The Kentucky Gazette

CONGRESS,

House of Representatives.

The Committee to whom was referred a bill from the Senate, prescribing the mode of deciding disputed elections of President and Vice-President of the United States, recommend to the house, to agree to the said bill with the following amendments, which was passed by the house, May 2d 1800, as follows:

Strike out from the word "assembled," in the second line of the first section to the end of the bill, and insert in lieu thereof the following—

"That on the day next following the day when a President and Vice-President shall have been voted for by electors it shall be the duty of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States to choose by ballot in each house four members thereof:

And the persons thus chosen shall form a joint committee and shall have power to examine into all disputes relative to the election of President and Vice-President of the United States, other than such as may relate to the number of votes by which the electors may have been appointed.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the Senate shall deliver to the members of this joint committee appointed from the Senate, all the petitions exceptions and memorials against the votes of the electors or the persons for whom they have voted together with the testimony accompanying the same and all documents relative thereto of which he may be possessed, other than those enclosed in the packets containing the certificates of the votes of the electors: And the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall deliver to the members of the joint committee appointed from that House, all the documents relative to the votes for President and Vice-President of which he may be possessed.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the joint committee shall meet on every day (Sunday excepted) from the time of their appointment until they make their report—Six members of whom, there must be three from each house, may proceed to act. If any member of the committee appointed by either House should die, or become unable to attend after his appointment, the committee before they proceed further shall notify both Houses of such death or inability; and the House by which such member was appointed, shall immediately proceed to choose another member, by ballot, to supply such vacancy.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the joint committee shall have power to send for persons and papers, to compel the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths or affirmations to all persons examined before them, and to punish contempts of witnesses refusing to answer, as fully & absolutely as the supreme court of the United States may or can do in causes depending therein: and the testimony of all witnesses examined before the committee shall be reduced to writing by the clerk of the committee, and shall be signed by the witness after his examination is closed: And if any person sworn and examined before this committee, shall swear or affirm falsely, such person, being thereof convicted, shall incur the pains, penalties and disabilities, inflicted by the laws of the United States, upon wilful and corrupt perjury.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Marshals of the several districts of the United States, and of their deputies, to serve all process directed to them, and signed by the chairman of the joint committee; and for such services they shall receive the fees allowed for services of similar process, issued by the Supreme Court of the United States; all witnesses attending the committee in consequence of summons or other process shall receive the same compensation as witnesses attending the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the joint committee shall appoint a clerk who shall keep a journal of their proceedings under their direction to be reported to the Senate and House of Representatives.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That before the houses shall assemble for the purpose of counting the votes, each house shall choose by ballot, two members thereof as tellers, whose duty it shall be to receive the certificates of the electors from the President of the Senate, after they shall have been opened and read and to note in writing, the dates of the certificates, the names of the electors the time of their election and the time and place of their meeting, the number of votes given, and the names of the persons voted for; and also the substance of the certificates from the executive authority of each state, accompanying the certificates of the electors; and the minutes thus made by the tellers, shall be read in the presence of both houses and a copy thereof entered on the journals of each.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the joint committee shall have made the examinations & taken the testimony, a report of their proceedings shall be made both to the Senate and House of Representatives, and shall be inserted on the journals of each House. The said report shall contain all the petitions exceptions and memorials against the votes of the electors or the persons for whom they have voted together with the whole testimony, and arranging with each petition, exception, memorial and vote, the testimony relative thereto, but without giving any opinion thereon.