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each subsequent year, and he or they shall hold open courts for that purpose at the times and places so to be announced; and where Two or more Barristers shall be appointed for the same County or Riding, they shall attend at the same places together, but shall sit apart from each other, and hold separate courts at the same time for the dispatch of business; and every such Barrister shall be paid out of the at the rate of not more than nor less than

for every day that he shall be so employed; Provided always, That no Barrister so appointed as aforesaid shall be eligible to serve in Parliament for Eighteen Months from the time of such his appointment for the County, or any Part, Riding or Division of the County for which he shall be so appointed.

32.-Clerk of the Peace and Overseers to attend before the Barristers, who shall, on due proof, insert and expunge Names from the County Lists, and rectify mistakes therein.] And be it Enacted, That the Clerk of the Peace shall at the opening of the first court to be held by every such Barrister produce or cause to be produced before him the several Lists of Voters in the Election of a Knight or Knights of the Shire for the County, or for any Part, Riding or Division of the County which shall have been delivered to such Clerk of the Peace by the High Constables as aforesaid; and the Overseers of every parish and township shall attend the court to be held by every such Barrister at the place appointed, for revising the Lists relating to such parish or township respectively, and shall answer upon oath all such questions as such Barrister may put to them or any of them touching the said Lists or any matter necessary for the revising thereof; and every such Barrister shall inquire into and determine all such objections as may be made to the insertion or omission of names in the said Lists, and shall retain on the said Lists all names to which no valid objection shall be established, and shall insert in such Lists the name of every person who shall be proved to be entitled to vote in the Election of a Knight or Knights of the Shire for the County, or for any Part, Riding or Division of the County, and shall expunge from the said Lists the name of every person who shall be proved not to be entitled to vote in such Election, or to be incapacitated by any law or statute from voting in the Election of Members to serve in Parliament, and shall correct any mistake which shall be proved to him to have been committed in any of the said Lists in respect of the name of any person inserted therein, or of the local description of the property of any person named therein: Provided always, That no person's name shall be expunged from any such List unless such notice as is hereinbefore required shall have been given to such person or left at his usual place of abode, and no person's name shall be inserted in any such List unless he shall have given to the Överseers such notice as is hereinbefore required to be given.

....

33.-Overseers to prepare Lists of Persons entitled to vote in Boroughs, and to publish them on Two Sundays. Copies of Lists to be kept for inspection.] And be it Enacted, That the Overseers of the poor of every parish and township in part or in whole situate within, or by virtue of this Act to be incorporated with, any City or Borough, or to share in the Election for any City or Borough, which shall return a Member or Members to serve in any future Parliament, shall, at the expense of such parish or township, on or before the day of in the present year, and on or before the last day of August in each succceding year, make out or cause to be made out, according to the Form in Schedule (K.) to this Act annexed, an Alphabetical List of all persons entitled to be registered as Voters in the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for such City or Borough, by virtue of any right acquired under this Act in respect of any property occupied by such persons within such parish or township, and another such List of all persons entitled to be registered as Voters in such Election by virtue of any corporate or other right hereby saved and reserved to such last-mentioned persons; and in each of the said Lists the christian name and surname of (p. 12.)

every person shall be written at full length; and where any person shall be entitled to vote in respect of any property, then the name of the street, lane, or other description of the place where such property may be situate shall be specified in the List; and where any person shall be entitled to vote otherwise than in respect of any property, then the name of the street, lane, or other description of the place of such person's abode shall be specified in the List; and the Overseers shall sign each of such Lists, and shall cause a sufficient number of copies of such Lists to be printed at the expense of their respective parishes and townships, and shall fix such copies on or near the doors of all the churches and chapels in their several parishes and townships on the Two Sundays next after such Lists shall have been made respectively in this and in every subsequent year; and shall likewise keep true copies of such Lists, to be perused by any person, without payment of any fee, at all reasonable hours during the two first weeks after such Lists shall have

been made..

