Chapter II (4)

ARTICLE 14.
The first ballot begins at eight o'clock in the morning and
closes at noon. The second begins at two o'clock and closes at
four o'clock. The third, if it takes place, begins at six
o'clock and closes at eight o'clock. The results of the
ballotings are determined by the bureau and announced the same
day by the President of the electoral college.

[Footnote: See Article 8, law of December 9, 1884, infra.]

ARTICLE 15.
No one is elected senator on either of the first two ballots
unless he receives: (1) an absolute majority of the votes
cast; and (2) a number of votes equal to one-fourth of the
total number of electors registered. On the third ballot a
plurality is sufficient, and, in case of an equality of votes,
the oldest is elected.

ARTICLE 16.
Political meetings for the nomination of senators may take
place conformably to the rules laid down by the law of June 6,
1868 subject to the following conditions:

[Footnote: France is divided Into twenty-six judicial
districts, in each of which there is a cour d'appel. There are
similar courts in Algeria and the colonies. The Cour de
Cassation is the supreme court of appeal for all France,
Algeria and the colonies.]

I. These meetings may be held from the date of the election of
delegates up to the day of the election [of senators]
inclusive;

II. They must be preceded by a declaration made, at latest,
the evening before, by seven senatorial electors of the
arrondissement, and indicating the place, the day and the hour
the meeting is to take place, and the names, occupation and
residence of the candidates to be presented;

III. The municipal authorities will see to it that no one is
admitted to the meeting unless he is a deputy, general
councilor, arrondissement councilor, delegate or candidate.
The delegate will present, as a means of identification, a
certificate from the Mayor of his commune, the candidate a
certificate from the official who shall have received the
declaration mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

[Footnote: See Article 8, law of December 9, 1884, infra.]

ARTICLE 17.
Delegates who take part in all the ballotings shall, if they
demand it, receive from the State, upon the presentation of
their letter of summons, countersigned by the President of the
electoral college, a remuneration for traveling expenses,
which shall be paid to them upon the same basis and in the
same manner as that given to jurors by Articles 35, 90 and
following, of the decree of June 18, 1811. A public
administrative regulation shall determine the method of fixing
the amount and the method of payment of this remuneration.

[Footnote: Done by decree of December 26, 1875.]

ARTICLE 18.
Every delegate who, without lawful reason, shall not take part
in all the ballotings, or, having been hindered, shall not
have given notice to the alternate in sufficient season,
shall, upon the demand of the public prosecutor, be punished
by a fine of fifty francs by the civil tribunal of the
capital.

[Footnote: Of the department.] The same penalty may be
imposed upon the alternate who, after having been notified by
letter, telegram, or notice personally delivered in due
season, shall not have taken part in the election.

ARTICLE 19.
Every attempt at corruption by the employment of means
enumerated in Articles 177 and following, of the Penal Code,
to influence the vote of an elector, or to keep him from
voting, shall be punished by imprisonment of from three months
to two years, and a fine of from fifty to five hundred francs,
or by one of these two penalties alone. Article 463 of the
Penal Code shall apply to the penalties imposed by the present
article.

[Footnote: See Article 8, Jaw of December 9, 1884,
_infra_. ]

ARTICLE 20.
It is incompatible for a senator to be:
I. Councilor of State, Maitre de Requêtes, Prefect or
Sub-Prefect, except Prefect of the Seine and Prefect of
Police;
II. Member of the courts of appeal ("appel, ") or of the
tribunals of first instance, except public prosecutor at the
court of Paris;

[Footnote: France is divided Into twenty-six judicial
districts, in each of which there is a cour d'appel. There are
similar courts in Algeria and the colonies. The Cour de
Cassation is the supreme court of appeal for all France,
Algeria and the colonies.]

III. General Paymaster, Special Receiver, official or employé
of the central administration of the ministries.

ARTICLE 21.
The following shall not be elected by the department or the
colony included wholly or partially in their jurisdiction,
during the exercise of their duties and during the six months
following the cessation of their duties by resignation,
dismissal, change of residence, or other cause:

I. The First Presidents, Presidents, and members of the courts
of appeal ("appel");

II. The Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Examining Magistrates,
and members of the tribunals of first instance;

III. The Prefect of Police; Prefects and Sub-Prefects, and
Prefectorial General Secretaries; the Governors, Directors of
the Interior, and General Secretaries of the Colonies;

V. The Chief Arrondissement Engineers and Chief Arrondissement
Road-Surveyors;

V. The School Rectors and Inspectors;

VI. The Primary School Inspectors;

VII. The Archbishops, Bishops, and Vicars General;

VIII. The officers of all grades of the land and naval force;

IX. The Division Commissaries and the Military Deputy
Commissaries;

X. The General Paymasters and Special Receivers of Money;

XI. The Supervisors of Direct and Indirect Taxes, of
Registration of Lands and of Posts;

XII. The Guardians and Inspectors of Forests.

ARTICLE 22.
A senator elected in several departments, must let his choice
be known to the President of the senate within ten days
following the verification of the elections. If a choice is
not made in this time, the question is settled by lot in open
session. The vacancy shall be filled within one month and by
the same electoral body. The same holds true in case of an
invalidated election.

ARTICLE 23.
If by death or resignation the number of senators of a
department is reduced by one·half, the vacancies shall be
filled within the space of three months, unless the vacancies
occur within the twelve months preceding the triennial
elections. At the time fixed for the triennial elections, all
vacancies shall be filled which have occurred, whatever their
number and date.

[Footnote: See Article 8, law of December 9, 1884, _infra_. ]

[ARTICLE 24.
The election of senators chosen by the National Assembly takes
place in public sitting, by "scrutin de liste," and by an
absolute majority of votes, whatever the number of ballotings.]

