CHAPTER 36
OF THE GENERAL ELECTION.
AN ACT providing for a uniform System of Registration of all Qualified Voters in this State.
Be it enacted by The Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
SECTION 1. That for the purpose of preventing fraud at all elections held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November, as provided by Section I of Article 5 of the Amended Constitution, and facilitating the ascertainment of those who are duly qualified electors according to the said Amended Constitution and laws of this State, there shall be hereafter a general registration of all the qualified voters resident in each election district of this State.
SECTION 2. It shall be the duty of the registrar and two assistant registrars appointed in each election district in this State to register the names of all qualified voters in each of such election districts as hereinafter provided in this act. And to that end shall sit for the purpose of ascertaining and registering the persons who are qualified to enjoy the right of an elector at the general election then next following, at such public and suitable places in their respective election districts places as will, in their judgment, be most convenient for the voters thereof, from 8 o'clock A. M. until 7 o'clock P. M., with an intermission from 12 till 1 o'clock, on the three successive Saturdays in August, beginning with the first Saturday in August, and on the third Saturday in September, and on the third Saturday next preceding the day of election.
Each of said registrars, at least ten days prior to the first sitting for the purpose of registration as aforesaid, shall public notice, by advertisement, posted in ten or more of the most public places in his election district, of the places where the registration officers shall sit for the registration of voters as aforesaid, and the day or days when they will sit at each of said places.
SECTION 3. The registration officers shall admit into the room in which registration is being made one suitable person in room, to be selected by and to represent each of the political parties having tickets to be voted for at the coming election, the applicants for registration (one at a time) and such witness or witnesses as the applicant may desire to establish his right to be registered, and such witness or witnesses as the person who challenges the right of any applicant to be registered as he may name, provided, however, that in no case shall there be more than one witness in the room at the same time, and provided further, that no other person or persons shall be admitted into the room during the registration of voters, and they may eject from the room any of such persons behaving in a disorderly manner.
SECTION 4. The registrar and the assistant registrars in each election district in this State shall at the times in this act designated for registration meet in their respective election districts at the places which, as provided in this act, shall be designated for such meeting, and at such times shall do and perform the following acts, viz:
First, Upon the personal application of any one to be registered, it shall be the duty of the registrar to demand and receive of the applicant the registration fee of one dollar, which shall be returned to the said applicant if his name shall not be entered on the books of Registered Voters as "A Registered Voter."
Second, They shall record in the registers in the column head "name" the name of every male person who shall personally appear before them, and apply to be registered, writing his surname and first Christian name in full, and also any other name by which he is generally known, with the initial or initials of any other name or names which he may have in addition thereto, the surname being written first. The names of said applicants for registration shall be numbered consecutively in the order of their application, the number being entered on the registers in figures immediately before each name.
Third. They shall examine all persons, who personally apply, as to their qualifications as electors, and shall immediately enter in the register the statements and facts below set forth, and in the manner following, viz:
I. In the column headed "Registration Fee," the word "paid" or "unpaid," as the case may be.
II. In the column headed "color," they shall enter his color.
III. In the column headed "age," the age of the applicant.
IV. In the column headed "nativity" they shall enter the State, territory or country in which the applicant states he was born.
V. Under the column "residence" the name and number of the street, avenue, or other location of the dwelling, if there be a number, and if there shall not be a number, the post office of the person so applying for registration, or such other clear and definite description of the place of said dwelling as shall enable it to be readily ascertained, fixed and determined.
VI. In the subdivision of the column headed "term of residence," how long he has resided in the State, how long in the county, and how long in the election district in which he applies to be registered.
VII. In the column headed "naturalized," the words "yes" or "no" or "native" as the facts shall appear.
VIII. In the column headed "registered voter," if the registration officers shall be satisfied, upon examination or otherwise, that the applicant for registration is entitled to be registered as a registered voter, they shall write his name in full as written in the first column.
