Senators, in the body of the Hall upon the right of the presiding oflicer; for the Representatives, in the body of the Hall not provided for the Senators; for the tellers, Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Representatives, at the Clerk's desk; for the other officers of the two Houses, in front of the Clerk's desk and upon each side of the Speaker's platform. Such joint meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed and the result declared. Two tellers shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascer tained and counted, the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the journals of the two Houses; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from twothirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if no person have a majority of votes for Vice Presi dent, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of twothirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. (Act of Congress, Feb. 3, 1887, and Amendment XII, Constitution. For procedure on objections, incorrect returns, etc., see secs. 4 to 7, act of Feb. 3, 1887, and Constitutional Amendment XII.) ele أنا Before the twelfth amendment to the Constitution was declared in force (Sept. 25, 1804) each elector voted (under the original clause of the Constitution, Art. II, sec. 1, par. 3) for two candidates for President; the candidate having the greatest number of electoral votes (if a majority of the whole) became President and the one having the next greatest number Vice President. The acts of Congress executory of the electoral system are as follows: The resolve of Congress September 13, 1788 (Journals of Congress, vol. 4, 1823 ed., 866), provided for appointing electors and fixed the day they should assemble in their respective States and vote for a President; act of March 1, 1792 (1 Stat., 239), provided for election of President and Vice President and temporary filling of vacancies; act of March 26, 1804 (2 Stat., 295), supplementary provision for election of President and Vice President and temporary filling of vacancies; act of January 23, 1845 (5 Stat., 721), established a uniform time for the electors to vote for President and Vice President; joint resolution of February 8, 1865 (13 Stat., 567), declaring certain States not entitled to representation in the Electoral College; joint resolution of July 20, 1868 (15 Stat., 257), excluding from the Electoral College votes of States lately in rebellion which shall not have been reorganized; act of May 23, 1872 (17 Stat., 157), fixes a uniform time for holding elections for electors of President and Vice President; act of January 29, 1877 (19 Stat., 227), created an electoral commission for counting the votes for President and Vice President for the term commencing March 4, 1877; act of February 3, 1887 (24 Stat., 373), fixes the day for the meeting of the electors, and provides for the counting of the votes for President and Vice President, and the decision of questions arising thereon; supplementary act of October 19, 1888 (25 Stat., 613), provides for sending a special messenger for any certificate of electoral votes not duly received. ederal Beserve of New Yars |