Registra tion. 48 Vict. c. 15. Duties of Clerk of the peace; of the overseer, one-member district is, as far as England is concerned, almost a novelty, because in a system of representation which counts and reckons more than six centuries of life, what began at the Reform Bill' may be considered almost a novelty. The recommendations of this system are, I think, these that it is very economical, it is very simple, and it goes a very long way towards what is roughly termed the representation of minorities 2.' § 2. Registration. It is a condition precedent to the exercise of the right to vote that the voter should be upon the Register. This preliminary to the enjoyment of the franchise was first introduced when the franchise was remodelled in 1832, and the rules respecting it have been dealt with by various statutes. As this book is not a manual of election law I do not propose to go into the rules of Registration in detail. It is enough to describe the practice in outline for England, as settled by the Registration Act, 1885. It is the duty of the clerk of the peace in a county, of the town-clerk in a borough, to send to the overseers of every parish or township, on or within seven days of the 15th of April in each year, a precept. The precept contains a description of the qualifications which entitle persons to be registered as voters, and the order and dates of the things which the overseer is required to do. By following the chief instructions conveyed in this precept we may obtain some knowledge of the process of registration. The overseer must in April or May ascertain who is entitled to be registered as an inhabitant occupier of a rated dwellinghouse, and must enter the names of such persons in a column 1 This is not strictly accurate. Edward IV gave by charter the right of returning one member to Wenlock. The Welsh counties and county towns each returned a member by a statute of Henry VIII; so did Bewdley, Higham Ferrers, and Banbury, enfranchised, the first two by Mary, the last by James I. 2 It can hardly be said that in the elections which have taken place under the new law the representation of minorities was much advanced by the single-member system. of the rate-book. And if rateable property is not rated, the overseer must act in respect of the inhabitant occupiers of it as if it was rated. (41 & 42 Vict. c. 26, s. 14.) of owners, Before the 20th of June he must publish, if in a county con- in respect stituency, the existing register of ownership voters, and must give notice to any £10 occupier who has not paid his rates. Before the 22nd of July he must make out a list of such of occupiers, occupiers as, not having paid their rates by the 20th of July, are disqualified. And before the 31st of July he must ascertain from the relieving officer of the parish the names of all persons disqualified by receipt of parochial relief. Before the 31st of July he must also make out a list of occupiers, that is, of all persons whom he has ascertained to be qualified as £10 rated occupiers, as inhabitant occupiers, and if in a county of £50 rental occupiers1. He must make out a list of lodgers already on the register who have sent in of lodgers. their claims to appear in respect of the same lodgings; and, if in a county, a list of ownership claimants. objections. By the 20th of August all new claims have to be sent in, Claims and and the lists, together with notices of objections, have to be published on the door of every church or public chapel in the parish. By the 25th of August the lists of occupiers and old lodgers, and of claims and objections, must be sent by the overseer to the town clerk in a borough, to the clerk of the peace in a county, with the addition of a copy of the ownership register, and of lists of claims and objections in respect of ownership. In September the Revising Barrister comes round and The Revising adjudicates upon disputed claims and objections to names Barrister, existing on the Register: from his decision an appeal lies on a case stated by him, to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court, and on the result of the revision the Register the Regisis made out, containing three lists if it is for a county, two The provision of the Act of 1832, which created this qualification, was expressly repealed by the Act of 1884, but the rights of persons entitled to be registered under this qualification were saved by s. 10 of the Act of 1884. ter, Aute, p. 114. if it is for a borough. These are lists of ownership, occupation, and lodger voters; the ownership list is omitted in boroughs. The Register, thus made up, comes into force on the ensuing 1st of January, unless accelerated by special legislation. It will be seen that much care is taken in these provisions on behalf of the occupier. The ownership voter must claim in order to get on to the Register, but once there he need not make a fresh claim. The lodger voter has to claim afresh every year. The occupier is privileged to be entered by the overseer on the occupier's list without needing to make a claim. A man therefore who desires to vote for a county or borough must first obtain some one of the qualifications which have been set forth above, and next he must ensure that his name is placed upon the Register. But he may be subject to disqualifications which, if known and urged before a Revising barrister, would have disentitled him to be placed upon the Register; and it has been questioned how far the evidence conclusive. furnished by the Register is conclusive not only upon the returning officer who receives the votes, but upon the Court which may have to inquire into the validity of elections. how far 35 & 36 Vict. c. 33, 8. 