to be submitted shall be published as constitutional amendments are now required to be published.

Amendment proposed by C. R. 3 of 1913 and ratified at the April election of 1913.

(79) SEC. 3. All proposed amendments to the constitution submitted to the electors shall be published in full, with any existing provisions of the constitution which would be altered or abrogated thereby, and a copy thereof shall be posted at each registration and election place. Proposed amendments shall also be printed in full on a ballot or ballots separate from the ballot containing the names of nominees for public office.

Publicity of constitutional amendments, see section 634.

(80) SEC. 4. At the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred twenty-six, in each sixteenth year thereafter and at such other times as may be provided by law, the question of a general revision of the constitution shall be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for members of the legislature. In case a majority of such electors voting at such election shall decide in favor of a convention for such purpose, at the next biennial spring election the electors of each senatorial district of the state as then organized shall elect three delegates. The delegates so elected shall convene at the state capitol on the first Tuesday in September next succeeding such election, and shall continue their sessions until the business of the convention shall be completed. A majority of the delegates elected shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The convention shall choose its own officers, determine the rules of its proceedings and judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its members. In case of a vacancy by death, resignation or otherwise, of any delegate, such vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the governor of a qualified resident of the same district. The convention shall have power to appoint such officers, employes and assistants as it may deem necessary and to fix their compensation, and to provide for the printing and distribution of its documents, journals and proceedings. Each delegate shall receive for his services the sum of one thousand dollars and the same mileage as shall then be payable to members of the legislature, but such compensation may be increased by law. No proposed constitution or amendment adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the electors for approval as hereinafter provided unless by the assent of a majority of all the delegates elected to the convention, the yeas and nays being entered on the journal. Any proposed constitution or amendments adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the qualified electors in the manner provided by such convention on the first Monday in April following the final adjournment of the convention; but, in case an interval of at least ninety days shall not intervene between such final adjournment and the date of such election, then it shall be submitted at the next general election. Upon the approval of such constitution or amendments by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon such constitution or amendments shall take effect on the first day of January following the approval thereof.

SCHEDULE.

(81) SEC. 6. All officers elected under the existing constitution and laws on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, nineteen hundred eight, shall take office on and after the first day of January, nineteen hundred nine, under this constitution.

(82) SEC. 7. Until otherwise provided, the salaries or compensation of all public officers shall continue as provided under the existing constitution and laws.

ELECTIONS DEFINED.

[Extract from Ch. 1, R. S. 1846.]

(83) § 50. SEC. 3. Sub. Div. 4. The words "annual Annual townmeeting," when applied to townships, shall be construed ship meeting. to mean the annual meeting required by law to be held in the month of April.

election.

Sub. Div. 19. The words "general election," shall be con- General strued to mean the election required by law to be held in the month of November.

GENERAL ELECTION:

The general election is not a township meeting in any legal sense.-People v. Knight, 13 / 426. Under the constitution there was only one election which was ever referred to as a general election, and that the term was used as identical with the November election, which was previously annual, and thereby made biennial. That was the only election held simultaneously throughout all the state for officers to represent the whole state.-Westinghausen v. People, 44/269. And it is hardly necessary to say that subsequent legislation could not change the meaning or effect of any part of the constitution.-Id. 270. The only foundation for any notion that the spring elections can serve the purpose of the general election mentioned in the constitution is that in organizing the present supreme court in 1857, the statute declared that a "general election" should be held on the first Monday in April every second year for the election of judges. Of course, the legislature can make their own definitions for statutory purposes, but this would not change the constitutional definition or make it apply to any election not within the constitutional contemplation. Id. 271. The language of Art. 20, Const. of 1850, taken with all the various other provisions which refer to general elections, very plainly refers to the fall election, and that the practical construction put upon it is correct and binding.-Id. 272. The words "general election" used in the constitution and statute, as applied to the office of judge of probate, can have no other meaning than the biennial election held in November, and an election at any other time to that office must be regarded as a special election.-People v. Palmer, 91/283. The term "general election" must be held to mean the November, and not the April election, unless inconsistent with the manifest intent of the legislature. Edgar v. Election Commissioners, 118/ 418. See Carton v. Sec'y of State, 151/357; Chase V. Election Com'rs of Wayne Co., 151/407.