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[ARTICLE 25.
When it is necessary to elect successors of senators chosen by
virtue of Article 7 of the law of February 24, 1875, the
Senate proceeds in the manner indicated in the preceding
article].

[Footnote: Articles 24 and 25 repealed by law of December 9,
1584, _infra._]

ARTICLE 26.
Members of the Senate receive the same salary as members of
the Chamber of Deputies.
[Footnote: See Article 17, law of November 30, 1875, _infra_. ]

ARTICLE 27.
There are applicable to elections to the Senate all the
provisions of the electoral law relating:
I. to cases of unworthiness and incapacity;
II. to offences, prosecutions, and penalties;
III. to election proceedings, in all respects not contrary to
the provisions of the present law.

Temporary Provisions.

ARTICLE 28.
For the first election of members of the Senate, the law which
shall determine the date of the dissolution of the National
Assembly shall fix, without regard to the intervals
established by Article 1, the date on which the municipal
councils shall meet for the election of delegates and the day
for the election of Senators. Before the meeting of the
municipal councils, the National Assembly shall proceed to the
election of those Senators whom it is to choose.

ARTICLE 20.
The provisions of Article 21, by which an interval of six
months must elapse between the cessation of duties and
election, shall not apply to officials, except Prefects and
Sub-Prefects, whose duties shall have ceased either before the
promulgation of the present law or within twenty days
following.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1875.
Law on the Election of Deputies. November 30.

[Footnote: See _infra_, the laws of June 10,1885, and
February 13, 1889, amending the electoral law. ]

ARTICLE 1.
The deputies shall be chosen by the voters registered:
I. upon the lists drawn up in accordance with the law of July 7, 1874;
II. upon the supplementary list including those who have lived
in the commune six months. Registration upon the supplementary
list shall take place conformably to the laws and regulations
now governing the political electoral lists, by the committees
and according to the forms established by Articles 1, 2 and 3
of the law of July 7, 1874. Appeals relating to the formation
and revision of either list shall be carried directly before
the Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeal ("Cassation"). The
electoral lists drawn up March 31, 1875, shall serve until
March 31, 1876.

ARTICLE 2.
The soldiers of all ranks and grades, of both the land and
naval forces, shall not vote when they are with their
regiment, at their post or on duty. Those who, on election
day, are in private residence, in non-activity or in
possession of a regular leave of absence, may vote in the
commune on the lists of which they are duly registered. This
last provision applies equally to officers on the unattached
list or on the reserve list.

ARTICLE 3.
During the electoral period, circulars and platforms
("professions de foi") signed by the candidates, placards and
manifestoes signed by one or more voters, may, after being
deposited with the public prosecutor, be posted and
distributed without previous authorization. The distribution
of ballots is not subjected to this deposit.

[Footnote: See, however, a law of December 20, 1878, by which
deposit is made necessary.]

Every public or municipal official is forbidden to distribute
ballots, platforms and circulars of candidates. The provisions
of Article 19 of the organic law of August 2, 1875, on the
elections of Senators, shall apply to the elections of
deputies.

ARTICLE 4.
Balloting shall continue one day only. The voting occurs at
the chief place of the commune; each commune may nevertheless
be divided, by order of the Prefect, into as many sections as
may be demanded by local circumstances and the number of
voters. The second ballot shall take place the second Sunday
following the announcement of the first ballot, according to
the provisions of Article 65, of the law of March 15, 1849.

ARTICLE 5.
The method of voting shall be according to the provisions of
the organic and regulating decrees of February 2, 1852. The
ballot is secret. The voting lists used at the elections in
each section, signed by the President and Secretary, shall
remain deposited for eight days at the Secretary's office at
the town hall, where they shall be communicated to every voter
requesting them.

ARTICLE 6.
Every voter is eligible, without any tax qualification, at the
age of twenty-five years.

ARTICLE 7.
No soldier or sailor forming part of the active forces of land
or sea may, whatever his rank or position, be elected a member
of the Chamber of Deputies. This provision applies to soldiers
and sailors on the unattached list or in non-activity, but
does not extend to officers of the second section of the list
of the general staff, nor to those who, kept in the first
section for having been commander-in-chief in the field, have
ceased to be employed actively, nor to officers who, having
privileges acquired on the retired list, are sent to or
maintained at their homes while awaiting the settlement of
their pension. The decision by which the officer shall have
been permitted to establish his rights on the retired list
shall become, in this case, irrevocable. The rule laid down in
the first paragraph of the present Article shall not apply to
the reserve of the active army nor to the territorial army.

ARTICLE 8.
The exercise of public duties paid out of the treasury of the
State is incompatible with the office of deputy. Consequently
every official elected deputy shall be superseded in his
duties if, within the eight days following the verification of
powers, he has not signified that he does not accept the
office of deputy. There are excepted from the preceding
provisions the duties of Minister, Under Secretary of State,
Ambassador, Minister Plenipotentiary, Prefect of the Seine,
Prefect of Police, First President of the Court of Appeal
("cassation,") First President of the Court of Accounts, First
President of the Court of Appeal ("appel") of Paris, Attorney
General at the Court of Appeal ("cassation,") Attorney General
at the Court of Accounts, Attorney General at the Court of
Appeal ("appel") of Paris, Archbishop and Bishop, Consistorial
Presiding Pastor in consistorial districts whose capital has
two or more pastors, Chief Rabbi of the Central consistory,
Chief Rabbi of the Consistory of Paris.

ARTICLE 9.
There are also excepted from the provisions of Article 8:
I. titular professors of chairs which are filled by
competition or upon the nomination of the bodies where the
vacancy occurs;
II. persons who have been charged with a temporary mission.
All missions continuing more than six months cease to be
temporary and are governed by Article 8 above.

