228 FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 37. 1877. Aiiirmwve vote been received shall be rejected except by the affirmative vote of the two °f.b°*h h°“F°"‘ "°‘ Houses. When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately; qlK‘§g0$§,;;·]Q{’;‘ut again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision . or deoision. of the question submitted. Proceedings in SEG 2. That if more than one return, or paper purporting to been case or double ro- return from a State, shall have been received by the President of the
- ¤m¤· Senate, purportingto be the certificates of electoral votes given at the
last preceding election for President and Vice-President in such State, (unless they shall be duplicates of the same return,) all such returns and papers shall be opened by him in the presence of the two Houses when met as aforesaid, and read by the tellers, and all uch returns and M papers shall thereupon be submitted- to the judgment and decision as Electoral ,,,,m_ to which is the true and lawful electoral vote of such State, of a commismission. sion constituted as follows, namely: During the session of each House How constituted. on the Tuesday next preceding the first Thursday in February, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, each House shall, by viva voco vote, appoint five of its members, who with the five associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, to be ascertained as hereinafter. provided, shall constitute a commission for the decision of all questions ‘ upon or in respect of such double returns named in this section. On Selection of jus-: the Tuesday next preceding the iirst Thursday in February, anno Domini ti¤<>¤ of Nw Su- eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, or as soon thereafter as may be, P"°‘“° C°“"’· the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States now assigned to the nrst, third, eighth, and ninth circuits shall select, in such manner as a majority of them shall deem tit, another of the associate justices of said court, which nve persons shall be members of said Presidentofoom- commission; and the person longest in commission of said five jusmissiom tices shall be the president of said commission. The members of said Oath. commission shall respectively take and subscribe the following oath: “ I, -——- —-——-, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will impartially examine and consider all questions submitted to the commission of which I am a member, and a true judgment give _ · thereon, agreeably to the Constitution and the laws: so help me God ;” which oath shall be nled with the Secretary of the Senate. When the Commission not commission shall have been thus organized, it shall not be in the power . to b<·><li¤¤<>1v¤d- of either house to dissolve the same, or to withdraw any of its memvllclluclcs, how bers; but if any such Senator or member shall die or become physiiilled. cally unable to perform the duties required by this act, the fact of such death or physical inability shall be by said commission, before it shall proceed further, communicated to the Senate or House of Representatives, as the· case may be, which body shall immediately and without · debate proceed by viva voce vote to fill the place so vacated, and the person so appointed shall take and subscribe the oath hercinbefore prescribed, and become a member of said commission; and, in like manner, if any of said justices of the Supreme Court shall die or become physically incapable of performing the duties required by ~ this act, the other of said justices, members of the said commission,- shall immediately appoint another justice of said court a member of said commission, and, in such appointments, regard shall be had to the impartiality and freedom from bias sought by the original appointments to said commission, who shall thereupon immediately take and subscribe the oath hereinbefore proscribed, and become_a member of Opening certiii- said commission to fill the vacancy so occasioned. All the certiii- ‘ cams in ¤¤¤° of cates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes d°“b1°"°t°m°‘ of each State shall be opened, in the alphabetical order of the States, as provided in section one of this act; and when there shall be more than one such certincate or paper, as the certificates and papers from such State shall so be opened, (excepting duplicates of the same return,) they shall be read by the tellers, and thereupon the Pros- Ol>.i<>¢’¤i<>¤¤, f<>¤¤ ident of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection °f· shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and; without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one member of the House of Representatives beiiore