IX. In the column headed "disqualified," if they are satisfied upon examination or otherwise, that the applicant for registration is disqualified as an elector in the election district in which he shall apply to be registered, a line shall be heavily drawn in ink opposite his name headed "Registered Voter" and the cause of his disqualification shall be briefly stated in the column headed "disqualified," opposite his name as first recorded, and a line shall be drawn across his name as entered, but in such manner that said name shall remain legible. Provided that every applicant for registration shall, upon payment of the registration fee, be held and considered to be a qualified voter, if he be a male citizen of this State of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, or who will be the age of twenty-one years on or before the election, next succeeding his registration, and will have resided in the State one year next before such election, and for the last three months thereof will have been a resident of the county, and for the last thirty days a resident of the election district in which he may offer to vote and in which he shall have been duly registered; provided that no person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States shall be considered as acquiring a residence in this State, by being stationed within this State; and no idiot, or insane person, pauper, or person convicted of a crime deemed by law a felony, or person who shall have been rendered incapable of voting by reason of violating Section 7 of Article 5 of the Constitution of this State for ten years next following his conviction and sentence thereunder, shall be held or considered a qualified voter.
X. In the column headed "Date of Application," they shall enter the day of the month and year on which application for registration is made.
XI. In the column headed "if challenged" the words "yes" or "no".
XII. In the column headed "cause of challenge," they shall enter the objections and by whom made.
XIII. In the column headed "appeal" they shall enter "yes" or "no."
XIV. In the column headed "remarks" they may enter such facts or statements as may be deemed pertinent to the qualification or disqualification of the applicant as an elector.
Fourth. In making the entries hereinbefore specified the registration officers shall in every case, make such entries in the columns above specified opposite the name of the applicant to whom such entries are intended to apply; if the registration officers shall be in doubt, after the primary examination of the applicant for registration, and upon such evidence as may be immediately obtainable, whether such applicant ought to be registered as a registered voter, they may postpone the determination of the matter to their next sitting or to a later sitting at the request of the applicant.
SECTION 5. If, upon the personal application of any one to be registered, he shall be challenged for having received or accepted, or for having offered to receive or accept, or for having paid, transferred or delivered, or for having offered or promised to pay, transfer or deliver, or for having contributed or offered or promised to contribute to another to be paid or used any money or other valuable thing as compensation, inducement or reward for the registering or abstaining from registering of any one qualified to register, it shall be the duty of the Registrar to administer to the person so challenged an oath or affirmation as follows, viz.:
" You do solemnly swear upon the Holy Evangels of Almighty God (or ‘You do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm') that you have not received or accepted or offered to receive or accept, or paid, transferred or delivered, or offered or promised to pay, transfer or deliver, or contributed or offered or promised to contribute to another, to be paid or used, any money or other valuable thing as a compensation, inducement or reward for the registering or abstaining from registering of any one qualified to register at the registration for this present year, so help you God " (or 'so you do solemnly sincerely and truly declare and affirm’.)"
Such oaths or affirmation shall be conclusive evidence to the registration officers of the truth of such oath or affirmation ; but if any such oath or affirmation shall be false, the person making the same shall be guilty of perjury, and a conviction thereof shall bar any prosecution under Section 8, Article 5 of the Amended Constitution. If any person so challenged as aforesaid, shall refuse to make the oath or affirmation above prescribed then it shall be the duty of the registration officers to cause a line to be heavily drawn in ink opposite his name in the column headed " Registered Voter," and in the column headed ''Disqualified ''to insert the words "disqualified for refusing to make the oath concerning bribery at registration," opposite his name as first entered, in such manner that said name shall remain legible.
SECTION 6. When the registration officers of any election district in this State, at any of the sittings hereinbefore provided for, shall enter in the Registers the name of any applicant for registration as a registered voter, they shall immediately thereafter enter, in the presence of such applicant, if he remains in attendance, in its proper alphabetical place in the "Hook of Registered Voters," heretofore provided for, the name of such applicant, and also his residence, and color, and his age, if he will be between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-two on the day of the next following general election.
II. And the Registrar shall give to each person who is registered as a registered voter and who may request it a certificate to the following effect:
…………………………..Election District, in ………………………………Representative District, in ……………………….County, State of Delaware.
Dated …………………………day of ………………, 18……..
I do hereby certify that ………………………………has this day been registered as a registered voter in the election district above mentioned, and that his number on the registers is number ………………..
[Signed]
Registrar for ……………………………Election District, in ……………………………………..