{544}

ARTICLE 10.
The official preserves the rights which he has acquired to a
retiring pension, and may, after the expiration of his term of
office, be restored to active service. The civil official who,
having had twenty years of service at the date of the
acceptance of the office of deputy, and shall be fifty years
of age at the time of the expiration of this term of office,
may establish his rights to an exceptional retiring pension.
This pension shall be regulated according to the third
Paragraph of Article 12 of the law of June 9, 1853. If the
official is restored to active service after the expiration of
his term of office, the provisions of Article 3, Paragraph 2,
and Article 28 of the law of June 9, 1853, shall apply to him.
In duties where the rank is distinct from the employment, the
official, by the acceptance of the office of deputy, loses the
employment and preserves the rank only.

ARTICLE 11.
Every deputy appointed or promoted to a salaried public
position ceases to belong to the Chamber by the very fact of
his acceptance; but he may be re-elected, if the office which
he occupies is compactible with the office of deputy. Deputies
who become Ministers or Under-Secretaries of State are not
subjected to a re-election.

ARTICLE 12.
There shall not be elected by the arrondissement or the colony
included wholly or partially in their jurisdiction, during the
exercise of their duties or for six months following the
expiration of their duties due to resignation, dismissal,
change of residence, or any other cause:
I. The First-Presidents, Presidents, and members of the Courts
of Appeal ("appel");
II. The Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Titular Judges, Examining
Magistrates, and members of the tribunals of first instance;
III. The Prefect of Police; the Prefects and General
Secretaries of the Prefectures; the Governors, Directors of
the Interior, and General Secretaries of the Colonies;
IV. The Chief Arrondissement Engineers and Chief
Arrondissement Road-Surveyors;
V. The School Rectors and Inspectors;
VI. The Primary School Inspectors;
VII. The Archbishops, Bishops, and Vicars General;
VIII. The General Paymasters and Special Receivers of Money;
IX. The Supervisors of Direct and Indirect Taxes, of
Registration of Lands, and of Posts;
X. The Guardians and Inspectors of Forests. The Sub-Prefects
shall not be elected in any of the arrondissements of the
department where they perform their duties.

ARTICLE 13.
Every imperative mandate is null and void.

ARTICLE 14.
Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by single
districts. Each administrative arrondissement shall elect one
deputy. Arrondissements having more than 100,000 inhabitants
shall elect one deputy in addition for every additional
100,000 inhabitants or fraction of 100,000. Arrondissements of
this kind shall be divided into districts whose boundaries
shall be established by law and may be changed only by law.

ARTICLE 15.
Deputies shall be chosen for four years. The Chamber is
renewable integrally.

ARTICLE 16.
In ease of vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, a new
election shall be held within three months of the date when
the vacancy occurred. In case of option, the vacancy shall be
filled within one month.

[Footnote: i. e., when a deputy had been elected from two or
more districts.]

ARTICLE 17.
The deputies shall receive a salary. This salary is regulated
by Articles 96 and 97 of the law of March 15, 1849, and by the
provisions of the law of February 16, 1872.

ARTICLE 18.
No one is elected on the first ballot unless he receives: (1)
an absolute majority of the votes cast; (2) a number of votes
equal to one-fourth of the number of voters registered. On the
second ballot a plurality is sufficient. In case of an equality
of votes, the oldest is declared elected.

ARTICLE 19.
Each department of Algeria elects one deputy.

ARTICLE 20.
The voters living in Algeria in a place not yet made a
commune, shall be registered on the electoral list of the
nearest commune. When it is necessary to establish electoral
districts, either for the purpose of grouping mixed communes
in each of which the number of voters shall be insufficient,
or to bring together voters living in places not formed into
communes the decrees for fixing the seat of these districts
shall be issued by the Governor-General, upon the report of
the Prefect or of the General commanding the division.

ARTICLE 21.
The four colonies to which senators have been assigned by the
law of February 24, 1875, on the organization of the Senate,
shall choose one deputy each.

ARTICLE 22.
Every violation of the prohibitive provisions of Article 3,
Paragraph 3, of the present law shall be punished by a fine of
from sixteen francs to three hundred francs. Nevertheless the
criminal courts may apply Article 463 of the Penal Code. The
provisions of Article 6 of the law of July 7, 1874, shall
apply to the political electoral lists. The decree of January
29, 1871, and the laws of April 10, 1871, May 2, 1871, and
February 18, 1873, are repealed. Paragraph 11 of Article 15 of
the organic decree of February 2, 1852, is also repealed, in
so far as it refers to the law of May 21, 1836, on lotteries,
reserving, however, to the courts the right to apply to
convicted persons Article 42 of the Penal Code. The provisions
of the laws and decrees now in force, with which the present
law does not conflict, shall continue to be applied.

ARTICLE 23.
The provision of Article 12 of the present law by which an
interval of six months must elapse between the expiration of
duties and election, shall not apply to officials, except
Prefects and Sub-Prefects, whose duties shall have ceased
either before the promulgation of the present law or within
the twenty days following it.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1879.
Law Relating to the Seat of the Executive Power and of the
Chambers at Paris. July 22.

ARTICLE 1.
The seat of the Executive Power and of the two Chambers is at
Paris.

ARTICLE 2.
The Palace of the Luxemburg and the Palais-Bourbon are
assigned, the first to the use of the Senate, the second to
that of the Chamber of Deputies. Nevertheless each of the
Chambers is authorized to choose, in the city of Paris, the
palace which it wishes to occupy.

