Page:Armenia, Travels and Studies, Vol. 2.djvu/592

 list of electors, and causes it to be hung for eight days in the Council hall, which is to be kept open during all this time.

The Electoral Council, in order to facilitate the decision of electors, prepares a list of candidates in three times the number required, and causes this list also to be hung in the Council hall; the electors, however, are in no way bound to follow this list.

In the provinces the members of the Provincial General Assemblies are elected in the same way.

Article 72.—A week after the list of electors has been exposed, on a Sunday morning after service the voting is begun in the Council hall in the following manner.

The President of the Council of the quarter, the list of electors in hand, calls upon the electors in turn, who, after having signed their names in the list of electors, write on a piece of paper as many names as there are deputies required, one under the other, indicating before every name the surname, residence, and profession, fold the paper, and drop it in the box that is prepared especially for this purpose. But if the electors for some reason or other cannot personally come to the Council hall, they send their votes enclosed in a letter, which they should sign.

Article 73.—Voting is secret, so the voters should write their papers alone, so that no one else can see the names they write.

Article 74.—The voting should close the same day that it begins. No elector who does not present his vote that day has any right to protest afterwards.

Article 75.—No one can vote in two quarters at the same time.

Article 76.—If the quarters and dioceses that are united for election are near each other, then the electors come together for voting. But if they are far from each other each quarter or diocese holds its own voting, and then the results of the votes of the two parties are united.

Article 77.—After the voting is over, the same day and in the same sitting, in the presence of the Council of the quarter the box is opened, and the votes are counted by officers specially appointed for this purpose and sufficient in number for the number of voters.

Should any discrepancy be discovered, and should the Council of the quarter have any suspicion of fraud, a second ballot is appointed to be held on some other day before the next Sunday.

In the same way, if the required number of deputies be not obtained the first time, a second ballot is held for the rest some other day.

Article 78.—If it so happen that one of the voters has written on his paper more names than are required, the superfluous names are to be rejected. In the same way are to be rejected all papers where the names are not written one under the other.

Article 79.—Those are elected as deputies who have received the largest number of votes exceeding half the number of the voters, and if two persons have received the same number of votes the older one is to be elected.