Representative District, in ……………………………..County.
III. The said registration officers shall within one week after their third sitting as aforesaid cause to be printed not less than fifty copies of the alphabetical lists of registered voters as contained in the "Book of Registered Voters," together with the entries opposite the names in said books, and shall within the said week cause one of said printed copies of each of said lists to be posted in at least ten of the most public places in their election district, and shall use the remaining copies in such a manner as in their judgment will be most likely to secure publicity and general inspection.
SECTION 7. Upon the affidavit of a legal voter in an election district, made before any person authorized by the laws , of this State to administer oaths and represented to the registration officers of the election district, of which said affiant is a voter, that in his opinion any person (naming him) is illegally registered in such election districts as a registered voter and setting forth the reasons therefor, it shall be the duty of the registration officers to examine into the matter of the registration of such person, and, if said registration officers deem it a proper case for a hearing notice shall be given to such person, either personally or in writing, in the manner hereinafter provided, to appear before the said registration officers at their next sitting to show cause why his name shall not be stricken from the "Books of the Registered Voters" of such election district. And if upon examination and inquiry the registration officers shall be satisfied, at the sitting at which such person had notice to appear, that he ought not to be registered as a registered voter, a heavy line shall be drawn in ink through his name in the column headed " Registered Voter," and a line shall be drawn through his name as first entered, but in such manner as said name shall remain legible, and the cause of his disqualification shall be briefly stated in the column headed " Disqualified," and in the column headed " Remarks," opposite his said name shall be written the words " adjudged disqualified on revision by the Registration officers," and the date when his disqualification was ascertained as aforesaid and in the books of " registered voters a heavy line of ink shall be drawn through his name, his residence, his color and his age.
SECTION 8. If any person registered as a registered voter, in any election district in this State, shall, after he is so registered, remove from the district in which he is so registered to any other district in the county, he may apply in person to the registration officers of the election district in which he is registered and have his name stricken from the "Registers" and from the "Books of Registered Voters" in which his name shall appear, and may obtain from said registration officers a certified copy of the entries in the register relating to him, together with a certificate that his name has been stricken from the register and books of registered voters, as aforesaid and it shall be lawful for him, after his name shall be so stricken from said registers and book of registered voters, to cause himself to be registered in the election district to which he may have removed upon producing the aforesaid certificate and copy of entries in said registers and books of registered voters ; provided that by the next following general election he will have acquired in the election district to which he has removed the residence required by the Constitution. And the registration officers to whom such person may apply to have his name stricken from the registers and books of registered voters shall draw a line in ink through his name and all the entries opposite his name in said registers and books of registered voters, and ill the column in the registers headed "remarks" shall enter "removed from this election district into ………… election district in this County," and shall prepare and deliver to him the certified copy of entries and the certificate aforesaid.
SECTION 9. At every sitting of said registration officers two shall constitute a quorum and the acts of a majority shall be as valid as the acts of all of them.
II. In all cases where written notice is required by this act to be given to any person such notice shall be deemed sufficient if addressed to the person to he notified at the post office named by him, at the time of his application for registration, and deposited in the mail not later than the Wednesday next preceding the sitting of the registration officers at which he may be notified to appear.
SECTION 10. It shall be the duty of, the registration officers, immediately after the close of their last sitting, carefully to compare the two registers, and see that they agree with each other in every particular, and also to compare the alphabetical lists of "Registered Voters" as contained in the "Books of Registered Voters" aforesaid, with the said registers, and to see that the name of every person entered upon the registers is as a registered voter is entered in its proper alphabetical place on each of the two lists of registered voters, together with the residence and color, and also the age if it be between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-two years on the day of the next general election, as entered on the registers. And if any name in the registers which ought to have been entered on said alphabetical lists of registered voters shall have been omitted therefrom, it shall be the duty of said registration officers to enter such name in its proper alphabetical place, on the proper alphabetical lists, together with the proper entries as they appear on the said registers.