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ARTICLE 3.
The various parts of the palace of Versailles now occupied by
the Senate and Chamber of Deputies preserve their
arrangements. Whenever, according to Articles 7 and 8 of the
law of February 25, 1875, on the organization of the public
powers, a meeting of the National Assembly takes place, it
shall sit at Versailles, in the present hall of the Chamber of
Deputies. Whenever, according to Article 9 of the law of
February 24, 1875, on the organization of the Senate, and
Article 12 of the constitutional law of July 16, 1875, on the
relations of the public powers, the Senate shall be called
upon to constitute itself a Court of Justice, it shall
indicate the town and place where it proposes to sit.

ARTICLE 4.
The Senate and Chamber of Deputies will sit at Paris on and
after November 3 next.

ARTICLE 5.
The Presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies are
charged with the duty of securing the external and internal
safety of the Chambers over which they preside. To this end
they have the right to call upon the armed force and every
authority whose assistance they judge necessary. The demands
may be addressed directly to all officers, commanders, or
officials, who are bound to obey immediately, under the
penalties established by the laws. The Presidents of the
Senate and Chamber of Deputies may delegate to the questors or
to one of them their right of demanding aid.

ARTICLE 6.
Petitions to either of the Chambers can be made and presented
in writing only. It is forbidden to present them in person or
at the bar.

ARTICLE 7.
Every violation of the preceding article, every provocation,
by speeches uttered publicly, or by writings, or printed
matter, posted or distributed, to a crowd upon the public
ways, having for an object the discussion, drawing up, or
carrying to the Chambers or either of them, of petitions,
declarations, or addresses--whether or not any results follow
such action--shall be punished by the penalties enumerated in
Paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the law of June 7, 1848.

ARTICLE 8.
The preceding provisions do not diminish the force of the law
of June 7, 1848, on riotous assemblies.

ARTICLE 9.
Article 463 of the Penal Code applies to the offences
mentioned in the present law.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1884.
Law Amending the Organic Laws on the Organization of the
Senate and the Elections of Senators. December 9.

ARTICLE 1.
The Senate consists of three hundred members, elected by the
departments and the colonies. The present members, without any
distinction between senators elected by the National Assembly
or the Senate and those elected by the departments and
colonies, maintain their term of office during the time for
which they have been chosen.

ARTICLE 2.
The department of the Seine elects ten senators. The
department of the Nord elects eight senators. The following
departments elect five senators each: Côtes-du-Nord,
Finistère, Gironde. Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire, Loire-Inférieure,
Pas-de-Calais, Rhône, Saône-et-Loire, Seine-Inférieure. The
following departments elect four senators each: Aisne,
Bouches-du-Rhône, Charente-Inférieure, Dordogne,
Haute-Garonne, Isère, Maine-et-Loire, Manche, Morbihan,
Puy-de-Dome, Seine-et-Oise, Somme. The following departments
elect three senators each: Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Ardennes,
Aube, Aude, Aveyron, Calvados, Charente, Cher, Corrèze, Corse,
Côte·d'Or, Creuse, Doubs, Drôme, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Gard,
Gers, Hérault, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Jura, Landes,
Loir-et-Cher, Haute-Loire, Loiret, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Marne,
Haute-Marne, Mayenne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Nièvre, Oise,
Orne, Basses-Pyréneées, Haute-Saône, Sarthe, Savoie,
Haute-Savoie, Seine-et-Marne, Deux-Sèvres, Tarn, Var, Vendée,
Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Vosges, Yonne. The following departments
elect two senators each: Basses-Alpes, Hautes-Alpes,
Alpes-Maritimes, Ariège, Cantal, Lozère, Hautes-Pyrénées,
Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn-et-Garonne, Vancluse. The following
elect one senator each: the Territory of Belfort, the three
departments of Algeria, the four colonies: Martinique,
Guadeloupe, Réunion and French Indies.

ARTICLE 3.
In the departments where the number of senators is increased
by the present law, the increase shall take effect as
vacancies occur among the life senators. To this end, within
eight days after the vacancy occurs, it shall be determined by
lot what department shall be called upon to elect a senator.
This election shall take place within three months of the
determination by lot. Furthermore, if the vacancy occurs
within six months preceding the triennial election, the
vacancy shall be filled at that election. The term of office
in this case shall expire at the same time as that of the
other senators belonging to the same department.

ARTICLE 4.
No one shall be a senator unless he is a French citizen, forty
years of age, at least, and enjoying civil and political
rights. Members of families that have reigned in France are
ineligible to the Senate.

ARTICLE 5.
The soldiers of the land and naval forces cannot be elected
senators. There are excepted from this provision:
I. The Marshals and Admirals of France;
II. The general officers maintained without limit of age in
the first section of the list of the general staff and not
provided with a command;
III. The general officers placed in the second section of the
list of the general staff;
IV. Soldiers of the land and naval forces who belong either to
the reserve of the active army or to the territorial army.

ARTICLE 6.
Senators are elected by "scrutin de liste," by a college
meeting at the capital of the department or colony, and
composed:
(1) of the Deputies;
(2) of the General Councilors;
(3) of the Arrondissement Councilors;
(4) of delegates elected from among the voters of the commune,
by each Municipal Council.

Councils composed of ten members shall elect one delegate.
Councils composed of twelve members shall elect two delegates.
Councils composed of sixteen members shall elect three
delegates. Councils composed of twenty-one members shall elect
six delegates. Councils composed of twenty-three members shall
elect nine delegates. Councils composed of twenty-seven
members shall elect twelve delegates. Councils composed of
thirty members shall elect fifteen delegates. Councils
composed of thirty-two members shall elect eighteen delegates.
Councils composed of thirty-four members shall elect
twenty-one delegates. Councils composed of thirty-six members
or more shall elect twenty-four delegates. The Municipal
Council of Paris shall elect thirty delegates. In the French
Indies the members of the local councils take the place of
Arrondissement Councilors. The Municipal Council of Pondichéry
shall elect five delegates. The Municipal Council of Karikal
shall elect three delegates. All the other communes shall
elect two delegates each. The balloting takes place at the
capital of each district.

