towns; and the city clerk of the city of Providence shall, from the list of voters so corrected, make out separate lists of the voters of each ward in said city, and send such lists, by him certified, to the clerks of the respective wards before the time fixed for the opening of the ward meetings. Any wilful neglect to hold the sessions, to post up the lists, or to deliver the same, as herein before required, on the part of any town council or town clerk, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be forfeited by every member of the town council, and by every town clerk so wilfully neglecting his duty as aforesaid.

SEC. 17. If any town council of any town shall at any session holden for the purpose of correcting the list of voters for the said town as is herein before provided, wilfully and fraudulently place the name of any person upon the list of voters for such town who is not entitled to vote, or shall wilfully and fraudulently reject and cause to be erased from said lists the name of any person entitled to vote, every member of the town council so offending, who shall concur in said offence, shall forfeit not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars.

SEC. 18. If any town clerk shall at any time wilfully and fraudulently add a name to any list of voters, or erase any name therefrom after the same has been corrected and certified as aforesaid, he shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for each and every name so added or erased as aforesaid.

SEC. 19. Any person who shall have received aid or assistance from any town for the support of himself, or whose wife, or child under lawful age, shall have received such aid or assistance, at any time within one year from the time of the election at which he proposes to vote, shall be deemed and considered a pauper; and the name of any and all such persons shall be stricken from the list of voters by the board of canvassers.

SEC. 20. It shall be the duty of the clerk of every town. council to record the votes of the members of said town councils upon admitting or rejecting the name of any person from the list of voters, when he shall be requested thereto by any member of said council, or by any qualified elector of said town present at the time of canvassing; a certified copy of which record shall be conclusive evidence of the facts therein stated; and any wilful neglect upon the part of said clerk to make said record, when requested as aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

SEC. 21. Said town councils may, at their sessions, holden

either for the purpose of revising the registry or canvassing the votes as aforesaid, examine under oath, any person present, and any other evidence offered, or that they deem necessary, respecting the right of any person to have his name upon theregistry or to vote, and decide upon the same; and any person refusing to answer, or giving a false answer upon such examination, shall forfeit a sum not less than twentyfive dollars, nor more than three hundred dollars, for such refusal, or for each false answer so given.

SEC. 22. The town councils in case they shall have entered on said lists the names of all persons returned to them by said town clerks, shall not be held answerable for any omissions in said lists, nor for refusing to place in their list the name of any persons omitted in the lists to them delivered as aforesaid, unless at one of their said sessions they shall be furnished with sufficient evidence of such omission, and of the qualifications as a voter, of the person omitted, and shall have been requested to insert his name on their list.

SEC. 23. The moderator or warden of any town or ward meeting shall receive the votes of all persons whose names are upon the lists of voters, so to him delivered and certified as aforesaid, and he shall reject the votes of all persons claiming to vote whose names are not on said lists: provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair the right of either house of the general assembly to judge of the election of its members, or of the grand committee to count legal, and refuse to count illegal votes: and provided further, that if any voter whose name is upon any ward list in the city of Providence, shall have removed to another ward after the making out of the ward list, or if the name of any voter shall have been placed upon the wrong ward list, every such voter shall be admitted to vote in the ward in which he resides, upon producing the certificate of a ward clerk that his name is upon another ward list, duly prepared for the election in which he claims to vote. The certificates mentioned in this section shall, with the votes, be returned by the several ward clerks to the officer or body by law provided to receive the votes; and if any ward clerk shall refuse to give such certificate to one entitled to and demanding the same, or shall wilfully give a false one, he shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for each and every offence.

SEC. 24. If any person in any election shall fraudulently vote, not being qualified, or having voted in one town or ward, shall vote in another town or ward without having withdrawn the vote first given, he shall be fined one hundred dol

lars; and no person after conviction of such offence shall ever after be permitted to exercise the privilege of voting for any civil or military officer.

SEC. 25. In the election of general officers, representatives to congress, and electors of president and vice-president of the United States, and when the vote is taken by ballot in the election of senators and representatives to the general assembly, the town meetings of the several towns, and the ward meetings in the city of Providence, shall be kept open for voting during the whole time of voting for the day. Town and ward meetings for the election of general officers, senators and representatives to the general assembly, representatives to congress, and electors of president and vice-president of the United States, shall be opened at ten o'clock in the forenoon on the day of election; and all town meetings for such elections, except in case of the election of senators and representatives to the general assembly where the vote is not taken by ballot, in any town having five hundred electors or upward, shall be kept open at least until five o'clock in the afternoon on said day; and in all towns having less than five hundred electors, shall be kept open at least until three o'clock in the afternoon on said day; and the ward meetings in the city of Providence, in all such elections, shall be kept open until eight o'clock in the evening, and no longer.