And it shall be the further duty in such comparison of the alphabetical lists with the registers to make such corrections on the alphabetical lists as will make the names and entries appearing on the alphabetical lists agree with the same names and entries as entered on the registers. It shall also be the duty of the said registration officers, within three days after their last sitting-,to append to each of said alphabetical lists of "registered voters" contained in said "Books of Registered Voters" a certificate, verified by the oath or affirmation of said registration officers, or at least two of them, that the said "Book of Registered Voters" contain a complete list of the registered voters of said election district, as the smile are entered in the "Books of Registered Voters" of such election district.
And the said registration officers shall, within the three days aforesaid, also append to the registers of their election districts a certificate that each of said registers is the official register of such election district, and, so far as within their knowledge, no false or improper entries have been made therein, which certificate shall be made and verified by at least two of said registration officers.
SECTION 11. From the decision of the registration officers granting or refusing registration, or striking or refusing to strike a name or names from the registration lists, any person interested, or any registration officer may appeal to the Resident Associate Judge of the county, or in case of his disability or absence from the county, to any Judge entitled to sit in the Supreme Court, whose determination shall be final; and in order to prosecute said appeal it shall be the duty of the person taking the same to notify the "Registrar" of the election district from the decision of whose officers said appeal is taken, stating in said notice the time when said appeal will be presented to the resident Associate Judge of his county or such Judge of the Supreme Court as may sit for the purpose of receiving and hearing such appeal which time shall be one of the days hereinafter named for such resident Associate Judge or Judge of the Supreme Court to sit for the purpose of receiving and hearing appeals.
SECTION 12. Each registrar shall, before entering upon the duties of his office give bond to the State of Delaware, with at least one or more sureties to be approved by the Clerk of the Peace of the county wherein such registrars reside, in a penalty to be determined by the said Clerk of the Peace, and to be, as nearly as can be ascertained, double the amount which such registrar is required to collect as registration fees, of and from all voters who may be registered in his election district, the form and condition whereof shall be as follows, viz.
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS.
That we of County and State of Delaware, are held and firmly hound unto the State of Delaware in the penal sum of …………………………………..lawful money of the United States of America, to be paid to the said State of Delaware or its certain attorney, or assigns, to which payment well and truly to be made we jointly and severally bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators firmly by these presents.
Sealed with our seals and dated this ………………day of …………………in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and ninety ………………………………
The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above…………………. being Registrar of ……………………..Election District in ……………………………………..Representative District in ……….. County, shall faithfully and diligently collect and receive all registration fees which he shall as such registrar, be required to collect of and from all persons who may be registered as registered voters in his said election district, and shall pay over the amount so received to the Receiver of Taxes; and County Treasurer, or County Treasurer of his county in the manner and within the times prescribed by law, then the above obligation shall be void and of no effect or else shall be and remain in full force and virtue.
And further, we do hereby jointly and severally authorize and empower any attorney of any Court of Record in the State of Delaware, or elsewhere, to appear for us, and each or either of us, at the suit of the said State of Delaware or its assign and thereupon to confess judgment for the above penalty the said State of Delaware or its assigns, as of the last, next, or any other term or time after the date hereof.
And further, we do, hereby jointly and severally release all and all manner of error or errors in any such judgment and execution to be issued thereon.
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
[SEAL.]
[SEAL.]
[SEAL.]
II. The surety or sureties required in the foregoing may be some trust company or surety company authorized to do business in this State and to enter into suretyship.
III. The said bond after being executed as hereinbefore provided, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the Peace, of the county by whom it was approved subject to the order of the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer or County Treasurer as the case may be.
SECTION 13. It shall be the duty of the respective Registrars appointed under this act to pay over to the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, or County Treasurer of the county in which he is registrar, all moneys which shall have such registrar by the payment of registration fees, on the Thursday next succeeding the day of the general election in the year in which he shall have received such fees, and in default thereof, it shall be the duty of the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, or County Treasurer as the case may be, to cause judgment to be entered on said bond in the Superior Court in and for the county, and to proceed to collect such sum as shall remain due and unpaid by the said registrar, provided, nevertheless, that it shall be the duty of the said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, or Country Treasurer, upon the request of any surety or sureties in said bond or whenever in his judgment to be entered on said bond at any time after the execution thereof with power to enforce collection of the same, if payment is not made as above provided for.