And

34.-Town Clerks to furnish the Overseers with Lists of the Freemen.] be it Enacted, That for assisting the Overseers in making out their Lists in pursuance of this Act, the Town Clerk or other like officer of every City or Borough shall (upon request made to him at any reasonable time during the month of

in the present year, or during the month of August in any succeeding Year, by any of the Overseers of any parish or township in part or in whole situate within, or by virtue of this Act to be incorporated with such City or Borough, or to share in the Election for the same), deliver to such Overseer an Alphabetical List of all the Freemen entitled to vote for such City or Borough by virtue of any corporate right hereby saved to them, together with the respective places of their abode.

35.-Provision for Extra-parochial places, &c.] And be it Enacted, That every precinct and place, whether extra-parochial or otherwise, which shall have no Overseers of the poor, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be within the parish or township adjoining thereto; and if such precinct or place shall adjoin two or more parishes or townships, it shall be deemed to be within the smallest of such parishes or townships; and the Overseers of every such parish or township shall insert in the Lists to be made under this Act the names of all persons who may be entitled to vote in the Election of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for any County, Part, Riding or Division of a County, City or Borough in respect of any property situate within such precinct or place as aforesaid.

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36.--Persons omitted in the Borough Lists to give notice of their claims to Over... Lists of Claimants to be kept for inspection..... Notice of Objection to persons not entitled to be in the Lists.] And be it Enacted, That every person whose name shall have been omitted in any such List for any City or Borough, and who shall claim to have his name inserted therein, shall, on or before the day of in the present year, and on or before the last day of September in every succeeding year, give or cause to be given a notice in writing, according to the Form numbered 1. in the said Schedule (K.), or to the like effect, to the Overseers of that parish or township in the Lists whereof he shall claim to have his name inserted; and the Overseers shall include the names of all persons so claiming as aforesaid in a notice according to the Form numbered 2. in the said Schedule (K.), and shall cause such last-mentioned notice to be fixed on or near the doors of all the churches and chapels within their parish or township on the Sunday next preceding the day of in the present year, and on the Sunday next preceding the Tenth day of October in each succeeding year; and they shall likewise keep a copy of the names of all the persons so claiming as aforesaid, to be perused by any person, without payment of any fee, at all reasonable hours, during the Seven days next preceding the said

(p. 13.)

day of in the present year, and the said Tenth day of October in each succeeding year; and every person who shall object to any other person as not being entitled to have his name retained on any such List for any City or Borough, shall, on or before the day of in the present year, and on or before the last day of September in every succeeding year, give to such other person, or leave at his usual place of abode, a notice in writing according to the Form numbered 3. in the said Schedule (K.), or to the like effect.

the

day of

37.--Returning Officer to revise Lists of Borough Voters, and, upon due proof, to insert and expunge names and rectify mistakes.] And be it Enacted, That on in the present year, and on the Tenth day of October in each succceding year, unless such Tenth day shall be Sunday, and then on the Monday following, the Returning Officer of every City or Borough shall sit in some convenient public hall or place, (having first given Three clear days' notice of his sitting, to be affixed on the doors of all the said churches and chapels,) for inquiring into and determining all such objections as may be made to the insertion or omission of names in either of the said Lists; and the Overseers of the several parishes and townships as aforesaid, shall, at the opening of the sitting to be held by such Returning Officer, produce their said several Lists before him, and shall answer upon oath such questions as he may put to them touching the said Lists, or any matter necessary for the revising thereof; and such Returning Officer shall retain on the said Lists all names to which no valid objection shall be established, and shall insert in such Lists the name of every person who shall be proved to be entitled to vote in the Election of a Member or Members of Parliament to serve for such City or Borough, and shall expunge from the said Lists the name of every person who shall be proved not to be entitled to vote for such City or Borough, or to be incapacitated by any law or statute from voting in the Election of Members to serve in Parliament, and shall correct any mistake which shall be proved to him to have been committed in any of the said Lists in respect of the name or place of abode or local description of the property of any person inserted therein: Provided always, That no person's name shall be expunged from any such List unless such notice as is hereinbefore required in that behalf shall have been given to such person, or left at his usual place of abode; and no person's name shall be inserted in any such List, unless he shall have given to the Overseers such notice as is hercinbefore required to be given in that behalf.