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ARTICLE 7.
Members of the Senate are elected for nine years. The Senate
is renewed every three years according to the order of the
present series of departments and colonies.

ARTICLE 8.
Articles 2 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 16, 19 and 23
of the organic law of August 2, 1875, on the Elections of
Senators are amended as follows:

"Article 2 (paragraphs 1 and 2). In each Municipal Council the
election of delegates takes place without debate and by secret
ballot, by "scrutin de liste" and by an absolute majority of
votes cast. After two ballots a plurality is sufficient, and
in case of an equality of votes the oldest is elected. The
procedure and method is the same for the election of
alternates. Councils having one, two, or three delegates to
choose shall elect one alternate. Those choosing six or nine
delegates elect two alternates. Those choosing twelve or
fifteen delegates elect three alternates. Those choosing
eighteen or twenty-one delegates elect four alternates. Those
choosing twenty-four delegates elect five alternates. The
Municipal Council of Paris elects eight alternates; The
alternates take the place of delegates in case of refusal or
inability to serve, in the order determined by the number of
votes received by each of them.

Article 3.
In communes where the duties of a Municipal Council are
performed by a special delegation organized by virtue of
Article 44 of' the law of April 5, 1884, the senatorial
delegates and alternates shall be chosen by the old council.

Article 4.
If the delegates were not present at the election, notice is
given them by the Mayor within twenty-four hours. They must
within five days notify the Prefect of their acceptance. In
case of declination or silence they shall be replaced by the
alternates, who are then placed upon the list as the delegates
of the commune.

Article 5.
The official report of the election of delegates and
alternates is transmitted at once to the Prefect. It indicates
the acceptance or declination of the delegates and alternates,
as well as the protests made by one or more members of the
Municipal Council against the legality of the election. A copy
of this official report is posted on the door of the town
hall.

Article 8.
Protests concerning the election of delegates or alternates
are decided, subject to an appeal to the Council of State, by
the Council of the Prefecture, and, in the colonies, by the
Privy Council. Delegates whose election is set aside because
they do not satisfy the conditions demanded by law, or because
of informality, are replaced by the alternates. In case the
election of a delegate and of an alternate is rendered void,
as by the refusal or death of both after their acceptance, new
elections are held by the Municipal Council on a day fixed by
decree of the Prefect.

Article 14.
The first ballot begins at eight o'clock in the morning and
closes at noon. The second begins at two o'clock and closes at
four o'clock. The third begins at seven o'clock and closes at
ten o'clock. The results of the ballotings are determined by
the bureau and announced immediately by the President of the
electoral college.

Article 16.
Political meetings for the nomination of senators may be held
from the date of the promulgation of the decree summoning the
electors up to the day of the election inclusive. The
declaration prescribed by Article 2 of the law of June 30,
1881, shall be made by two voters, at least. The forms and
regulations of this Article, as well as those of Article 3,
shall be observed. The members of Parliament elected or
electors in the department, the senatorial electors, delegates
and alternates, and the candidates, or their representatives,
may alone be present at these meetings. The municipal
authorities will see to it that no other person is admitted.
Delegates and alternates shall present as a means of
identification a certificate from the Mayor of the commune;
candidates or their representatives a certificate from the
official who shall have received the declaration mentioned in
Paragraph 2.

Article 19.
Every attempt at corruption or constraint by the employment of
means enumerated in Articles 177 and following of the Penal
Code, to influence the vote of an elector or to keep him from
voting, shall be punished by imprisonment of from three months
to two years, and by a fine of from fifty francs to five
hundred francs, or by one of these penalties alone. Article
463 of the Penal Code is applicable to the penalties provided
for by the present article.

Article 23.
Vacancies caused by the death or resignation of senators shall
be filled within three months; moreover, if the vacancy occurs
within the six months preceding the triennial elections, it
shall be filled at those elections."

ARTICLE 9.
There are repealed:
(1) Articles 1 to 7 of the law of February 24, 1875, on the
organization of the Senate;
(2) Articles 24 and 25 of the law of August 2, 1875, on the
elections of senators.

Temporary Provision.

In case a special law on parliamentary incompatibilities shall
not have been passed at the date of the next senatorial
elections, Article 8, of the law of November 30, 1875, shall
apply to those elections. Every official affected by this
provision, who has had twenty years of service and is fifty
years of age at the date of his acceptance of the office [of
senator], may establish his right to a proportional retiring
pension, which shall be governed by the third paragraph of
Article 12, of the law of June 9, 1853.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1885.
Law Amending the Electoral Law. June 16.

[Footnote: Articles 1, 2 and 3 repealed
by the law of February 13 1889, _infra._]

[ARTICLE 1.
The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by "scrutin
de liste."]

[ARTICLE 2.
Each department elects the number
of deputies assigned to it in the table
(Footnote: This table may be found in the Bulletin des Lois,
twelfth series, No. 15,518; and in the Journal Officiel for
June 17, 1885, page 3074.)
annexed to the present law, on the basis of one deputy for
seventy thousand inhabitants, foreign residents not included.
Account shall be taken, nevertheless, of every fraction
smaller than seventy thousand.
(Footnote: i. e., fractions of less than 70,000 are entitled
to a deputy.)
Each department elects at least three deputies. Two deputies
are assigned to the territory of Belfort, six to Algeria, and
ten to the colonies, as is indicated by the table. This table
can be changed by law only.]

[ARTICLE 3.
The department forms a single electoral district.]

ARTICLE 4.
Members of families that have reigned in France are ineligible
to the Chamber of Deputies.