SECTION 14. That whenever it shall become the duty of any Alternate Registrar appointed under the provisions of this act, to discharge and perform the duties of the registrar shall on the evening of every day on which he shall act as such registrar pay over to the registrar of his election district and in whose place he shall have acted, or his legal authorized agent or attorney, all moneys which shall have come to his hands as registration fees, and such payment shall be his discharge from all liability for or on account of the moneys so received ; and upon failure to pay over the whole or any part of the moneys received by him as registration fees while acting in the place of said registrar at any one sitting, on the evening of the day as herein 'required or within three days thereafter, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon indictment and conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars to be determined by the Court and which shall not be more than double the amount that it shall appear to the said Court, that came into his hands as registration fees, or shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year or both at the discretion of the Court.
SECTION 15. It shall be the duty of the assistant registrars in this act provided for to make all the proper entries in the "Registers" and "Books of Registered voters" as the same are required by this act to be made, except such entries as are provided for in Section 16 of this act; and it shall be the duty of the registrar, in addition to the other duties required of him to fill up, prepare and deliver all certificates of registration that may be required by registered voters, and to receive and file all affidavits which may be filed.
SECTION 16. It shall be the duty of the resident Associate Judge of New Castle county to sit at the Levy Court room of New Castle county, and the resident Associate Judge of Kent County to sit at the Levy Court of Kent county, and the resident Associate Judge of Sussex county to sit at the office of the Clerk of the Peace for Sussex county, or if said places cannot conveniently be had, then at such proper and suitable places in the county seat of the respective counties of this State as shall be designated by notice signed by the said resident Associate Judge of his county, and posted on the door of the respective places aforesaid, stating where he will sit for the purpose of hearing appeals from the decision of the Registrars in the respective election districts in his county on Thursday next following the third Saturday of August, in the year in which registration is required by law to be made, at 10 o'clock in the morning of said day, on which day he shall receive appeals from such persons as shall have appealed from the decision of the registration officers of the respective election districts in his county, which shall be presented on said day, and he shall proceed to hear all appeals which shall have been filed as aforesaid on said day, and may continue the hearing of any such appeal or appeals from day to day during the remainder of the week, and shall sit again on the Tuesday next following for the purpose aforesaid, to bear and determine such appeals as shall not have been acted upon the previous week, and also such as may be presented and filed on said last mentioned day, and may continue the hearing of any appeal or appeals then unheard from day to day during the remainder of the week, and until all appeals which shall have been filed shall have been heard and decided. The said resident Associate Judge shall again sit for the purpose hearing appeals as aforesaid on the Tuesday next following the last day of registration as provided for in this act to receive appeals from such persons as shall have appealed from the decision of the registration officers of the respective election district, in his county as aforesaid-, made on the said last day of registration, and any other appeal or appeals which for any cause he may have continued front a preceding sitting, and shall proceed to hear all appeals which shall have been filed as aforesaid, and may continue the hearing of any such appeal or appeals from day to day during the remainder of the week, and shall sit again on the Tuesday next following, for the purpose aforesaid, to hear and determine such appeals as shall not have been acted upon the previous week, and also such as may be presented and filed on said last mentioned day, and may continue the hearing of any appeal or appeals then unheard from day to day during the remainder of the week, and until the close of the day next preceding the day of the election; provided, that all appeals which shall have been taken from the decision of the registration officers made at their sittings in August and September, and which shall be presented to the resident Associate Judge at his sitting on the Tuesday next after the last day of registration as aforesaid to hear appeals, shall not be received and acted on unless the appellant shall make oath before the said resident Associate Judge that the delay in presenting his said appeal was not for the purpose of hindering or delaying the said resident Associate Judge or the officer of registration in his election district in the discharge of the duties imposed upon them respectively under the provisions of this act.