38.-Power of inspecting Tax Assessments and Raie Books.] And be it Enacted, That the Overseers of every parish or township shall, for their assistance in making out the Lists in pursuance of this Act, (upon request made by them, or any of them, at any reasonable time between the

and the

day of

day of

in the present year, and between the First day of July and the last day of August in any succeeding year, to any assessor or collector of taxes, or to any other officer having the custody of any duplicate or Tax Assessment for such parish or township), have free liberty to inspect any such duplicate or Tax Assessment, and to extract from thence such names as may appear to such Overseer or Overseers to be necessary; and every Barrister and every Returning Officer so holding their respective courts under this Act shall have power to require any assessor, collector of taxes or other officer having the custody of any duplicate or Tax Assessment, or any Overseer or Overseers having the custody of any poor rate, to produce the same respectively before him, for the pose of assisting him in revising the Lists to be by him revised in pursuance of this Act.

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39.-Returning Officer and Barrister, in revising the Lists, to have power of administering Oaths, of adjourning, &c.; and shall settle and sign the Lists in open Court.] And be it Enacted, That every Barrister and every Returning Officer (p. 14.)

holding their respective courts under this Act as aforesaid shall have power to adjourn the same from time to time, and from any one place to any other place or places within the same County or Riding, or within the same City or Borough, or within any district, town or place sharing in the Election for such City or Borough, but so as that no such adjourned court shall be held after the day of in the present year, or after the day of November in any succeeding year; and every such Barrister and Returning Officer shall have power to administer an oath, (or in the case of a Quaker or Moravian an affirmation,) to all persons making objection to the insertion or omission of any name in such Lists as aforesaid, and to all persons objected against, or claiming to be inserted in such Lists, or claiming to have any mistake in such Lists corrected, and to all witnesses who may be tendered on either side; and that if any person taking any oath or making any affirmation under this Act shall wilfully swear or affirm falsely, such person shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be punished accordingly; and that at the holding of such respective courts the parties shall not be attended by Counsel; and that every such Barrister and returning officer shall, the hearing in open court, finally determine upon the validity of such claims and objections, and shall in open court write his initials against the names respectively struck out or inserted, and against any part of the said Lists in which any mistakes shall have been corrected, and shall sign his name to every page of the several Lists so settled.

upon

40.-County Lists to be transmitted to Clerk of Peace: Borough Lists to be kept by Returning Officer and handed to his Successor, . . . . Lists to be copied into Books, with the Names numbered. . . . Such Books to be the Register of Voters from which Elections shall be made.] And be it Enacted, That the Lists so signed by such Barrister shall be forthwith transmitted by him to the Clerk of the Peace of the County or Riding for which he shall have been appointed, and the Clerk of the Peace shall keep the said Lists among the records of the sessions, arranged with every hundred in alphabetical order, and with every parish and township within such hundred likewise in alphabetical order, and shall forthwith cause the said Lists to be fairly and truly copied in the same order in a book to be by him provided for that purpose at the expense of the County or Riding, and shall prefix to every name so copied out its proper number, beginning the numbers from the first name and continuing them in a regular series down to the last name, and shall deliver the said book to the Sheriff of the County, or his Undersheriff, on or before the day of in the present year, and on or before the last day of November in each succeeding year; and the Lists so signed by the Returning Officer for each City or Borough shall be kept by him, and he shall forthwith cause the said Lists to be fairly and truly copied in a book to be by him provided for that purpose at the expense of the County, with every name therein numbered according to the directions aforesaid, and shall deliver over the said book, together with the Lists, at the expiration of his office, to the person succeeding him in the same; and the Clerk of the Peace and the Returning Officer shall cause copies of such respective books to be printed at the expense of the County (which shall be delivered to all persons applying, on payment of a reasonable price for each copy); and such respective books shall be deemed the Register of Electors to vote, after the end of this present Parliament, in the choice of Knights, Citizens and Burgesses for the several Counties, Parts, Ridings, and Divisions of Counties, Cities and Boroughs to which such Registers respectively relate, at any Election which may take place after the in the present year and before the First day of December in the next year; and the Registers to be made in each succeeding year shall be the Registers of the Electors to vote at any Election which shall take place between the First day of December inclusive, in the year wherein such Register shall have been made, and the First day of December in the following year.

