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AN ACT,

To take the Sense of the People upon the Call of a Convention, and Providing for Organizing the same.

WHEREAS, it is represented to the General Assembly, that a portion of the good people of this Commonwealth are desirous of amending the Constitution of the State:

1. Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be the duty of the officers 2 authorised to conduct elections within this Commonwealth, at the time 3 and places, of holding their respective elections for delegates to the 4 General Assembly in the month of April next, to open separate polls 5 for the purpose of taking the sense of the people upon the question, 6 whether they desire a convention or not? The polls to be opened 7 shall contain two columns, and shall be headed on the one side of the 8 poll thus: "Shall there be a convention to amend the Constitution of 9 this Commonwealth?

10

Convention.

No Convention.

11 The officers conducting the elections shall take the vote on the ques12 tion aforesaid, of every person qualified according to the existing laws 13 of this Commonwealth to vote for delegates to the General Assembly, 14 who shall come forward during such election to give his vote, and 15 shall cause the names of those who vote for a convention to be writ16 ten in the first column under the word "Convention;" the names of 17 those who vote against a convention to be written in the second column 18 under the words "No Convention ;" and no person shall be per19 mitted to vote on said question more than once, either in the same 20 county, or in different counties.

2. It shall be the duty of the officers, before they commence taking 2 the poll provided for in this Act, to take and subscribe, before some 3 Justice of the Peace for their city or county, the following oath or 4 affirmation; "We, A. B. &c. do solemnly swear (or affirm) that, in 5 conducting the poll concerning a convention, we will, to the best of 6 our skill and judgment, admit all persons to vote entitled to do so, 7 and reject all not so entitled, and that, as far as depends on us, we 8 will, make a just, true and fair return of the results according to law. 9 So help us God." And the Justice shall return said oath or affirma10 tion, so taken and subscribed, to the Clerk to whom polls for dele11 gates to the General Assembly are made returnable by law.

3. The officers conducting the elections shall appoint writers who 2 shall make oath or affirmation before some Justice of the Peace, that 3 they will take the polls faithfully and impartially; and they shall de4 liver to them poll books, prepared in the manner prescribed by this 5 Act; and, after the names of all the electors who have voted shall 6 have been entered, they shall conclude the polls; whereupon the 7 officers conducting said elections shall certify at the foot thereof the 8 correctness of said polls, and forthwith deliver the same to the Clerks 9 to whom the polls for delegates to the General Assembly are return10 able by law, to be by them safely kept and preserved in their respec11 tive offices.

4. It shall be the duty of the several Clerks aforesaid, and of the 2 officers who may have conducted the said election at the Courthouse 3 of any county, or of the Mayors or other officers who may have con4 ducted the said election in any city, town, or borough, within ten 5 days after the reception by said Clerks respectively of said polls, to 6 examine said poll books, and to strike therefrom the names of such 7 persons as shall have voted more than once; and said Clerks and 8 conducting officers shall add up said polls, and shall transmit by mail 9 to the Executive of this Commonwealth a true statement of the result 10 of the same, verified by oath or affirmation before some Justice of the

11 Peace in form following, viz: "We, A. B, Clerk of 12 C. D, who conducted the election on the

13 eighteen hundred and fifty, at

14 town, or borough of

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Courthouse, (or in the city,

,) do solemnly swear (or affirm), that

15 we have carefully examined, corrected, and summed up the polls 16 taken for said county, (or city, town, or borough,) of

17 that

votes were polled for a Convention;

18 against a Convention.

and votes

19

A. B, Clerk &c.

20

C. D, Conducting Officer.

21 Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Justice of the Peace. J. P."

5. It shall be the duty of the said Executive to ascertain the results, 2 as exhibited by said statement of the polls, on or before Monday the 3 third day of June next,and within five days thereafter to declare the same 4 by Proclamation, to be published in such newspapers as in the opinion 5 of the Executive will be best calculated to diffuse general informa6 tion thereof, and at least once a week until the day of election berein7 after appointed; and if it be ascertained that a majority of the votes 8 cast are in favor of a convention, he shall at the same time and in 9 like manner make proclamation for holding a general election of dele10 gates to said convention according to the apportionment and districts 11 prescribed in the sixth section of this act. The election of delegates 12 to said convention shall be held on the fourth Thursday of August 13 next.