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ARTICLE 5.
No one is elected on the first ballot unless he receives: (1)
an absolute majority of the votes cast; (2) a number of votes
equal to one-fourth of the total number of voters registered.
On the second ballot a plurality is sufficient. In case of an
equality of votes, the oldest of the candidates is declared
elected.

ARTICLE 6.
Subject to the case of a dissolution foreseen and regulated by
the Constitution, the general elections take place within
sixty days preceding the expiration of the powers of the
Chamber of Deputies.

ARTICLE 7.
Vacancies shall not be filled which occur in the six months
preceding the renewal of the Chamber.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1887.
Law on Parliamentary Incompatibilities. December 26.

Until the passage of a special law on parliamentary
incompatibilities, Articles 8 and 9 of the law of November
30, 1875, shall apply to senatorial elections. Every official
affected by this provision who has had twenty years of service
and is fifty years of age at the time of his acceptance of the
office [of senator]. may establish his rights to a
proportional retiring pension, which shall be governed by the
third paragraph of Article 12 of the law of June 9, 1853.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1889.
Law Re-establishing Single Districts for the Election of
Deputies. February 13.

ARTICLE 1.
Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the law of June 16, 1885, are repealed.

ARTICLE 2.
Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by single
districts. Each administrative arrondissement in the
departments, and each municipal arrondissement at Paris and at
Lyons, elects one deputy. Arrondissements whose population
exceeds one hundred thousand inhabitants elect an additional
deputy for every one hundred thousand or fraction of one
hundred thousand inhabitants. The arrondissements are in this
case divided into districts, a table of which is annexed to
the present law and can be changed by a law only.

[Footnote: This table may be found in the _Journal
Officiel_ for February 14, 1889. pages 76 and following; and
in the _Bulletin des Lois_, twelfth series, No. 20,475.]

ARTICLE 3.
One deputy is assigned to the territory of Belfort, six to
Algeria, and ten to the colonies, as is indicated by the
table.

ARTICLE 4.
On and after the promulgation of the present law, until the
renewal of the Chamber of Deputies, vacancies occurring in the
Chamber of Deputies shall not be filled.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1889.
Law on Multiple Candidatures. July 17.

ARTICLE 1.
No one may be a candidate in more than one district.

ARTICLE 2.
Every citizen who offers himself or is offered at the general
or partial elections must, by a declaration signed or
countersigned by himself, and duly legalized, make known in
what district he means to be a candidate. This declaration is
deposited, and a provisional receipt obtained therefor, at the
Prefecture of the department concerned, the fifth day, at
latest, before the day of election. A definitive receipt shall
be delivered within twenty-four hours.

ARTICLE 3.
Every declaration made in violation of Article 1 of the
present law is void and not to be received. If declarations
are deposited by the same citizen in more than one district,
the earliest in date is alone valid. If they bear the same
date, all are void.

ARTICLE 4.
It is forbidden to sign or post placards, to carry or
distribute ballots, circulars, or platforms in the interest of
a candidate who has not conformed to the requirements of the
present law.

ARTICLE 5.
Ballots bearing the name of a citizen whose candidacy is put
forward in violation of the present law shall not be included
in the return of votes. Posters, placards, platforms, and
ballots posted or distributed to support a candidacy in a
district where such candidacy is contrary to the law, shall be
removed or seized.

ARTICLE 6.
A fine of ten thousand francs shall be imposed on the
candidate violating the provisions of the present law, and one
of five thousand francs on all persons acting in violation of
Article 4 of the present law.

----------CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: End----------

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY.

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY: 13th-17th Centuries.
The Old (Holy Roman) Empire.
The Golden Bull.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1125-1152; 1347-1493;
and DIET, THE GERMANIC.

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY: A. D. 1815.-
The Confederation.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY: A. D. 1871.
The New Empire.

On the 18th day of January, 1871, at Versailles, King William
of Prussia assumed the title of German Emperor. On the 16th of
April following the Emperor issued a proclamation, by and with
the consent of the Council of the German Confederation, and of
the Imperial Diet, decreeing the adoption of a constitution
for the Empire.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1871 (JANUARY) and (APRIL).

The following is a translation of the text of the Constitution, as transmitted by the American Minister at Berlin to his Government:

His Majesty the King of Prussia, in the name of the North
German Union, His Majesty the King of Bavaria, His Majesty the
King of Würtemberg, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of
Baden, and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse, and by
Rhine for those parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse which are
situated south of the Main, conclude an eternal alliance for
the protection of the territory of the confederation, and of
the laws of the same, as well as for the promotion of the
welfare of the German people. This confederation shall bear
the name of the German Empire, and shall have the following
constitution.

I. Territory.

Article I.
The territory of the confederation shall consist of the States
of Prussia, with Lauenburg, Bavaria, Saxony, Würtemberg,
Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Saxe-Weimar,
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Saxe-Meiningen,
Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Anhalt,
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershnusen, Waldeck,
Reuss of the elder branch, Reuss of the younger branch,
Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg.

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II. Legislation of the Empire.

Article 2.
Within this territory the Empire shall have the right of
legislation according to the provisions of this constitution,
and the laws of the Empire shall take precedence of those of
each individual state. The laws of the Empire shall be
rendered binding by imperial proclamation, such proclamation
to be published in a journal devoted to the publication of the
laws of the Empire, (Reichsgesetzblatt.) If no other period
shall be designated in the published law for it to take
effect, it shall take effect on the fourteenth day after the
day of its publication in the law-journal at Berlin.