CHAPTER II.-REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS.

An Act further to preserve the purity of elections, and guard against the abuse of the elective franchise, by a registration of electors.

[Act 177, S. L. 1859.]

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

(84) § 3536. SECTION 1. That there shall be, in the year Registration one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, a registration of ordered. the qualified electors of the state. The aldermen of every in- Board of corporated city, and the supervisor, treasurer, and clerk of registration.

vide books or registers.

every township, shall constitute a board of registration for such city or township, and their duties shall be as follows: Board to pro- They shall respectively provide suitable bound books or registers, one for each township and one for each ward, so made and arranged as to contain an alphabetical list of the respective names, christian or baptismal, and surnames, in full, of all persons declared by the constitution of the state to be electors and entitled to vote, residing in their townships or wards, and the date of the registration; and, if the elector resides in a city or incorporated village, also his residence by the number of the dwelling and the name of the street, if any, and if none, a description of the locality of the same.

Notice of meeting of board of registration.

Time and place of inceting.

Handbills to be posted.

What notice to contain.

Board may classify to facilitate registration. Duty of

board as to vacancies.

Length of

session.

Expenses, how paid.

REGISTRATION NECESSARY: This act is grounded upon the same article of the constitution which gives the right to vote and is imperative; it must be complied with before the elector can vote, and the omission of the board of registration to meet is of no avail to the elector as an excuse for not registering.-People v. Kopplekom, 16 / 342. See Common Council v. Rush, 82 / 537; Att'y Gen. v. McQuade, 94 / 441.

PURITY OF ELECTIONS: The laws to regulate elections and to preserve their purity, and to guard against abuses of the elective franchise, must be reasonable, uniform and impartial, and must be calculated to facilitate and secure, rather than to subvert and impede, the exercise of the right to vote.-Att'y Gen. v. Detroit, 78/553.

REGISTRATION IN CITIES.

(85) § 3537. SEC. 2. Each city board shall, at least two weeks previous to the time of their meeting in each ward, cause to be published in one or more newspapers printed and published in such city, a notice that the board of registration will meet on the first Monday of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, at nine o'clock in the forenoon, to make a perfect list, as near as may be, of all persons residing in such ward, qualified as electors under the constitution; and designating the place in each ward where said board will meet for that purpose. And they shall also cause handbills to be posted in at least twenty conspicuous places in each ward, containing a similar notice of the time and place of such meeting of the board for that ward; which notice shall also contain a true copy of section one of article seven of the constitution, relative to the qualifications of electors. And the board may so divide and classify them- . selves that two or more of them may be assigned to different wards, the more speedily to complete the registration; and in case of the sickness or absence of any alderman, or his inability or refusal to serve at the session in any ward, the board shall, in writing, under the hand of their chairman, immediately appoint the assessor of the ward, or any justice of the peace, to act in his stead, who shall be, for the purpose of registration in that ward, deemed a member of the board of registration. They shall continue in session not less than three nor more than five days in each ward. All necessary blanks and instructions to aid the board in the discharge of their duties, and all other expenses in performing the same, including the employment of printers for printing such notices, and the registry lists, shall be provided by the board and be paid for by the city.

boards of

how made.

(86) § 3538. SEC. 3. At the time and place mentioned Duty of in such notice, the board, or those members thereof so classi- registration. fied and assigned for that ward, shall meet and proceed to the registration in such book, which book shall be called the "Register of Electors" for such ward, of the names of persons at the time residing in such ward, and so qualified as follows, to wit: Their sessions shall be public, and during the Sessions to first two days thereof they shall not write in the register the be public. name of any person without a request made by him personally and in their presence; but shall allow him, if able and willing so to do, to write his own name therein in the proper place. In Registration, case of such request, the name of the elector shall be plainly written by a member of the board, who shall also note his residence as required by section one of this act. After the first two days of the session it shall be the duty of such board to proceed to complete the list, by writing in such register the names of all the remaining residents of the ward, known by them to be such and to be qualified as aforesaid, with the proper descriptions above mentioned; but they shall, during their whole session, permit any such qualified person residing in the ward, whose name has not already been entered in the register, to write it there himself. Opposite to every name on such register shall be noted by the board the day and year of its entry, and during such session and all future sessions of the board in any city or township, they may, for their better information in making the registration, have before them the poll list of the next preceding general election, charter election, or township meeting, to be returned to the proper keeper at the close of the session, and all such entries shall be made with ink. The board, at every session, Applicant to shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to question every person presenting himself for registration, touching his residence and other qualifications as an elector of the ward; and it shall be the duty of the applicant to make truthful answers to all such questions, and the board may, for the more perfect examination of the applicant, swear and employ an interpreter, truly and impartially to interpret all such questions and answers, and if the applicant shall, in his answers, make any material statement which is false, he shall, upon conviction thereof, pay a fine of not more than one hundred Penalty for nor less than five dollars, and be imprisoned in the county making false jail not more than thirty nor less than five days.

