_Washington, October 10, 1868_.
The following order has been received from the President, and by his
direction is published to the Army:
The following provisions from the Constitution and laws of the United
States in relation to the election of a President and Vice-President
of the United States, together with an act of Congress prohibiting all
persons engaged in the military and naval service from interfering in
any general or special election in any State, are published for the
information and government of all concerned:
[Extract from Article II, section 1, Constitution of the United States.]
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States
of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years,
and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be
elected as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may
direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but
no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.
[Extract from Article XII, amendment to the Constitution of the United
States.]
The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom at least shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. They shall name in their
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists
of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as
Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they
shall sign and certify and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The
President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House
of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then
be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number
of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from
the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list
of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall
choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the
President the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from
each State having one vote. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of
a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of
all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of
Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of
choice shall devolve upon them, before the 4th day of March next
following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the
case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.
[Extract from "An act relative to the election of a President and
Vice-President of the United States, and declaring the officer who shall
act as President in case of vacancies in the offices both of President
and Vice-President," approved March 1, 1792.]
Sec. 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That * * *
electors shall be appointed in each State for the election of a
President and Vice-President of the United States * * * in every
fourth year succeeding the last election, which electors shall be
equal to the number of Senators and Representatives to which the
several States may by law be entitled at the time when the President
and Vice-President thus to be chosen should come into office:
_Provided always_, That where no apportionment of Representatives
shall have been made after any enumeration at the time of choosing
electors, then the number of electors shall be according to the
existing apportionment of Senators and Representatives.
["An act to establish a uniform time for holding elections for electors
of President and Vice-President in all the States of the Union,"
approved January 23, 1845.]
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That the electors of President
and Vice-President shall be appointed in each State on the Tuesday next
after the first Monday in the month of November of the year in which
they are to be appointed: _Provided_, That each State may by law provide
for the filling of any vacancy or vacancies which may occur in its
college of electors when such college meets to give its electoral vote:
_And provided also_, When any State shall have held an election for the
purpose of choosing electors, and shall fail to make a choice on the day
aforesaid, then the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in
such manner as the State shall by law provide.
[Extracts from "An act relative to the election of a President and
Vice-President of the United States, and declaring the officer who shall
act as President in case of vacancies in the offices both of President
and Vice-President," approved March 1, 1792.]
Sec. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That the electors shall meet and
give their votes on the said first Wednesday in December, at such place
in each State as shall be directed by the legislature thereof; and the
electors in each State shall make and sign three certificates of all the
votes by them given, and shall seal up the same, certifying on each that
a list of the votes of such State for President and Vice-President is
contained therein, and shall, by writing under their hands or under the
hands of a majority of them, appoint a person to take charge of and
deliver to the President of the Senate, at the seat of Government,
before the first Wednesday in January then next ensuing, one of the said
certificates; and the said electors shall forthwith forward by the
post-office to the President of the Senate, at the seat of Government,
one other of the said certificates, and shall forthwith cause the other
of the said certificates to be delivered to the judge of that district
in which the said electors shall assemble.
Sec. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That the executive authority of
each State shall cause three lists of the names of the electors of such
State to be made and certified, and to be delivered to the electors on
or before the said first Wednesday in December, and the said electors
shall annex one of the said lists to each of the lists of their votes.
Sec. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That if a list of votes from any
State shall not have been received at the seat of Government on the said
first Wednesday in January, that then the Secretary of State shall send
a special messenger to the district judge in whose custody such list
shall have been lodged, who shall forthwith transmit the same to the
seat of Government.
Sec. 5. _And be it further enacted_, That Congress shall be in session
on the second Wednesday in February, 1793, and on the second Wednesday
in February succeeding every meeting of the electors, and the said
certificates, or so many of them as shall have been received, shall then
be opened, the votes counted, and the persons who shall fill the offices
of President and Vice-President ascertained and declared agreeably to
the Constitution.
Sec. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That in case there shall be no
President of the Senate at the seat of Government on the arrival of the
persons intrusted with the list of the votes of the electors, then such
persons shall deliver the lists of votes in their custody into the
office of the Secretary of State, to be safely kept and delivered over
as soon as may be to the President of the Senate.
* * * * *
Sec. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That if any person appointed to
deliver the votes of the electors to the President of the Senate shall,
after accepting of his appointment, neglect to perform the services
required of him by this act, he shall forfeit the sum of $1,000.
[Extract from "An act making compensation to the persons appointed by
the electors to deliver the votes for President and Vice-President,"
approved February 11, 1825.]
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That the person appointed by
the electors to deliver to the President of the Senate a list of the
votes for President and Vice-President shall be allowed, on delivery of
said list, 25 cents for every mile of the estimated distance by the most
usual route from the place of meeting of the electors to the seat of
Government of the United States, going and returning.
[Extract from "An act relative to the election of a President and
Vice-President of the United States, and declaring the officer who shall
act as President in case of vacancies in the offices both of President
and Vice-President," approved March 1, 1792.]
Sec. 12. _And be it further enacted_, That the term of four years for
which a President and Vice-President shall be elected shall in all cases
commence on the 4th day of March next succeeding the day on which the
votes of the electors shall have been given.
["An act to prevent officers of the Army and Navy, and other persons
engaged in the military and naval service of the United States, from
interfering in elections in the States," approved February 25, 1865.]
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That it shall not be lawful
for any military or naval officer of the United States, or other person
engaged in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States,
to order, bring, keep, or have under his authority or control any troops
or armed men at the place where any general or special election is
held in any State of the United States of America, unless it shall be
necessary to repel the armed enemies of the United States or to keep the
peace at the polls. And that it shall not be lawful for any officer of
the Army or Navy of the United States to prescribe or fix, or attempt
to prescribe or fix, by proclamation, order, or otherwise, the
qualifications of voters in any State of the United States of America,
or in any manner to interfere with the freedom of any election in any
State or with the exercise of the free right of suffrage in any State of
the United States. Any officer of the Army or Navy of the United States,
or other person engaged in the civil, military, or naval service of the
United States, who violates this section of this act shall for every
such offense be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor in any court
of the United States having jurisdiction to hear, try, and determine
cases of misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall pay a fine not
exceeding $5,000 and suffer imprisonment in the penitentiary not less
than three months nor more than five years, at the discretion of the
court trying the same; and any person convicted as aforesaid shall,
moreover, be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit,
or trust under the Government of the United States: _Provided_, That
nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent any
officers, soldiers, sailors, or marines from exercising the right of
suffrage in any election district to which he may belong, if otherwise
qualified according to the laws of the State in which he shall offer
to vote.
Sec. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That any officer or person in
the military or naval service of the United States who shall order or
advise, or who shall, directly or indirectly, by force, threat, menace,
intimidation, or otherwise, prevent or attempt to prevent any qualified
voter of any State of the United States of America from freely
exercising the right of suffrage at any general or special election
in any State of the United States, or who shall in like manner compel
or attempt to compel any officer of an election in any such State to
receive a vote from a person not legally qualified to vote, or who shall
impose or attempt to impose any rules or regulations for conducting such
election different from those prescribed by law, or interfere in any
manner with any officer of said election in the discharge of his duties,
shall for any such offense be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor
in any court of the United States having jurisdiction to hear, try, and
determine cases of misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall pay a
fine of not exceeding $5,000 and suffer imprisonment in the penitentiary
not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court trying the
same; and any person convicted as aforesaid shall, moreover, be
disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under
the Government of the United States.
By command of General Grant: