TERRITORY OF OKLAHOMA,

Oath, how administered.

Chairman of board; form of clerk's Oath.

..County

I do solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Organic Act of this Territory; that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties as inspector or judge of election assigned by law; that I will not knowingly permit any person to vote who is not qualified; and will not refuse the vote of any qualified elector or cause any delay to persons offering to vote further than is necessary to procure the satisfactory information of the qualifications of such person as an elector; that I am now and have been continuously for one year next preceding this date a citizen and bona fide resident of the township in which the precinct in which I am to act as a member of the election board is situated, and that I will not disclose or communicate to any person how an elector has voted at such election, or how any ballot has been folded, marked or stamped; that I have nothing of value bet or wagered upon the result of said election and am not a candidate at this election, and am not related to any person to be voted for at this election within the degrees named in section four of this Act.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this....day of.... SECTION 9. If no person present be authorized by law to administer the oath of office, the inspector shall administer the same to the judges and one of such judges shall then administer said oath to the inspector.

SECTION 10. The inspector shall be chairman of such board, and before the reception of any vote, shall administer an oath to the clerks of election, that they will faithfully discharge their duties as such. After the organization of the board of election, the inspector may administer all necessary oaths which may be required in the discharge of its duties, and all oaths shall be written or printed and shall be signed by the persons making such

oaths in the presence of such board, and the person administering such oaths shall affix his jurat thereto, and said affidavit shall be attached to and returned with the poll lists to the office of the county clerk. The oaths herein prescribed for the clerks of election shall be in the following form, namely:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will faithfully and honestly discharge my duties as clerk of the election in......precinct and........ward (.............. or .... township) in ...... County, Oklahoma Territory, and that I will not disclose or communicate to any person how any elector voted, or how any ballot was folded, marked or stamped.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this....day of....

locks.

SECTION 11. The board of county commissioners of Ballot boxes, how painted each county shall provide, at the expense of the county, two ballot boxes, one painted red for the reception of the ballots prepared by the Territorial Board of Election Commissioners, and one painted white for the reception of the ballots prepared by the county board of election commisioners for each precinct; each ballot box shall have at least two locks of different kinds and combinations, so that the key of one will not unlock the other, and be otherwise so constructed as to contribute toward the prevention of fraud.

SECTION 12. An opening shall be made in the lid of Opening in box; keys. each box sufficient only for a single ballot; and at the time the election is opened, the inspector and judges shall see that there are no ballots in the boxes before the voting begins, and shall thereupon securely lock the box and give one key to each box to one of the judges who is in politics opposed to the inspector, the inspector retain

Opening and closing of polls.

ing the other key; and the same shall not be again opened until the polls are closed, and the board is ready to immediately proceed with the counting.

SECTION 13. The election shall be opened in the forenoon at the hour of eight o'clock and continue open until four o'clock in the afternoon, after which the board may close the election at any time, when all the electors have voted, or when fifteen minutes have passed without a vote being tendered; but the polls shall in no case be kept open after six o'clock of the afternoon; and the polls shall not be closed before six o'clock, except by the unanimous consent of all the members of the election board; but whenever the polls are closed, proclamation must be made of the fact of such closing, by the inspector, to the people outside, in a loud and audible tone of voice, and a minute of such proclamation, and of the time when the same was made, must be entered on the tally sheets by the clerks, and after such minute has been made, no more votes shall be received: Provided, That upon the petition of twenty of the legal voters and householders of any precinct in the Territory, presented to the board of county commissioners at their July session next preceding any election in the county in which such precinct or precincts are situated, petitioning said board for the opening of the election at the hour of six o'clock in the forenoon, it is made the duty of the board of commissioners, to grant and enter of record the prayer of such precinct petitioners; and it is made the further duty of the board to direct the clerk of the county to publish in two newspapers of general circulation published in said county, representing the leading political parties in this Territory opposed to each other, for three successive weeks, a notice setting out fully the name of the precinct or precincts and the township, town or city in which such precinct or precincts are situated, so petitioning for the opening of the polls at six o'clock in the forenoon, and the board shall enter upon the record an order requiring the polls of every such precinct to be opened accordingly: Provided further,

That in all cities and incorporated towns having a popu lation of one thousand or more, as shown by the last United States census, the polls shall be opened at six o'clock in the forenoon on the day of such election and closed at six o'clock in the afternoon of said day.

intent; absence from Terri

SECTION 14. Each elector shall vote by ballot, in the Notice of precinct where he resides. Any person, who having been tory; notice

and copy;

a resident of Oklahoma Territory, shall have absented violation. himself from the Territory for a period of six months or more, or who shall have gone to any other state or sovereignty with the intention of voting therein, or during any absence in another state or sovereignty shall have voted therein, and also, any person who shall not have been a bona fide resident of this Territory, and of the county in which he resides, at least six months before any election, shall, before being entitled to vote at any election in the Territory, register a notice of his intention to become a qualified elector therein, in the office of the county clerk of the county in which he resides. Whoever shall be absent from the Territory for a period of six months or more, on business of the Territory or the United States, shall at the time he offers to vote, produce a certificate from the county clerk that his name has continuously, since his departure from the Territory on such business, been upon the tax duplicate of said county for the purpose of taxation, during his absence from the Territory, and that he is still a tax-paper in said county; and failing to produce such certificate, such person shall not be permitted to vote, such registration shall be made at least three months prior to any such election, and the notice shall state such person's name, age, place of residence (by which shall be understood his lodging place), and the notice shall be in the form following, and sworn to before such clerk:

clare my intention to become a qualified elector under the laws of the Territory of Oklahoma; that I was .... years of age on my last birthday; that my lodging place is now (here insert exact location); and I was a bona fide resident of the precinct in which I lodge.

...

[ Subscribed and sworn to before me this.. day of. Provided, That the provisions of this section respecting such registration and notice shall not apply to any voter who six months or more previous to any election shall have registered with said clerk a notice declaring his intention to hold his residence in this Territory during a contemplated absence, and that during such absence he will not exercise the right of suffrage elsewhere and which notice shall be as follows, and shall be sworn to before said clerk.

TERRITORY OF OKLAHOMA,

I,

voter of

County

the subscriber hereto, a qualified (here insert the name of his pre

cinct, ward, township, town and city), in said county, intending to absent myself, do hereby declare my purpose to hold my residence as a voter in said Territory, and that I will not exercise the right to suffrage elsewhere during my absence.

[........ ]

[ Subscribed and sworn to before me this.. day of....] On the filing of any notice, as provided for in this section, it shall be the duty of such clerk to enter the name and residence of said elector and date of the filing of such notice in a book furnished for said purpose, to be open at all times to the inspection of the public, and safely preserve said original notice and deliver a certified copy of the same to the elector so registering, and on demand of any challenger or member of the election board, such elector shall be requested to produce the same before being allowed to vote. No person shall register