 1923, c. 4, §1.)

§2. Presidential Electors.—If, by ten o ’clock in the forenoon of the day appointed by the congress of the United States for the election of a president and a vice president by the presidential electors, any elector or electors shall be absent from the place fixed for such meeting, there shall be deemed a vacancy in the office of presidential elector in the case of each absentee, and such vacancy, as well as any vacancy from any other cause, shall be filled by the electors present at such place of meeting, by appointing a person as elector to fill each vacant place before proceeding to ballot for president or vice president, of the United States, and the person or persons so appointed shall be entitled to vote as if elected to such office at the general election held for that purpose.(1863, c. 100; Code 1868, c. 8, §1; Code 1923, c. 8, §1.)

§3. Vacancy in Office of Governor.—In case of the death, conviction or impeachment, failure to qualify, resignation or other disability of the governor, the president of the senate shall act as governor until the vacancy is filled or the disability removed; and if the president of the senate, for any of the above named causes, shall be or become incapable of performing the duties of governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of delegates; and in all other cases where there is no one to act as governor, one shall be chosen by the joint vote of the legislature. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of governor before the first three years of the term shall have expired, a new election for governor shall take place to fill the vacancy. If the vacancy shall occur more than thirty days next preceding a general election, the vacancy shall be filled at such election and the acting governor for the time being shall issue a proclamation accordingly, which shall be published once each week for four successive weeks prior to such election in one newspaper, in each county, of each of the two political parties which polled the highest and the second highest number of votes at the preceding general election in the State, published and having the largest circulation in such county. But if it shall occur less than thirty days next preceding such general election, and more than one year before the expiration of the term, such acting governor shall issue a proclamation, fixing a time for a special election to fill such vacancy, which shall be published as hereinbefore provided.

If the vacancy is to be filled at a general election and shall occur more than thirty days before the date of the primary election to nominate candidates to be voted for at such general election, candidates to fill the vacancy shall be nominated at such primary election. If the vacancy is to be filled at a general election and such vacancy occurs less than thirty days before the preceding primary election, and in all cases where the vacancy is to be filled at a special election, candidates to be voted for at such general or special elections shall be nominated by a state convention to be called, convened and held under the resolutions, rules and regulations of the political party executive committees of the State. The laws prescribing the manner of calling, constituting and holding conventions to nominate candidates for judge of the supreme court of appeals shall, in so far as applicable, govern conventions to nominate candidates to fill any vacancy in any office to be filled by the voters of the State as a whole.(Const. 1863, art. 5, §6; Const. 1872, art. 7, §16; 1865, c. 64; 1872-3, cc. 118,177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10, §2; Code 1923, c. 4, §2.)

§4. Other State Officers; United States Senator; Judge of the Supreme, or of a Circuit or Inferior, Court.—Any vacancy occurring in the office of secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney general, superintendent of free schools, commissioner of agriculture, United States senator, judge of the supreme court of appeals, or in any office created or made elective, to be filled by the voters of the entire State, or judge of a circuit court, a common pleas, intermediate, criminal or other inferior court, shall be filled by the governor of the State by appointment. If the unexpired term of a judge of the supreme court of appeals, or a judge of a circuit court, a common pleas, intermediate, criminal or other inferior court, be for less than two years; or if the unexpired term of any other office named in this section be for a period of less than two years and six months, the appointment to fill the vacancy shall be for the unexpired term. If the unexpired term of any office be for a longer period than above specified, the appointment shall be until the next general election, and until the election and qualification of a successor to the person appointed, at which election the vacancy shall be filled by election for the unexpired term. Proclamation of any election to fill an unexpired term shall be made by the governor of the State, and, in the case of an office to be filled by the voters of the entire State, shall be published once a week for four successive weeks prior to the election in at least one newspaper of general circulation in each county in the State, of each of the two political parties which, at the last general election in the State, cast the highest and second highest number of votes. If the election be to fill a vacancy in the office of judge of a circuit court, the proclamation shall be published for a like period in the two leading newspapers of opposite party politics, having the largest and second largest circulation in each county in the judicial circuit. If the election be to fill a vacancy in the office of judge of a common pleas, intermediate, criminal or other inferior court, the proclamation shall be published for a like period in the two leading newspapers of opposite party politics, having the largest and second largest circulation in the county. Candidates to fill any vacancy in any office named in this section shall be nominated in the manner provided in this article for nominating candidates to fill a vacancy in the office of governor, to be voted for at a general election.(Const, art. 7, §17, art. 8, §§7, 10; 1863, C. 100; 1872-3, cc. 118, 177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10, §§3, 4; 1921, c. 101, §1; Code 1923, c. 4, §§3, 4, 5a.)