Article 3.
There is one citizenship for all Germany, and the citizens or
subjects of each state of the federation shall be treated in
every other state thereof as natives, and shall have the right
of becoming permanent residents, of carrying on business, of
filling public offices, and may acquire all civil rights on
the same conditions as those born in the state, and shall also
have the same usage as regards civil prosecutions and the
protection of the laws. No German shall be limited, in the
exercise of this privilege, by the authorities of his native
state, or by the authorities of any other state of the
confederation. The regulations governing the care of paupers,
and their admission into the various parishes, are not
affected by the principle enunciated in the first paragraph.
In like manner those treaties shall remain in force which have
been concluded between the various states of the federation in
relation to the custody of persons who are to be banished, the
care of sick, and the burial of deceased citizens. With regard
to the rendering of military service to the various states,
the necessary laws will be passed hereafter. All Germans in
foreign countries shall have equal claims upon the protection
of the Empire.

Article 4.
The following matters shall be under the supervision of the
Empire and its legislature:

1. The privilege of carrying on trade in more than one place;
domestic affairs and matters relating to the settlement of
natives of one state in the territory of another; the right of
citizenship; the issuing and examination of passports;
surveillance of foreigners and of manufactures, together with
insurance business, so far as these matters are not already
provided for by article 3 of this constitution, (in Bavaria,
however, exclusive of domestic affairs and matters relating to
the settlement of natives of one state in the territory of
another;) and likewise matters relating to colonization and
emigration to foreign countries.

2. Legislation concerning customs duties and commerce, and
such imposts as are to be applied to the uses of the Empire.

3. Regulation of weights and measures of the coinage, together
with the emission of funded and unfunded paper money.

4. Banking regulations in general.

5. Patents for inventions.

6. The protection of literary property.

7. The organization of a general system of protection for
German trade in foreign countries; of German navigation, and
of the German flag on the high seas; likewise the organization
of a general consular representation of the Empire.

8. Railway matters, (subject in Bavaria to the provisions of
article 46,) and the construction of means of communication by
land and water for the purposes of home defense and of general
commerce.

9. Rafting and navigation upon those waters which are common
to several States, and the condition of such waters, as
likewise river and other water dues.

10. Postal and telegraphic affairs; but in Bavaria and Hungary
these shall be subject to the provisions of article 52.

11. Regulations concerning the execution of judicial sentences
in civil matters, and the fulfillment of requisitions in
general.

12. The authentication of public documents.

13. General legislation regarding the law of obligations,
criminal law, commercial law, and the law of exchange;
likewise judicial proceedings.

14. The imperial army and navy.

15. The surveillance of the medical and veterinary
professions.

16. The press, trades' unions, &c.

Article 5.
The legislative power of the Empire shall be exercised by the
federal council and the diet. A majority of the votes of both
houses shall be necessary and sufficient for the passage of a
law. When a law is proposed in relation to the army or navy,
or to the imposts specified in article 35, the vote of the
presiding officer shall decide; in case of a difference of
opinion in the federal council, if said vote shall be in favor
of the retention of the existing arrangements.

III. Federal Council.

Article 6.
The federal council shall consist of the representatives of
the states of the confederation, among whom the votes shall be
divided in such a manner that Prussia, including the former
votes of Hanover, the electorate of Hesse, Holstein, Nassau,
and Frankfort shall have 17 votes; Bavaria, 6 votes; Saxony, 4
votes; Würtemberg, 4 votes; Baden, 3 votes; Hesse, 3 votes;
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 2 votes; Saxe-Weimar, 1 vote;
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1 vote; Oldenburg, 1 vote; Brunswick, 2
votes; Saxe-Meiningen, 1 vote; Saxe-Altenburg, 1 vote;
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1 vote; Anhalt, 1 vote;
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, 1 vote; Schwarzburg-Sondershansen, 1
vote; Waldeck, 1 vote; Reuss, elder branch, 1 vote; Reuss,
younger branch, 1 vote; Schaumburgh-Lippe, 1 vote; Lippe, 1
vote; Lubeck, 1 vote; Bremen, 1 vote; Hamburgh, 1 vote; total
58 votes. Each member of the confederation shall appoint as
many delegates to the federal council as it has votes; the
total of the votes of each state shall, however, be cast by
only one delegate.

Article 7.
The federal council shall take action upon--
1. The measures to be proposed to the diet and the resolutions
passed by the same.
2. The general provisions and regulations necessary for the
execution of the laws of the Empire, so far as no other
provision is made by said laws.
3. The defects which may be discovered in the execution of the
laws of the Empire, or of the provisions and regulations
heretofore mentioned. Each member of the confederation shall
have the right to introduce motions, and it shall be the duty
of the presiding officer to submit them for deliberation.
Legislative action shall take place by simple majority, with
the exceptions of the provisions in articles 5, 37, and 78.
Votes not represented or instructed shall not be counted. In
the case of a tie, the vote of the presiding officer shall
decide. When legislative action upon a subject which does not
affect, according to the provisions of this constitution, the
whole Empire is taken, the votes of only those states of the
confederation shall be counted which shall be interested in
the matter in question.

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Article 8.
The federal council shall appoint from its own members
permanent committees--
1. On the army and the fortifications.
2. On naval affairs.
3. On duties and taxes.
4. On commerce and trade.
5. On railroads, post offices, and telegraphs.
6. On the judiciary.
7. On accounts.

In each of these committees there shall be representatives of
at least four states of the confederation, beside the
presiding officer, and each state shall be entitled to only
one vote in the same. In the committee on the army and
fortifications Bavaria shall have a permanent seat; the
remaining members of it, as well as the members of the
committee on naval affairs, shall be appointed by the Emperor;
the members of the other committees shall be elected by the
federal council. These committees shall be newly formed at
each session of the federal council, i. e., each year, when
the retiring members shall again be eligible. Besides, there
shall be appointed in the federal council a committee on
foreign affairs, over which Bavaria shall preside, to be
composed of the plenipotentiaries of the Kingdoms of Bavaria,
Saxony, and Würtemberg, and of two plenipotentiaries of the
other states of the Empire, who shall be elected annually by
the federal council. Clerks shall be placed at the disposal of
the committees to perform the necessary work appertaining
thereto.