-- The report shall also contain a copy of the law, resolution or act of the state legislatures respectively, under which the electors of the President and Vice President of the United States, whose votes are to be counted, were chosen. So soon as this report shall have been made and entered on the journals, the Senate and House of Representatives shall meet at such place as may be agreed on for the purpose of counting the votes for President and Vice-President of the United States. The names of the several states shall then be written under the suspension of the speaker of the House of Representatives, on separate and similar pieces of paper, and folded up as nearly alike as may be, and put into a ballot box. and shaken by a member of the House of Representatives, to be named by the speaker thereof, out of which box shall be drawn, the paper on which the names of the states are written one at a time. by a member of the Senate, to be named by the President thereof, and so soon as one is drawn the packet containing the certificates from the electors of that state shall be opened by the President of the Senate, and shall then be read, and then shall be read also the petitions, depositions and other papers and documents concerning the same, and if no exceptions taken thereto, the votes contained in such certificate shall be counted; but if any exception be taken, the person taking the same shall state it directly, and not argumentatively,-and sign his name thereto, and if it be founded on any circumstance appearing in the report of the joint committee, and the exception be seconded by one member from the Senate, and one from the House of Representatives, each of whom shall sign the said exception, as having seconded the same, then each house shall immediately retire without question or debate to its own apartment, and shall take the question on the exception without debate, by ayes and noes. So soon as the question shall be taken in either house, a message shall be sent to the other, informing them that the house sending the message is prepared to resume the count. and when such message shall have been received by both houses, they shall again assemble in the same apartment as before, and the count shall be resumed. And if the two houses have concurred in rejecting the vote or votes objected to, such vote or votes shall not be counted, but unless both houses concur, such vote or votes shall be counted. If the objection taken as aforementioned shall arise on the face of the papers opened by the President of the Senate in presence of both houses, and shall not have been noticed in the report of the joint committee, such objection may be referred to the joint committee to be examined and reported on by them in the same manner and on the same principles as their first report was made, but if both houses do not concur in referring the same to the committee, then such objection shall be decided on in like manner as if it had been founded on any circumstance appearing in the report of the committee.-The votes of one state being thus counted, another ticket shall be drawn from the ballot box, and the certificate and votes of the state thus drawn shall be proceeded on as is herein before directed, and so on, one after another until the whole of the votes shall be counted. The two houses may adjourn from day to day, passing over Sunday, until the count shall be completed. When a motion for adjournment shall be made by a member of either house and seconded by a member from each house, the question thereon shall be taken in the two houses separately, and if they do not concur, they shall proceed in the count.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That when the joint committee shall have been duly formed according to the directions of this act, it shall not be in the power of either house to dissolve the committee, or to withdraw any of its members.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the executive authority of each state, to cause three copies of the law, resolution, or act of the state legislatures respectively, under which electors are chosen or appointed, to be made, certified under the seal of the state. and delivered to the electors in such state before they give their votes, and the electors shall annex one of the said copies to each list of their votes, & it shall be the further duty of the executive authority of each state as soon as may be and within 10 days after the appointment therein of electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, to cause three other copies of the said law, resolution or act, together with a complete list of the electors appointed and the time of their election to be made and certified as aforesaid. and to transmit them enclosed. noting on each the contents of the packets, one to the President of the Senate, one to the speaker of the House of Representatives and one to the secretary of state of the United States: And it shall be the duty of the postmaster-general and postmaster at the seat of government to whom or to whose knowledge such packets may come, to deliver them to the officers respectively to whom they may be directed, or in case of the absence from the seat of government of such officer, to deliver the packet to him directed to the secretary of the Senate. the clerk of the House of Representatives or to the chief clerk of the department of state, as the case may be. And it shall hereafter be the duty of the electors to express specially in their certificates, the time, the place, and the manner of giving their votes.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted. That all petitions respecting the election of President and Vice-President. of the United States, shall be presented and read in the Senate of the United States. and then be transmitted to the House of Representatives, where they shall be read & afterwards delivered to the joint committee; but no petition shall be received after the [blank]; nor shall any petition against the qualifications of a candidate or elector, or for improper conduct in an elector, be received. unless ten days notice thereof in writing be previously given to the person whose qualifications are contested, or whose improper conduct is petitioned against.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted That persons petitioning against any of the votes given by any of the electors of President & Vice-President of the U. S. & persons desirous of supporting such contested votes may respectively apply to any judge of the Courts of the United States, or to any chancellor, justice, or judge of a superior or county court of common pleas of any state, or to any mayor, recorder or intendant of a town or city. who shall, thereupon, issue his warrant of summons, directed to all such witnesses as shall be named to him by such applicant, or his agent duly authorized for that purpose, and requiring the attendance of such witnesses, before him, at some convenient time and place, to be expressed in the warrant, in order to be then and there examined, in the manner herein after provided, touching the subject matter of the aforesaid application.

