Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/97

84 Mode of nomination

30. Any two electors of any electoral district, may, before the day fixed for nomination, address and forward, or deliver to the Returning Officer of such district, a letter, signed by such two electors, as proposer and seconder of a person to be therein named as a candidate to represent the district; the person, also, proposed as a candidate, signifying his assent, in writing, to act if elected; and on the day of nomination named in writ, the Returning Officer shall attend at noon, at the chief voting place of the electoral district, and shall there read the letter so addressed to him; and if there shall not be a greater number of candidates, so proposed and seconded, and consenting as aforesaid, than are by such writ required to be elected, the Returning Officer shall declare such candidate or candidates to be duly elected, and make his return accordingly; and, in the event of there being more candidates so proposed, and seconded, and consenting as aforesaid, than are by such writ required, the Returning Officer shall give notice, at such chief voting place, of the names of the candidates, and of the names of the persons by whom they have been proposed and seconded, and of the other voting places in his district, and of the day appointed in the writ for the taking of votes and of the time of voting.

Proceedings on the day of election

31. The election of Members of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, at each voting place shall be held before the Returning Officer or his deputy, and the voting at every election shall commence at nine o’clock in the forenoon, and shall finally close at five o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, and shall be conducted in manner following, that is to say–Every elector entitled to vote, and who shall vote in the election of Members of the Legislative Council or House of Assembly, as the case may be, shall vote at the voting place in the district or division for which his name appears on the electoral roll, and shall present himself to the Returning Officer or his deputy at such voting place, and state his Christian and surname, abode and profession, or occupation; and, in case of voting for a Member of the Legislative Council, the nature of his qualification, and the place where the property or qualification is situated; whereupon the Returning Officer or his deputy shall place a mark against the voter’s name on the electoral roll, and hand to such voter a voting paper bearing the initials of the Returning Officer or his deputy, and containing the Christian and surname of each candidate, and a blank square printed opposite to the name of each candidate, with a number corresponding with the order of nomination inserted in such square; and, in the event of two or more candidates being of the same name, the voting paper shall contain the description of each such candidate, in addition to his Christian and surname, and number, and no other matter or thing; and there shall be provided separate apartments, or places forming part of the polling booth, into which the voter shall immediately retire, and there, alone and in private, without interruption, indicate the name of the candidate for whom he intends to vote, by making a