shall, within a convenient time after having been in office, at the beginning of every Parliament, by a written instrument under his hand and seal, nominate and appoint a certain number of persons, not more than seven, nor less than three members of the House, authorising them, or any one of them, to execute the powers given to the Speaker for issuing such warrants. No person so appointed shall be authorised to act, unless there be no Speaker of the House, or such Speaker be absent, nor any longer than such persons shall be members of the House.

Freedom of Elections.

Act 8th George II., cap. 30, s. 1. As often as there shall be an election of any Scotch peer, or members to serve in Parliament, the Secretary at War shall send proper orders in writing for the removing of soldiers to the distance of two or more miles from the place of election; who shall not make any nearer approach to such place, until one day, at the least, after the poll shall be ended, and the poll-books closed. Any Secretary at War, or person officiating as such, violating this clause, to be discharged from office, and rendered incapable of holding any office under Government.

By a resolution of the House, passed at the commencement of every session, "It is a high infringement of the liberties and privileges of the Commons, for any Lord of Parliament, or any Lord-Lieutenant of any county, to concern themselves in the election of members of Parliament." By another resolution (17th), Journal 507, "It is highly criminal in any minister or servant under the Crown, directly or indirectly, to use the powers of office in the election of representatives to serve in Parliament." Officers of Excise and Customs are, by Act 5th William and Mary, cap. 20, s. 48, prohibited from interfering in elections.

ELECTIONS FOR COUNTIES.

Executing Writs, issuing Precepts, &c.

Act 23rd Henry VI., cap. 14. Every sheriff, after receipt of the writ, shall issue a precept to every mayor and bailiff of the cities and boroughs within his county, reciting the writ, and commanding them to choose by citizens or burgesses, as the case may be, for any city or borough, to come to Parliament.

Act 7th and 8th William III., cap. 25, s. 14. The writs shall be delivered to the proper officer only, and the returning officer is to endorse on the writ the day he receives it, and make out the precepts; and, within three days after the receipt of the writ of election, shall cause such precepts to be delivered to the officer to whom the execution of such precept shall appertain.

Act 16th and 17th Victoriæ, cap. 68, s. 3, enacts, "that the Act of the Third and Fourth Victoria, Chapter Eighty-one, be and the same is hereby repealed, and in every city or town being a county of itself, and in every borough, town corporate, port, or place, returning or contributing to return a member or members to serve in Parliament in England and Wales, the officer to whom the duty of giving notice for the election of such member or members belongs shall proceed to election within six days after the receipt of the writ or precept, giving three clear days

notice at least of the day of election, exclusive of the day of proclamation and the day of election.

Act 16th and 17th Victoriæ, cap. 15. The time of taking the Poll & all County Elections, in England and Wales, is limited to One Day.

Act 16th and 17th Victoria, cap. 68, s. 4, enacts," at any Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for either of the. Universities of Oxford and Cambridge the Polling shall not continue for more than Five Days at the most, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Ascension Day being excluded."

Act 16th and 17th Victoriæ, cap. 68, s. 5, enacts, "at every such Election the Vice Chancellor shall have power to appoint any Number of Polling Places not exceeding Three, in addition to the House of Convocation or Senate House, and to direct at which of such Polling Places the Members of Convocation and of the Senate according to their Colleges shall vote, and also to appoint any Number of Pro Vice Chancellors, any one of whom may receive the Votes and decide upon all Questions during the Absence of such Vice Chancellor; and such Vice Chancellor shall have Power to appoint any Number of Poll Clerks and other Officers, by One or more of whom the Votes shall be entered in such Number of Poll Books as shall be judged necessary by such Vice Chancellor."

Act 16th and 17th Victoria, cap. 68, s. 6, enacts, "no Poll at any Election for Members of Parliament in England and Wales shall be taken at any Inn, Hotel, Tavern, Public House, or other Premises licensed for the Sale of Beer, Wine, or Spirits, or in any Booth, Hall, Room, or other Place directly communicating therewith, unless by Consent of all the Candidates expressed in Writing."