§5. Vacancy in Representation in Congress.—If there be a vacancy in the representation from this State in the house of representatives in the congress of the United States, the governor shall, within ten days after the fact comes to his knowledge, give notice thereof by proclamation, to be published once each week for two successive weeks in two newspapers of opposite politics in each county in the district where such vacancy may occur. In such proclamation he shall appoint some day, not less than thirty nor more than seventy–five days from the date thereof, for holding the election to fill such vacancy. Nominations to fill such vacancy shall be made by conventions to be held in the manner prescribed for holding a convention to nominate a candidate to fill a vacancy in the office of governor, to be voted for at a special election. The congressional district executive committee of a party shall perform the duties devolving upon the state executive committee in filling a state office.(Const. U. S., art. 1, §2, cl. 4; 1863, c. 100; 1872-3, cc. 118, 177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10; 1883, c. 2, §5; Code 1923, c. 4, §5.)

§6. Senate; House of Delegates.—Any vacancy in the office of state senator or member of the house of delegates shall be filled by appointment by the governor, in each instance from a list of three legally qualified persons submitted by the county party executive committee in the case of a member of the house of delegates, and by the party executive committee of the state senatorial district in the case of a state senator, of the party with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the vacancy was affiliated, and of the county or state senatorial district, respectively, in which he resided at the time of his election or appointment. The appointment to fill a vacancy in the house of delegates shall be for the unexpired term. If the unexpired term in the office of state senator be for less than two years and two months, the appointment shall be for the unexpired term. If the unexpired term be for a period longer than two years and two months, the appointment shall be until the next general election and until the election and qualification of a successor to the person appointed, at which general election the vacancy shall be filled by election for the unexpired term. Notice of an election to fill a vacancy in the office of state senator shall be given by the governor by proclamation and shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date of the election, in two newspapers having the largest and second largest circulation, and of opposite party politics, published in each county in the senatorial district. Nominations for candidates to fill such vacancy shall be made in the manner prescribed for nominating a candidate to fill a vacancy in the office of governor to be voted for at a general election; the state senatorial district executive committee of the political party shall discharge the duties devolving upon the party state executive committee in nominating a candidate for a state office.(Const. 1872, art. 4, §7; 1863, c. 100; 1872-3, c. 118; 1881, c. 10, §7; Code 1923, c. 4, §7; 1925, c. 56, §§1, 2.)

§7. Clerk of Circuit Court.—When a vacancy occurs in the office of clerk of the circuit court, the circuit court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall fill the same by appointment until the next general election, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his successor is elected and qualified. At such general election a clerk shall be elected for the unexpired term. The circuit court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall cause a notice of such election to be published once each week for two successive weeks in two newspapers of opposite politics, printed in the county, if there be any such papers printed therein, or in such other manner as will give ample notice of such election. If the vacancy occur more than thirty days before the date of the primary election held to nominate candidates to be voted for at the general election, at which any such vacancy is to be filled, candidates to fill such vacancy shall be nominated at such primary election, otherwise, they shall be nominated by county conventions, to be convened and held in the manner prescribed by the rules and regulations of the executive committee of the political party making the nomination. And to that end the county executive committees of the respective political parties may cause the delegates to the respective party county conventions to be reconvened for the purpose of nominating candidates to fill such vacancy, and the names of the persons so nominated shall be certified by the chairman and secretary of said conventions to the clerk of the circuit court of such county, and be placed upon the ballot to be voted at such election.(Const. 1872, art. 4, §7, art. 6, §40, art. 8, §18; 1863, c. 100; 1864, c. 34; 1872-3, cc. 118, 177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10, §8; Code 1923, c. 4, §8.)