6. The apportionment and districts shall be as prescribed in this sec2 tion. The districts composed of the following counties, cities and 3 towns, shall elect delegates as follows :-Accomack and Northampton, 4 two delegates; Norfolk city, Norfolk county and Princess Anne, five 5 delegates; Southampton, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Surry and 6 Greenesville, four delegates; Petersburg, Chesterfield and Prince 7 George, four delegates; Richmond city, Henrico, Charles City and 8 New Kent, six delegates; Williamsburg, James City, Gloucester,

9 Warwick, York and Elizabeth City, two delegates; Essex, King & 10 Queen, Middlesex and Matthews, three delegates; Caroline, Spotsyl11 vania, King William and Hanover, five delegates; Richmond, West12 moreland, King George, Lancaster and Northumberland, three dele13 gates; Prince William, Alexandria, Fairfax and Stafford, four dele14 gates; Henry, Franklin and Patrick, three delegates; Halifax, Pitt15 sylvania and Mecklenburg, six delegates; Prince Edward, Charlotte 16 and Appomattox, three delegates; Brunswick, Lunenburg, Nottoway 17 and Dinwiddie, three delegates; Cumberland, Amelia, Powhatan and 18 Buckingham, three delegates; Campbell and Bedford, four delegates; 19 Nelson, Amherst and Albemarle, four delegates; Goochland, Flu20 vanna and Louisa, three delegates; Culpeper, Greene, Madison and 21 Orange, three delegates; Loudoun, three delegates; Fauquier and 22 Rappahannock, three delegates; Botetourt, Roanoke, Alleghany and 23 Bath, three delegates; Augusta, Rockbridge and Highland, five dele24 gates; Rockingham, Pendleton, and Page, four delegates; Shenan25 doah, Hardy and Warren, four delegates; Jefferson, Berkeley and 26 Clarke, four delegates; Frederick, Hampshire and Morgan, four dele27 gates; Ohio, Brooke, Hancock and Marshall, four delegates; Dod28 dridge, Wetzel, Tyler, Harrison, Wood and Ritchie, four delegates; 29 Marion, Preston, Monongalia, and Taylor, four delegates; Lewis, 30 Randolph, Barbour, Gilmer, Braxton, Wirt and Jackson, four dele31 gates; Cabell, Mason, Putnam, Wayne, Boone and Logan, three 32 delegates; Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Fayette, Nicholas and Kanawha, 33 four delegates; Carroll, Grayson, Floyd, Montgomery and Pulaski, 34 three delegates; Mercer, Giles, Tazewell and Monroe, three dele35 gates; Smyth, Wythe and Washington, three delegates; Scott, Russell 36 and Lee, three delegates.

7. Be it further enacted, That the persons qualified according to law 2 to vote for members of the House of Delegates, in each county, city, 3 town and borough in this Commonwealth, shall assemble at their res4 pective Courthouses or other places appointed by law for holding

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5 elections of members of the General Assembly, on the fourth Thurs6 day in August next, and then and there vote for as many discreet and 7 proper persons as members of the said convention as are designated 8 in the sixth section of this act, for their respective districts. No per9 son shall be permitted to vote more than once, either in the same 10 county or in different counties; and any person who shall violate 11 this provision, or that contained in the last clause of the first section 12 of this act, shall forfeit and pay to the Commonwealth, for the use of 13 the Literary Fund, a sum of one hundred dollars, to be recovered as 14 other penalties and forfeitures.

8. The persons appointed and authorised by law to superintend and 2 hold elections in the month of April next, for members of the Gen3 eral Assembly, in the several counties, cities, towns and boroughs, 4 shall conduct said election for delegates to said convention; and the 5 same shall be held in like manner, and each elector shall be entitled 6 to the like privilege from arrest, and the persons holding the said 7 election, and the writers appointed to keep the polls, shall take and 8 subscribe the like oath or affirmation, and the Justices before whom 9 the same may be made shall make the like return of the certificates 10 thereof, and the officers conducting the election in counties, cities, 11 towns and boroughs composing a district, shall proceed to ascertain 12 and declare who are elected in like manner, and shall give a like cer13 tificate of election, as prescribed by law in cases of elections of Sena14 tors to the General Assembly; and in case of an equality of votes 15 given to two or more persons, an election shall be made, and declared 16 as in elections of Senators. The officers conducting said election, 17 shall meet at the Courthouse of the county, city or town first named 18 in their respective districts, within the time prescribed by law for the 19 assembling of the officers conducting a Senatorial election, for the 20 purpose of comparing the polls and otherwise discharging the duties 21 required of them, and the original poll books shall be returned by 22 said officers to the Clerks of their respective County or Corporation

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