7. The question turns on the construction of s. 7 of the Ballot Act, which enacts that no one shall be entitled to vote whose name is not on the Register; that every one shall be entitled whose name is on the Register, but that nothing in this section shall entitle any person to vote who is prohibited from voting by any Statute or by the common law of Parliament.' And this exception to the conclusiveness of the Register has been interpreted not to include ' receipt of parochial relief, nonresidence within proper distance of the borough, non-occupation, insufficient qualification.' 'It does not mean persons who from failure in the incidents or elements of the franchise could be successfully objected to on the revision of the register: it means persons who from some inherent or for the time irremoveable quality in themselves have not, either by prohibition of statute or of common law, the status of parliamentary electors 1.' 1 Stowe v. Jolliffe, L. R. 9 C. P. 734. The votes of such persons might be rejected by the returning officer, or if accepted by him might be struck off at a scrutiny upon an election petition. Thus an undergraduate of full age who, in default of objection, was placed on the Register of parliamentary voters for the City of Oxford in virtue of the occupation of college rooms, would be entitled to vote. Not so an infant undergraduate in a like position. § 3. Mode of Election. the Ballot The process by which an election is made has been described, in its preliminary stages, in an earlier chapter. It has been described up to the point at which the returning officer1 receives the writ directing him to procure an election. As Effect of the process of election is now governed by the Ballot Act of Act. 1872, it is worth noting that the changes effected by that Act, apart from details of procedure, relate to the publicity (1) of the nomination, (2) of the poll. Until that date the nomination took place at a hustings. The candidates were proposed and seconded in commendatory speeches, addressed for the most part to a casual crowd, chiefly composed of persons who were not entitled to vote. The candidates explained their political views, and, if the election was contested, a show of hands was demanded by the returning officer. Whatever the result of the show of hands it had no effect on the election. A poll was demanded on behalf of that candidate for whom fewest hands were held up, and on the days and at the place fixed for the poll the voters announced publicly the name of the candidate for whom they desired to vote. The disorders 1 The returning officer for a county, or town which is a county, is the sheriff, or a deputy appointed by him where there are divisions of the county and the sheriff does not act in all. In boroughs which are incorporated the mayor is the returning officer: in others a returning officer is provided, by statute, or appointed by the sheriff. In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, the Vice-Chancellor is the returning officer; in the University of Dublin the Provost; for Edinburgh and St. Andrews the ViceChancellor of the University of Edinburgh; for Glasgow and Aberdeen the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. Rules of 35 & 36 Vict. c. 33. of the nomination and the possible intimidation of voters who The present provisions of the law with respect to the conduct of an election depend upon the Parliamentary and Municipal Elections Act, better known as the Ballot Act, of 1872. The returning officer, upon the receipt of the writ (of which a form was set out on page 53), must give notice of the day and place of election, and of the poll if the election is contested; and he must do so, in the case of counties, within two days of receiving the writ, in the case of boroughs, on the The nomi- day of its receipt or the following day. The election must take place, in the case of counties within nine days, in the case of boroughs within four days, from the receipt of the writ, and within those limits the returning officer may fix the day. The candidates have to be nominated on the day Vict. c. 15. fixed for the election by the returning officer. The nomination is made is writing, each candidate being proposed and seconded by a registered elector for the constituency; the names of eight other registered electors must be affixed to the nomination paper as assenting to the nomination. nation. 16 & 17 The poll. 41 & 42 Vict. c. 4 48 Vict. C. 10. If within an hour of the time fixed for the election no more candidates are nominated than there are vacancies, the election is then made and the names returned to the Crown office in Chancery. If there is a contest the election is adjourned to a polling day, to be fixed by the returning officer: in a county, not less than two nor more than six clear days-in a borough, not more than three-clear days from the day fixed for the election. Polling places are to be fixed conveniently as to number and situation by the local authorities, and the poll is to commence at eight in the morning, and conclude at eight in the afternoon. During these hours the voter, qualified and registered as above described, can deliver his vote at the polling place of his district by ballot. A paper is delivered to him containing the names of the candidates, and " |