II. No appeal shall be received and acted upon by the resident Associate Judge unless the appellant shall, at the time of presenting his appeal make an affidavit, that notice of his intention to present his appeal on this day was served upon the Registrar of his election district; any person applying to the said resident Associate Judge to have any name appearing on the register and books of registered voters in his election district in any manner incorrect to be corrected shall notify the registrar of the election district on whose books such name is incorrectly entered of his intention to make application for the correction thereof, so that the said registrar shall and may be present with his register and books of registered voters to make such corrections therein as the said resident Associate Judge shall order and direct; provided, that no correction shall be ordered to be made by the said resident Associate Judge unless he shall be satisfied by the oath of the applicant or otherwise that notice of the intended application for correction shall have been given to or served upon the registrar of the appellant’s election district of his intention to make said application. All notices required to be given or served by the provisions of this section upon any registrar shall be so given or served personally at least three days before the application is made, or by leaving, in the presence of an adult male person, a written copy of such notice at the usual place of abode of such registrar, at least three days before the application shall be made, and no application for correction or for the hearing of an appeal shall be heard upon any day which is set apart by this act as a day for the registration of voters.
III. Upon the decision of the respective resident Associate Judges on each and every appeal, the resident Associate Judge making the decision shall order and direct the Registrar of the election district from the decision of whose registration officers the appeal shall have been taken, and who shall be present with his "Registers" and "Books of Registered Voters" as hereinafter provided, to make such entries in his "Registers" and "Books of Registered Voters," as such registrar is authorized by the provisions of Section 4 of Article V of the Constitution of this State and by the provisions of this act to order and direct to be made and as are required by law to be made in said "Registers" and "Books of Registered Voters" by the registration officers in case where a person is entitled to be registered as a registered voter, upon the payment of the registration fee as hereinbefore provided, or as anyone who is disqualified.
IV. All duties which are imposed upon the resident Associate Judge of the county by the provisions of this act and especially of this section shall be and they are hereby imposed upon and required to be performed by such Judge of the Supreme Court as shall at any time be sitting in any of the counties of this State for the purpose of hearing appeals under this act, in lieu of the resident Associate Judge of the county when he shall be unable to sit either from disability or absence from the county.
SECTION 17. In order that the Registrar in each and every election district in this State, may be enabled to perform the duties especially required of him by this , he shall retain and keep possession of and be responsible for the "Registers" and "Books of Registered Voters" and book of registration certificates of his election district at all times excepting when being used by the registration officers of his election district for the purpose of registration ; and it shall be his duty to attend and be present at all hearings of which he had notice before the resident Associate Judge of the county or such Judge of the Supreme Court as may be sitting for that purpose, of appeals which, shall have been taken from the decision of the registration officers of his election district and also upon the hearing for the correction of any name or names on his "Registers" or "Books of Registered Voters" improperly omitted or improperly appearing or in any manner incorrect thereon, and to have with him the said "Registers" and "Books of Registered Voters" and to make such entries in said books respectively as said resident Associate Judge or Judge of the Supreme Court for the purpose of hearing such appeals and make such corrections, may order and direct.
SECTION 18. All the powers and duties conferred or enjoined upon registrars by any of the provisions of this act, are hereby expressly made the powers and duties of all alternate registrars in the absence of the registrar from his election district, or his disability to perform the duties imposed upon such registrar by any of the provisions of this , and in order to enable the alternate registrar to perform the duties in this Section imposed upon him, it shall be the duty of the registrar to deliver or cause to be delivered to the alternate registrar the register, book of registered voters, and book of registration certificates in the custody or possession of such registrar, and all notices of appeal which shall have been served upon him, whenever it shall be the duty of the alternate registrar to act in the place and stead of such registrar as provided in this Section.
SECTION 19. It shall be the duty of the registrars in the respective election districts of this State, on the morning of the day of the general election and one hour before the opening of the polls for said election, to deliver to the inspector, or other person authorized to hold said election in his, the said registrar's election district, one of said " Registers " and one of said "Books of Registered Voters" in his possession, certified to as hereinbefore provided. And the other of said "Registers" together with the other of said " Books of Registered Voters" and the books of registration certificates, containing unused certificates together with all other papers or documents relating to the registration of voters, he shall retain in his possession and safely keep, but the same shall at all proper times be open to the inspection of any one desiring to examine the same, without fee or reward, and also any one desiring to do so may be permitted to make copies or partial copies of any said lists, books, documents or papers.
II. And within one week after the following general election he shall deliver the said duplicates in his possession to the Clerk of the Peace of the county in which he resides, who shall safely keep the dame, in his office, and the same shall be open to public inspection at all convenient times as other public records in the office of said Clerk of the Peace.