BOARD OF REGISTRATION: Their duty as to the mode of determining the qualification of voters. When a person applies to the board of registration for the purpose of having his name registered as a voter, and offers to be sworn as to his qualifications, it is the duty of the board to examine such person upon his oath. They have no right to reject him on mere inspection. Where the return made by respondents denies that the relator was entitled to be registered as a voter, an issue will be directed to determine the fact.-People v. Board of Registration of Nankin, 15/157. Where a person appears before the ward board of registration and claims to be registered, the board are bound to examine him under oath and hear testimony offered by him. They have no right to pass upon the question of his legal right by mere personal inspection.-People v. Board of Registration, 17 / 427.

make oath.

statement.

What persons

registration.

(87) § 3539. SEC. 4. The name of no person but an not entitled to actual resident of the ward at the time of the registration, and entitled, under the constitution, if remaining such resident, to vote at the then next general or charter election, shall be entered in the register. Neither the board, nor any member thereof, shall write or enter in the register the name of any person, nor suffer him to write or enter his name therein, whom they know, or have good reason to believe, not to be such resident and so qualified; nor shall any person knowing or having good reason to believe himself not to be such resident and so qualified, write his name therein, or cause it to be done; and every person so offending shall, upon conviction, be punished for each offense by a fine of not more than five hundred nor less than twenty-five dollars, and be imprisoned in the county jail not more than ninety nor less than ten days.

Penalty for fraudulent registration.

Registration in cities.

RESIDENCE: The general act for the incorporation of cities of the fourth class provides that "the residence of any elector, not being a householder, shall be deemed to be in the ward or election district in which is located his regular place of lodging." See section 528. Charters of other cities generally contain special provisions of a similar nature. See residence or domicile defined in Appeal of Rue High, 2 Doug. 523. The intention of the elector is one of the most important inquiries involved in the question of residence. A man may have a residence in one place, although his family may be living elsewhere, if such is his intention.-Harbaugh v. Cicott, 33/252. See further, as to intention, Warren v. Registration Board, 72/402; Beecher v. Com. Council, 114/228. As to students, persons in

the public service, sailors and inmates of asylums, etc., see section 2, See, as to where the elector must vote, notes to section 1. As to change of elector's residence by alteration of boundaries of representative districts, see notes to section 12.

REGISTRATION IN CITIES AFTER 1859.

(88) § 3540. SEC. 5. On the second Saturday next preceding the general election, and on the seventh day (Sunday excepted) next preceding the day of any regular charter election, or any special election, and on such other days prior to such date as shall be appointed by the common council of the city, not exceeding three days in all previous to any such election, the boards of registration of the city, to be constituted as aforesaid, shall be in session at such places in the several wards as they shall designate in their notices, to be published and posted up as hereinafter provided, from eight o'clock in the forenoon until eight o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of completing the lists of the qualified voters; during which session it shall be the right of each and every person then actually residing in the ward, and who, at the then next approaching election may be a qualified elector, and whose name is not already registered, to have his name entered in the register, which shall be done in the manner above described; and such boards, and each member thereof, and each applicant for registration, is hereby vested and charged with the same rights, powers, duties and penal liabilities, touching the examination of applicants, as herein before provided: Provided, That the provisions of city of Detroit. this amendment shall not be applied to electors in the city of

Proviso,

Detroit.