Show c SENATORIAL ELECTIONS j The Herald has been asked by members r r mem-bers of the legislature to make a statement 2 state-ment of the law in reference to the election of United States ssnators Section 4 of article 1 of the federal t r constitution provides that the times f places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislatures leg-islatures thereof Congress is empowered 0 empow-ered to alter such regulations except as to the places of choosing senators Congress passed an act on the 25th of July 1806 prescribing the mode of conducting the senatorial elections in the several states It provides that the legislature whose duty it is to elect a senator to the congress of the United States shall on the second Tuesday I after the meeting and organization proceed to elect such an official I There seems to bft a slizrht discren n ancy between the state and federal lefts however concerning the manner of balloting Section 8 of article 4 state constitution declares that all elections shall bf by secret ballot The congressional act requires the following programme to be observed Each house shall openly by a viva voce vote of each member present f name one person for senator in congress con-gress Next day at high noon the t members of the two houses shall assemble as-semble in joint session If it appears from the journals that a candidate received re-ceived a majority of the votes cast in each house he shall be declared the choice of the legislature Otherwise a ballot shall be taken by the joint assembly as-sembly If no choice is made the joint assembly shall meet next day and each succeeding legislative day at noon for the same purpose At least one ballot per day after the first day shall betaken be-taken All voting must be viva voce A secret ballot and a viva voce vote are contradictory requirements Yet the intention of the framers of the state constitution was to conform to the laws and constitution of the United States Therefore the senatorial election will be conducted along the lines laid down by congress under the powers vested in that body bv section 4 article 1 of the federal constitution |