Article 9.
Each member of the federal council shall have the right to
appear in the diet, and shall be heard there at any time when
he shall so request, to represent the views of his government,
even when the same shall not have been adopted by the majority
of the council. Nobody shall be at the same time a member of
the federal council and of the diet.

Article 10.
The Emperor shall afford the customary diplomatic protection
to the members of the federal council.

IV. Presidium.

Article II.
The King of Prussia shall be the president of the
confederation, and shall have the title of German Emperor. The
Emperor shall represent the Empire among nations, declare war,
and conclude peace in the name of the same, enter into
alliances and other conventions with foreign countries,
accredit embassadors, and receive them. For a declaration of
war in the name of the Empire, the consent of the federal
council shall be required, except in case of an attack upon
the territory of the confederation or its coasts. So far as
treaties with foreign countries refer to matters which,
according to article 4, are to be regulated by the legislature
of the Empire, the consent of the federal council shall be
required for their ratification, and the approval of the diet
shall be necessary to render them valid.

Article 12.
The Emperor shall have the right to convene the federal
council and the diet, and to open, adjourn, and close them.

Article 13.
The convocation of the federal council and the diet shall take
place annually, and the federal council may be called together
for the preparation of business without the diet; the latter,
however, shall not be convoked without the federal council.

Article 14.
The convocation of the federal council shall take place as
soon as demanded by one-third of its members.

Article 14.
The chancellor of the Empire, who shall be appointed by the
Emperor, shall preside in the federal council, and supervise
the conduct of its business. The chancellor of the Empire
shall have the right to delegate the power to represent him to
any member of the federal council.

Article 16.
The necessary bills shall be laid before the diet in the name
of the Emperor, in accordance with the resolutions of the
federal council, and they shall be represented in the diet by
members of the federal council or by special commissioners
appointed by said council.

Article 17.
To the Emperor shall belong the right to prepare and publish
the laws of the Empire. The laws and regulations of the
Emperor shall be published in the name of the Empire, and
require for their validity the signature of the chancellor of
the Empire, who thereby becomes responsible for their
execution.

Article 18.
The Emperor shall appoint the officers of the Empire, require
them to take the oath of allegiance, and dismiss them when
necessary. Officials appointed to an office of the Empire from
one of the states of the confederation shall enjoy the same
rights to which they were entitled in their native states by
their official position, provided no other legislative
provision shall have been made previously to their entrance
into the service of the Empire.

Article 19.
If states of the confederation shall not fulfill their
constitutional duties, proceedings may be instituted against
them by military execution. This execution shall be ordered by
the federal council, and enforced by the Emperor.

V. Diet.

Article 20.
The members of the diet shall be elected by universal
suffrage, and by direct secret ballot. Until regulated by law,
which is reserved by section 5 of the election law of May 31,
1869 (Bundesgesetzblatt, 1869, section 145,) 48 delegates
shall be elected in Bavaria, 17 in Würtemberg, 14 in Baden, 6
in Hesse, south of the river Main, and the total number of
delegates shall be 382.

Article 21.
Officials shall not require a leave of absence in order to
enter the diet. When a member of the diet accepts a salaried
office of the Empire, or a salaried office in one of the
states of the confederation, or accepts any office of the
Empire, or of a state, with which a high rank or salary is
connected, he shall forfeit his seat and vote in the diet, but
may recover his place in the same by a new election.

Article 22.
The proceedings of the diet shall be public. Truthful reports
of the proceedings of the public sessions of the diet shall
subject those making them to no responsibility.

Article 23.
The diet shall have the right to propose laws within the
jurisdiction of the Empire, and to refer petitions addressed
to it to the federal council or the chancellor of the Empire.

Article 24.
Each legislative period of the diet shall last three years.
The diet may be dissolved by a resolution of the federal
council, with the consent of the Emperor.

Article 25.
In the case of a dissolution of the diet, new elections shall
take place within a period of 60 days, and the diet shall
reassemble within a period of 90 days after the dissolution.

Article 26.
Unless by consent of the diet, an adjournment of that body
shall not exceed the period of 30 days, and shall not be
repeated during the same session, without such consent.

Article 27.
The diet shall examine into the legality of the election of
its members and decide thereon. It shall regulate the mode of
transacting business, and its own discipline, by establishing
rules therefor, and elect its president, vice-presidents, and
secretaries.

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Article 28.
The diet shall pass laws by absolute majority. To render the
passage of laws valid, the presence of the majority of the
legal number of members shall be required. When passing laws
which do not affect the whole Empire, according to the
provisions of this constitution, the votes of only those
members shall be counted who shall have been elected in those
states of the confederation which the laws to be passed shall
affect.

Article 29.
The members of the diet shall be the representatives of the
entire people, and shall not be subject to orders and
instructions from their constituents.

Article 30.
No member of the diet shall at any time suffer legal
prosecution on account of his vote, or on account of
utterances made while in the performance of his functions, or
be held responsible outside of the diet for his actions.

Article 31.
Without the consent of the diet, none of its members shall be
tried or punished, during the session, for any offense
committed, except when arrested in the act of committing the
offense, or in the course of the following day. The same rule
shall apply in the case of arrests for debt. At the request of
the diet, all legal proceedings instituted against one of its
members, and likewise imprisonment, shall be suspended during
its session.

Article 32.
The members of the diet shall not be allowed to draw any
salary, or be compensated as such.

VI. Customs and Commerce.