§8. County Commissioner; Clerk of County Court; Justice; Constable.—Any vacancy in the office of a county court commissioner, clerk of the county court, justice or constable, shall be filled by the county court of the county, unless the number of vacancies in a county court deprive that body of a quorum, in which case the governor of the State shall fill any vacancy in such county court necessary to create a quorum thereof, until the next general election, at which election every such vacancy shall be filled by the election for the unexpired term: Provided, however, That in the case of a vacancy in the office of the county court commissioner in any county in the State, if the remaining members of such county court fail, refuse or neglect to fill such vacancy within sixty days from the time it occurs, then the governor of the State shall appoint some qualified citizen of said county belonging to the same political party as the vacating member, to serve as county court commissioner until the next general election. Notice of such election shall be given by order of the county court, and published as prescribed in the next preceding section; except that such notice in case of an election to fill a vacancy in the office of justice of the peace or constable, instead of being published in a newspaper, may, in the discretion of such court, be posted at the front door of the court house of the county, and at each voting place in the district wherein such vacancy occurs. Nominations of candidates to fill any vacancy in the office of county commissioner or clerk of the county court shall be made in the manner prescribed for making nominations to fill a vacancy in the office of clerk of the circuit court. Nominations to fill a vacancy in the office of justice or constable shall be made by magisterial district mass conventions.(Const. 1872, art. 8, §30; 1863, c. 100; 1864, c. 34; 1872-3, cc. 118, 177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10; 1891, c. 17, §9; Code 1923, c. 4, §9; 1929, c. 87.)

§9. County Superintendent of Schools; Board of Education.—Any vacancy in the office of county superintendent of schools shall be filled by the presidents of the district boards of education of the county until the next general election. In case of a tie in the vote for filling any vacancy, the state superintendent of schools shall appoint a county superintendent of schools. Any vacancy in the office of school commissioner or president of a district board of education of a county shall be filled by the county superintendent of schools until the next general election. Nomination of candidates to fill any vacancy in the office of county superintendent of schools shall be made in the manner prescribed for making nominations to fill a vacancy in the office of clerk of the circuit court. Nominations to fill a vacancy in the office of school commissioner or president of a district board of education of a county shall be made by magisterial district mass conventions.(1919, c. 2, §§32, 41; Code 1923, c. 45, §§32, 42; 1925, c. 52, §43.)

§10. Prosecuting Attorney; Sheriff; Assessor; Surveyor.—Any vacancy occurring in the office of prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor or county surveyor, shall be filled by appointment until the next general election, at which such vacancy shall be filled by election. Appointments to fill any such vacancy shall be made by the county court of the county. Notice of an election to fill a vacancy in any of the offices named in this section shall be given by the county court, or the president thereof in vacation, and published or posted in the manner prescribed in section seven of this article.

Nominations of candidates to fill any such vacancy shall be made in the manner prescribed in this article for nominating a candidate to fill a vacancy in the office of the clerk of the circuit court.(Const, art. 4, §7, art. 6, §40; 1863, c. 100; 1864, c. 34; 1872-3, cc. 118, 177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10; 1915, c. 88, §10; Code 1923, c. 4, §10.)

§11. Vacancy in Appointive Office; Recess Appointment.—In case of a vacancy, during the recess of the senate, in any office which is filled by appointment by the governor and confirmation by the senate, the governor shall, by appointment, fill such vacancy until the next meeting of the senate, when the governor shall make a nomination for such office, and the person so nominated, when confirmed by the senate (a majority of all of the senators elected concurring by yeas and nays), shall hold his office during the remainder of the term, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. No person shall be so appointed during the recess of the senate who has been nominated to and rejected by the senate for the same office. The bond, if any be required by law to be given by any officer so temporarily appointed by the governor, shall be in such penalty as is required by law of the incumbent of such office.

Any vacancy in any other office filled by appointment, or in any office hereafter created to be filled by appointment, shall be filled by the same person, court or body authorized to make appointment to such office for the full term thereof.(Const. 1872, art. 7, §9; 1872-3, cc. 118,177; 1875, c. 66; 1881, c. 10, §6; Code 1923, c. 4, §6.)