SECTION 20. Each of the Registrars shall addition to the other powers conferred upon him by this act have, during the respective times of the appointed sittings for registration, the powers of a Justice of the Peace to preserve order and enforce obedience to his lawful commands at or around the place of registration ; to keep access to such place open and unobstructed, to prevent and suppress riots, tumults, violence and disorder at, around or near the place of registration, tending to intimidation, or to the obstruction of the work of registration, and to protect and keep safe the registers or books for the registration of voters while in his and the assistant registrars' custody and possession. He may compel the presence power to of witnesses before them while sitting with the assistant registrars as registration officers, for all purposes connected with the performance of the duties of their office, by summons and attachment, and shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations. He may, while sitting as such officer of registration, commit for trial any person committing at, or around the place of registration a breach of the peace, or any offence forbidden by this . He shall have the power to issue any of said summons, attachments or commitments, when sitting in any election district in this State to the Sheriff of his county or to any Constable thereof. All such process shall be served by said officers in the same manner as if they were issued by a Justice of the Peace within such county.
The Sheriff or Constable in any county of this State, who shall serve any such process shall receive the same fees and in like manner as it is or may be by law, provided that he shall receive fees in other State cases. But no registrar shall charge or receive any compensation for any service rendered in accordance with the provisions of this Section in addition to the compensation or salary provided for in this act.
SECTION 21. Each registrar shall receive five dollars per day for each day of actual service, either when sitting for the purpose of registration or in attendance upon the hearing of appeals before the resident Associate Judge of the county, or such Judge of the Supreme Court as may sit for hearing such appeals; and six per cent, as commission on all sums he may receive and pay over to the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, or County Treasurer, as fees from persons registering in his election district.
II. And each assistant registrar shall receive five dollars per day for each day of actual service, when sitting for the purpose of registration.
III. And each alternate registrar shall receive five dollars per day for each day of actual service, when sitting in the place of the registrar for registration, or in attendance upon the hearing of appeals before the resident Associate Judge of the county or such Judge of the Supreme Court as may sit for hearing such appeals and six per cent as commissions on all sums he may receive and pay over to the registrar of his election district, said sum to be deducted from the commissions which may be allowed the registrar.
IV. It shall be the duty of the Levy Court in each of the counties in this State, at its November session, to ascertain the amount of compensation under this act due the registrars, alternate registrars and assistant registrars in their respective counties, and when so ascertained, the president of the said Levy Court shall certify the same to the State Treasurer, who shall thereupon pay to the persons entitled the sums severally due them out of any money appropriated for the purpose.
V. The cost of printing and posting the alphabetical lists contained in the books of registered voters aforesaid and of printing and mailing the notes required by this act and the rent of the room or rooms used by the said registration officers in the performance of the duties required by this act, the cost of printing any forms or blanks that may be required, and the cost of the necessary ink and stationery used by them provided for by this act, shall be paid by the Levy Courts of the respective counties upon proper vouchers.
SECTION 22. Whoever, during the sitting of the registration officers in any election district in this State, shall bring, take, order or send into, or shall attempt to bring, take or send into any place of registration, any distilled or spirituous liquors whatever, or shall at any such time or place, drink or partake of any such liquor, shall be deemed and held to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ninety days, or by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or both.
SECTION 23. If any registrar, alternate registrar, or assistant registrar, shall fraudulently enter or fraudulently permit to be entered, in any register, the name of any person as a registered voter who is not entitled to be entered therein as a registered voter, or if any other person not authorized by the proper registration officers shall enter into any register the name of any person as a registered voter, or if any registrar, alternate registrar or assistant registrar shall fraudulently refuse or omit to register, or shall fraudulently misspell in any register or in any book of registered voters in his charge, the name of any person entitled under the provisions of this act to have his name entered in such register or book of registered voters, or if any registrar, alternate registrar, or assistant registrar, shall fraudulently strike from any register or from either of said books of registered voters in his charge the name of any person entered therein; or if any other person not authorized by the proper registration officers shall strike from any register or from any book of registered voters the name of any person entered therein ; or if any registrar, alternate registrar, or assistant registrar, shall make any entry or entries in the said register, or books of registered voters, except at the times and in the manner hereinbefore provided, or if any registrar, alternate registrar or assistant registrar, shall do anything which is by this forbidden by him done, or shall omit to do anything which is by this act required to be by him done, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment, shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, or he imprisoned not exceeding three years, or may be both fined and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court.