Act 16th and 17th Victoriæ, cap. 68, s. 7, enacts, "It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by and with the Advice of Her Privy Council from Time to Time hereafter, on Petition from the Justices in Quarter Sessions assembled of any County, Riding, Parts, or Division of any County, other than any County of a City or of a Town, in England and Wales, representing that it would be expedient that any Polling Place or Places mentioned in the said Petition should cease to be such, and that any other Place or Places mentioned in the said Petition should be substituted in lieu thereof, and praying that such Alteration and Substitution might be made, to declare that the said Alteration and Substitution shall be made in respect of all or any of the Places mentioned in the said Petition; and the said Declaration shall be certified under the Hand of One of the Clerks in Ordinary of Her Majesty's Privy Council, and when so certified shall be published in the London Gazette, and shall then be of the same Force and Effect as if the same had been expressly made by the Authority of Parliament."

Proceedings at Elections.

Act 23rd Henry VI., cap. 14. The Sheriff is directed, upon the day appointed for election, to proceed in his full county, betwixt the hours of eight in the morning and eleven before noon.

Election by the View.

In the first case, the determination is either by voices or shew of hands, or collecting the friends of the respective candidates into separate bodies, or in such other mode as has been customary upon such occasions; the

most usual way, however, is by the voices of the electors calling out the names of their favourite candidates.

Election by Poll.

Where such election is, however, not determined by the view, but a poll shall be required, the sheriff, under-sheriff, or such others as shall be by him deputed, shall forthwith there proceed, to take the poll in some public place appointed for that purpose.

Act 2nd William IV., cap. 45. The poll is now to be taken from names in the several registers made under the Reform Act; but persons not on the register may tender their votes to raise the question of their rights, if they have been refused by the Revising Barrister.

Commencement of the Poll, &c.

Act 16th Victoriæ, cap. 15, s. 1. That so much of the Act passed in the second year of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, chapter forty-five, as authorises the continuance of the polling at every such contested election as aforesaid for two days, and the duties of the sheriff's deputy and poll clerks at such poll during those days, and fixes the commencement and limits the hours of polling on such days, and prevents the commencement of such polling on a Saturday, shall be and the same is hereby repealed.

Act 2nd William IV., cap. 45, s. 63. The respective counties in England and Wales to be divided into the districts for polling, and to have the places for taking the poll, as settled and appointed by the Boundary Act.

Act 2nd William IV., cap. 45, s. 64. At every contested election for any county, the sheriff, under-sheriff, or sheriff's deputy, if required by or on behalf of any candidate on the day fixed for the election, or if it shall appear to him expedient, to cause to be erected a reasonable number of booths for taking the poll at the principal place of election, and also at each of the polling places, and cause to be affixed, on the most conspicuous part of each of such booths, the names of the several parishes, townships, and places for which such booth is allotted; and no person to be admitted to vote in respect of any property situate in any parish, &c., except at the booth so allotted; and if no booth shall be so allotted, then at any of the booths for the same district: but in case any parish, &c. shall not be included in any of the districts to be appointed by the Boundary Act, the votes in respect of property situate in any parish, &c. so omitted, to be taken at the principal place of election for the county.

Note.-By Act 6 and 7 Victoriæ, cap. 18, this clause is altered, and voters resident in one part of the county, and claiming to vote for property in another, may now vote near their place

of residence, by claiming according to the form No. 7 or 8, A.

Act 16th and 17th Victoriæ, cap. 15, s. 2. At every contested Election of a knight or knights to serve in any Parliament after the first day of October one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three for any county, or for any riding, parts, or division of a county, the polling shall continue for one day only, and the poll shall commence at eight o'clock in the morning, and be kept open until five in the afternoon of such day, and the poil clerks to be employed at the principal place of election and other places shall, at the final close of the day's poll, enclose and seal their

several books, and shall publicly deliver them, so enclosed and sealed, to the Sheriff, under-Sheriff, or Sheriff's deputy presiding at such poll, and every such deputy who shall have received any such poll books shall forthwith deliver or transmit the same, so enclosed and sealed, to the Sheriff or his under-Sheriff, who shall receive and keep all the poll books unopened until the re-assembling of the Court on the day next but one after the close of the poll, unless such next day but one shall be Sunday, and then until the Monday following, when he shall openly break the seals thereon, and cast up the number of votes as they appear on the said several books, and shall openly declare the state of the poll, and shall make proclamation of the Member or Members chosen not later than two o'clock in the afternoon of the said day, any statute to the contrary notwithstanding.