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted That every such witness, as is above mentioned, shall be duly served with such warrant, by a copy thereof being delivered to him or her or left at his or her usual place of abode : & that such service shall be made at a convenient time before the day on which the attendance of such witness is required, which time the magistrate issuing the warrant is hereby authorized and required to fix, for each witness, at the time of issuing it, having respect to the circumstances of such witness, and the distance of his or her residence from the place of attendance.

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted. That any person, being summoned in the manner above directed, and refusing or neglecting to attend, pursuant to such summons, unless in case of sickness, or other unavoidable accident, shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit, by the party at whose instance the warrant of summons was issued, and for his use, by action of debt in any court, or before any other tribunal of the United States, or any state, having jurisdiction to the amount of such penalty.

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted. That persons desirous of taking testimony either to support a petition against any contested votes for President and Vice-President of the United States, or to support any such vote or votes shall previously advertise the time and place for taking such testimony, together with the points intended to be established thereby for two weeks successively, in some one of the gazettes published at the seat of government of the state in which the votes to which the testimony is to relate were given; provided there be a gazette published at the seat of government, and in some one of the gazettes near the place at which the testimony is to be taken if there be any gazette published nearer such place than the seat of government.

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted. that all witnesses who shall attend in pursuance of the said summons and all other witnesses who shall be produced at the time and place aforesaid shall then and there be examined on oath or affirmation by the magistrate who issued the warrant of summons aforesaid, or in case of his absence by any other such magistrate as is authorized by this act to issue such warrant. touching all such matters & things respecting the votes about to be contested or supported as may have been suggested in the notice herein before directed to be published; the testimony given on which examination together with the questions proposed to the witnesses respectively. the said magistrate is hereby authorized and required to cause to be reduced to writing in his presence and to be duly attested by the witnesses respectively; after which he shall transmit the said testimony duly certified under his hand enclosed and sealed up to the President of the Senate ; together with a copy of the warrant of summons and notification issued in that behalf and the original affidavit proving the service of such notification.

Sec 17. And be it further enacted. That in case any judge, justice, chancellor. mayor recorder or intendant as is aforesaid, to whom the application herein mentioned shall be made, shall, by reason of sickness, necessary absence, or unavoidable accident, be rendered unable to attend at the time and place fixed for the examination aforesaid. it shall be lawful for him to certify the matter, & the proceedings had by him in that behalf, to any other magistrate of any of the descriptions aforesaid, which said magistrate hereupon, shall be, and hereby is authorized to attend at such time and place. and to proceed touching the said examinations, in all respects, as the magistrate issuing the warrant of summons might have done, by virtue of this act.

Sec. 18. And be it further enacted. That when no such magistrate as is herein authorized to receive applications as aforesaid, and proceed upon them, shall reside within any district for which an election about to be contested shall have been held, it shall be lawful to make such application to any two justices of the peace residing within the said district, who are hereby authorized in such case, to receive such application, and jointly to proceed upon it in the manner herein before directed.

Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That every witness attending by virtue of such warrant of summons as is herein directed to be issued, shall be allowed the sum of seventy-five cents, for each day's attendance, and the further sum of five cents, for every mile necessarily travelled in going and returning, which allowance shall be ascertained and certified by the magistrate taking the examination, and shall be paid by the party at whose instance such witness was summoned; and such witness shall have an action for the recovery of the said allowance, before any court or magistrate having competent jurisdiction, according to the laws of the United States, or of any state, in which action the certificate of the magistrate taking the said examination shall be evidence.

Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That each judge, justice, chancellor, mayor, recorder, intendant and justice of the peace, who shall be necessarily employed, pursuant to the directions of this act, and all sheriffs, constables, or other officers who may be employed to serve any of the warrants of summons or notifications herein provided for, shall have and receive from the party at whose instance such service shall have been performed, such fee or fees, as are or may be allowed for similar services in the state wherein such private service shall be rendered, respectively.

Strike out the whole of the title. and insert in lieu thereof the following:

"An act prescribing the mode of counting the votes of President & Vice-President of the United States."