SECTION 24. If any person shall cause or attempt to cause himself to be registered in the name of any other person living or dead, or under any fictitious name, or shall cause attempt to cause himself to be registered in any election district in this State, knowing that he has not the right to be registered ; or if any person, knowing himself to be registered in any election district in this State shall cause or attempt to cause himself to be registered in any other election district in thi4ASdate without having first caused his name to be stricken from register and books of registered voters in which he may have been previously entered ; or if any person, knowing himself to be disqualified as a voter at the next following general election shall cause or attempt to cause himself to be entered on the registers in any election district in this State as a registered voter therein, knowing that he is not at that time a qualified voter and will not become so by the next following- general election (or if any person shall by force, threat, menace, intimidation, bribery or any unlawful means, prevent or hinder, or attempt to prevent or hinder any person having a lawful right to have his name entered on the registers in any election district in this State from duly exercising such rights, or shall compel or attempt to compel by any such means, any registrar, alternate registrar, or assistant registrar, to enter on their register the name of any person not legally entitled to be entered therein, or to refrain from entering on their registers the name of any person legally entitled to be entered therein, or shall lawfully interfere with any registrar, alternate registrar, or assistant registrar, in the discharge of his duties under this act; or if any person shall make any assault or commit ally assault and battery, or incite or create any riot or breach of the peace at or near to ally place of registration in this State, during the sitting of any registration officers, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not exceeding, three years, or may he both fined and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court.
SECTION 25. It any registrar, alternate registrar or assistant registrar, inspector or Judge of election shall lose any register or book of registered voters which may be in his charge or custody, or if any of such officers or any other person shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, falsify or fraudulently remove or secrete any register or book of registered voters, or shall knowingly make any false entry in or false copy of any register or part of any register, or fraudulently make any entry, erasure or alteration in any alphabetical list of registered voters, as contained in any hook of registered voters, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall be fined hot exceeding five hundred dollars or he imprisoned not exceeding three years, or may be both fined and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court.
SECTION 26. If any person shall mutilate, deface, pull down or destroy at any time before the last sitting of the registration officers any printed copy of the alphabetical list of registered voters, when the said lists are hung up as provided in Section 9 he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding, one year, or may be both fined and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court.
SECTION 27. In any case of a special election held in this State, it shall be the duty of the Registration officers of the respective election districts in this State, hereinbefore provided for, to sit on the third and fourth Saturdays immediately preceding the day of such special election, from 8 o'clock A. M. until 7 P.M., with an intermission from 12 to 1, at the place where the following special election will be held, or at some convenient and suitable place in the town or village in which such election will be held, and at such sittings to add to the registers and books of registered voters aforesaid of their respective election districts the names of all persons applying to them who may have become qualified to vote since the day of the last general election, or who may become qualified to vote by the day of such special election.
II. And it shall be the duties of such registration officers in adding any new names to make the same entries in the registers and books of registered voters aforesaid, as they are hereinbefore required to make when sitting as registration officers before any general election.
III. The said registration officers, within one week before their first sitting as provided for in this section, shall procure from the Clerks of the Peace of their respective counties the two registers, and the two books of registered voters and the book of registration certificates which shall have been delivered to the Clerks of the Peace as hereinbefore provided.
IV. It shall be the duty of the Clerks of the Peace in the several counties to deliver said books to the said registration officers when the same shall be applied for as aforesaid.
V. In delivering one of the "Registers" and one of the "Books of Registered Voters" and the book of registration certificates to the inspector or other person authorized by law to hold the special election in his election district, as hereinbefore provided, it shall be the duty of said registrar to deliver the register and the book of registered voters, which was not used at the previous general election and the other of said registers and the other of said books of registered voters shall be delivered by the several registrars to the Clerks of the Peace of their respective counties within one week after such special election.
SECTION 28. All acts and parts of acts supplied by or inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed
Approved May 27, A: D. 1898.