SEC. 26. If any moderator, warden, or person whose duty it is to receive votes, shall fraudulently receive any unlawful vote, or shall fraudulently reject the vote of any voter whose name is on the town or ward lists, he shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars for every offence, and be ever after disqualified from voting.

SEC. 27. If any person shall directly or indirectly give, or offer or agree to give, to any elector, or to any person for the benefit of any elector, any sum of money, or other valuable consideration, for the purpose of inducing such elector to give in or withhold his vote at any election in this state, or by way of reward for having voted or withheld his vote, or if any person shall directly or indirectly accept or receive, or offer or agree to accept or receive any sum of money or other valuable consideration as an inducement to give in or to withhold his vote, such person so offending shall upon conviction thereof, be fined the sum of five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding three months, or both, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 28. If senators and representatives to the general assembly be voted for by ballot, the names of the candidates

in any town voted for by any one elector shall be written or printed on one ticket; and in all such cases where the voting is by ballot and in the election of general officers, representatives to congress and electors of president and vice-president of the United States the christian and surname of the voter shall be written at length on the back of his vote.

SEC. 29. In all elections the votes shall be received by the moderator or warden, and by no other person; and the electors shall, one by one in their own proper persons, deliver their votes to the moderator or warden, who shall forthwith publicly declare the name of the person voting, and shall cause his name to be checked on the town or ward lists. The town and ward clerks shall keep a fair register of the names of all persons voting for general officers, representatives to congress and electors of president and vice-president of the United States; and shall before such votes are sealed up, carefully compare the votes with their lists so taken; and on the copy of the lists which at each election is forwarded to the general assembly, or to the officer by law designated to receive the same, they shall certify the number of votes for each of the candidates. The original lists shall be kept in the town clerk's office.

SEC. 30. In the city of Providence the ward clerks shall keep a fair registry of all persons voting for senator, representatives and justices of the peace, and shall deliver a copy thereof with the votes to the city clerk.

SEC. 31. At the close of each election, the moderator or warden shall return to the town or ward clerk, the corrected lists of those entitled to vote at such election; which lists shall be by him placed on file in the town or city clerk's office, and there kept for at least one year.

SEC. 32. Any town or ward clerk who shall neglect to keep the registry, and any moderator, warden or town or ward clerk, who shall neglect to seal up and direct the votes, or to send the same with the lists, as herein before or by the constitution provided, and any town or ward clerk who shall knowingly keep a false or imperfect registry, and every moderator or warden, town or ward clerk, who shall knowingly seal up, direct and send a part only of the votes, or with false or imperfect lists, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than three thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than three years; either or both, at the discretion of the court who shall try such offenders.

SEC. 33. If any town clerk shall necessarily be absent from his office between nine o'clock in the forenoon and

twelve o'clock at noon, or between two and five o'clock in the afternoon, of any day except Sunday, within thirty days next preceding any meeting held for the annual election of state or town officers, representatives to congress, or electors of president and vice-president of the United States, it shall be his duty to appoint a deputy clerk, according to the provisions of law in such case made, whose duty it shall be to attend the office during such absence, and perform all the duties thereof; and if any town or city clerk shall refuse or wilfully neglect to appoint a deputy as aforesaid, he shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars.

SEC. 34. All business of the annual general election shall be done by the general assembly in grand committee, and not in separate houses.

SEC. 35. If any town clerk shall neglect or refuse to furnish any member of the senate or house of representatives elect, with a proper certificate of his election, as soon as may be after his election, he shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding six months, either or both, at the discretion of the court trying such offender.

SEC. 36. If any person elected senator or representative shall, at any time between his election and the expiration of his term, refuse to serve, and shall declare the same to the town clerk of the town for which he is elected, or shall die, resign or remove out of said town, the town clerk shall forthwith issue his warrant for an election to fill such vacancy, unless a special election for that purpose shall be ordered by the house in which the vacancy happens.

SEC. 37. Every officer chosen by the general assembly, and every military commissioned officer shall be commissioned by the governor, and before he enters on the duties of his office shall take an engagement before a senator, judge, justice of the peace, public notary or town clerk, to support the constitution and laws of this state and the constitution of the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of his office, which shall be certified upon his commission by the person administering the engagement.

SEC. 38. All officers of annual appointment who shall not be re-elected or continued in office at the annual general election by the general assembly, may continue to officiate for the space of twenty-four days after the first Tuesday in May, unless their successors are sooner qualified to act. All such officers who may be re-elected, may continue to officiate for the same length of time without taking any new oath of office.