Act 16th and 17th Victoriæ, cap. 15, s. 3. The provisions concerning the adjournment of the poll in cases of riot or open violence, and other the provisions of section seventy of the said Act of the second year of King William the fourth, shall be and remain applicable to every such contested election as aforesaid, as if the said section were re-enacted in this Act, the words "the day of polling" being substituted therein for the words "one of the two days of polling."

Act 2nd William IV., cap. 45, s. 65. The sheriff may appoint deputies to preside, and clerks to take the poll, at the principal place of election, and also at the several places appointed for taking the poll for any county.

Act 2nd William IV., cap. 45, s. 68. At every contested election for any city or borough in England, except the borough of Monmouth, the returning officer, if required by or on the behalf of any candidate, on the day fixed for the election, or if it shall appear to him expedient to cause to be erected different polling-booths for different parishes, districts, or parts of such city or borough which may be situated either in one place or in several places, and to be so divided and allotted into compartments as to the returning officer shall seem most convenient, so that no greater number than six hundred be required to poll at any one compartment; and the returning officer to appoint a clerk to take the poll at each compartment, and cause to be affixed on the most conspicuous part of each of the said booths, the names of the several parishes, &c. for which such booth is allotted; and no person to be admitted to vote except at the booth allotted for the parish, &c. wherein the property may be situate in respect of which he claims to vote, or wherein his place of abode, as described in the register, may be; but in case no booth be provided for any particular parish, &c. the votes of persons voting in respect of property situate in any parish, &c. so omitted, or having their place of abode therein, and the votes of freemen residing out of the limits of the city or borough, may be taken at any of the said booths: and public notice of the situation, division, and allotment of the different booths to be given two days before the commencement of the poll, by the returning officer; and, in case the booths be situated in different places. the returning officer may appoint a deputy to preside at each place.

Oaths of Electors.

Act 2nd William IV., cap. 45, s. 48. Every elector, before he shal!

be admitted to poll, shall, if required, take the following oaths, or, if a Quaker, affirmation; viz. :

1. Are you the same person whose Name appears as A. B. on the Register of Voters now in force for the county of

for the

[or

Riding, Parts, or Division, &c., or, for the City, &c., as the case may be]?

2. Have you already voted, either here or elsewhere, at this
Election, for the County of

Parts, or Division of the County of
or Borough of

[or for the

as the case may be]?

Riding,

or for the City

You do swear [or being a Quaker, or Moravian, do affirm], that you
are the same person whose name appears as A. B. on the
Register of Voters now in force for the County of
[or for the
Riding, Parts, or Division of the County of
or for the City or Borough of

as the case may be], and that you have not before voted, either here or elsewhere, at the present Election for the said County, [or for the said Riding, Parts, or Division of the said County, or for the said City or Borough, as the case may be.]

Of the Poll.

So help you GOD.

Act 7th and 8th William III., cap. 25, s. 6. The returning officer shall forthwith deliver, to every person demanding the same, a copy of the poll taken at such election, paying only a reasonable charge for writing the same, under the penalty of 500l. to the party aggrieved.

Act 10th Anne, cap. 23, s. 5. Poll-books shall be delivered upon oath, to the clerk of the peace, and kept among the records of the sessions.

Of the Returns.

Act 7th Henry IV., cap. 15. The names of the persons chosen shall be written in an indenture, under the seals of those by whom they are chosen, and tacked to the writ, which shall be deemed the sheriff's return of such writ.

Act 10th and 11th William III., cap. 7. The returning officer shall, within fourteen days next following, make return to the clerk of the crown in Chancery, paying the ancient fees, viz.-4s. for every knight of the shire, and 2s. for every citizen, burgess, or baron of the cinque-ports.

Act 25th George III., cap. 84, s. 1. Returns shall be made truly, fairly, and publicly, at the final close of the poll, or the day after, unless a scrutiny be demanded. The officer having the return of the writ shall cause returns to be filed before the writ is returnable; and other returning officers are to make their returns in six days.

Penalties for false Returns.

Act 5th Richard II., cap. 4, s. 2. Sheriff's neglecting or omitting to make returns, shall be amerced.

Act 11th Henry IV., cap. 1. If found, on inquest, that the sheriff hath made false returns, contrary to Act 7th Henry IV., he shall forfeit 100l., and the knights so falsely returned shall lose their wages:-viz. 4s. per day for each knight of the shire, and 2s. per day for each citizen and burgess.

Act 10th and 11th William III. cap. 7. Sheriffs not making returns shall forfeit 500l.