(p. 15.)

day of

41.-No Inquiry at the time of Election, but as to the Identity of the Voter, the continuance of his Qualification, and whether he has voted before at same Election.. Voter may be sworn as to these points. . . . Form of Oath.] And be it Enacted, That in all Elections whatever of Members to serve in any future Parliament, no inquiry shall be permitted at the time of polling, except only whether the person claiming to vote be the same whose name appears in such Register, and whether such person's qualification for voting still continues, and whether such person shall have previously voted at the same Election, all which inquiries the Returning Officer or his deputy shall, if required on behalf of any Candidate, make from each Voter at the time of his tendering his vote, and not after, by administering an oath, or in case of a Quaker or Moravian, an affirmation, to such Voter, in the following form (that is to say)

“YOU A. B. do swear, [or, being a Quaker or Moravian, do affirm,]
"That
you are the same A. B. whose name appears on the Register
"of Voters for the County of

66

[or the

Part, or the City or

Riding or Division of the County of "Borough of as the case may be,] and that your "qualification as such registered Voter still continues, and that you "have not before voted either here or elsewhere at the present Election "for the said County, [or for the said Part, Riding or Division of the "said County, or for the said City or Borough, as the case may be.] "So help you GOD."

And no Elector shall hereafter, at any Election, be required to take any oath or affirmation, except as aforesaid, in proof of his freehold, residence, age, or other his qualification or right to vote, any law or statute, local or general, to the contrary notwithstanding; and no Elector shall be excluded from voting at any such Election, except by reason of his refusing to take the said oath or make the said affirmation, or to take any other oath or make any other affirmation required by any other Act, and not hereby dispensed with; and no Scrutiny shall hereafter be allowed by or before any Returning Officer with regard to any votes given or tendered at any Election of a Member or Members to serve in any future Parliament; any law, statute or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.

42.-Accuracy of Register to be questionable before Committee of House of Commons, who may award Costs against the Barrister and Returning Officer for partiality, &c. in settling the Register.] Provided nevertheless, and be it Enacted, That by petition to the House of Commons, complaining of an undue Election or Return of any Knight, Citizen or Burgess, any petitioner shall be at liberty to question the correctness of the Register which shall have been settled by such Barrister or Returning Officer, and to prove that names were improperly retained, inserted, expunged or omitted by him in the revision of the lists from which the register in force at the time of such Election shall have been constituted; and the Committee before whom the merits of any such Petition shall be tried may inquire into the same, and alter the poll taken at such Election according to the truth of the case, and direct the Return to be amended accordingly, or declare the Election void, as the case may be, and in case of corruption, partiality, or wilful misconduct on the part of such Barrister or Returning Officer, may order such costs to be paid by him to the Petitioner as such Committee shall think reasonable.

43.-Sheriff's of the divided Counties to preside at Elections by themselves or Deputies, and fix the time.] And be it Enacted, That the Sheriffs of the Counties directed hereby to be divided, shall duly cause proclamation to be made of the several days fixed for the Election of a Knight or Knights of the Shire for the several Parts, Ridings and Divisions of their said respective Counties, and shall preside at the same by themselves or their lawful Deputies.

(p. 16.)

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