Page:The constitution of Japan - with the laws pertaining thereto, and the imperial oath and speech. Promulgated at the Imperial palace, February 11th, 1889 (IA cu31924023459880).pdf/34

28 —When a ballet contains more than the fixed number of names of persons to be voted for, the names in excess of the fixed number shall be struck off, commencing with the last.

When a “scrutin de liste” contains less than the fixed number of names, only those actually put down upon it shall be counted. In case the name of one person is written twice, it shall be counted as one vote.

—Ballots shall be preserved for sixty days in the Gun, Shi, or Ku Office, but shall be destroyed by fire at the expiration of the said period.

—When, concerning an election suit, either a criminal accusation or indictment has been brought, the ballots shall be preserved until the settlement of the care, without any regard to expiration of the periods mentioned in and in.

—The Chairman of Election shall make minutes of the election, in which shall be recorded all matters relating to the inspection of the election, and shall preserve them after putting his signature and obtaining those of the members of the Election Committee to them also.

—The individual who has obtained a relative majority of the total number of ballots shall be declared the elected person.

When the number of ballots is equal, the individual the senior in point of birth shall be declared the elected person, and when the dates of birth are the same, it shall be decided by drawing lots.

—When the elected persons have been settled, the Chairman of Election shall at once communicate his or their names and the number of his or their ballots to the Governor of the Fu or Ken.

—Upon the receipt of the communications mentioned in the preceding Article, the Governor of the Fu or Ken shall give notice to each of the elected persons, and shall notify their names throughout the district under his jurisdiction.

—Upon the receipt of notice of election, every elected person shall communicate to the Governor of the Fu and Ken, as to whether he accepts it or not.

—Any individual who has been declared elected in several election districts, shall upon the receipt of the notice of election communicate to the Governor of the Fu or Ken which election he accepts.

—Those elected persons shall be considered to have declined their election who, being then within the respective Fu or Ken, have not made the communication of acceptance within ten days, or who, being then out of the respective Fu or Ken, have not made such communication within twenty days.

—When an elected person either declines the election or does not send in the communication of acceptance of election within the fixed period, the Governor of the Fu or Ken shall fix the date of election, and cause the respective Chairman of Election to hold a new election. But in the case mentioned in the second clause of, should any individual, who has been declared an elected person by the drawing of lots, either