AN ACT to enable qualified electors of this State enlisted in companies or regiments organized in this State and absent from their election precincts because engaged in actual military service, to vote as a unit in certain elections.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That qualified electors of this State enlisted in companies or regiments organized in this State and absent from their election precincts on the day prescribed by law for the holding of any general election because engaged in the actual military service of the State or of the United States, shall be entitled to vote for all State officers and on all State-wide questions in any such election. The qualified electors of any such company or regiment shall vote as a group or unit, as hereinafter provided. The commanding officer of any such company or regiment shall, in his discretion, fix the number of polling places for any such election.

§ 2. Thirty days before any such election the Adjutant General shall furnish the Secretary of State with a register containing the names and addresses of all qualified electors enlisted in companies or regiments organized in this State and absent from their election precincts because engaged in the actual military service of the State or of the United States.

§3. The Secretary of State shall, as soon as possible after the nominations for the various State offices shall have been made, prepare official war ballots in such number as shall be necessary to supply such absent voters. Such ballots shall be sent to the commanding officer of any such absent company or regiment, together with the registry of such absent voters prepared from the report of the Adjutant General to the Secretary of State. Such ballots shall contain only the names of the candidates for State offices. If, at any such election, any proposed amendment to the Constitution or other proposition or question is to be submitted to the voters of the State, the Secreary of State shall furnish in the form prescribed by law, an equal number of ballots for the question or questions so submitted.

§ 4. The Secretary of State shall also cause to be prepared and printed, at least twice as many official envelopes as there are voters absent from election districts, as shown by such register. Such envelopes

shall be gummed, ready for sealing. Upon one side of said envelope shall be printed endorsements in substantially the following form:

oath:

Secretary of State."

Upon the other side of said envelope shall be printed the following

"OATH OF ELECTOR.

....day of...

I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I am a citizen of the United States, and am now of the age of at least twenty-one years, or will be on the..... 19. ...; that I will have been an inhabitant of the State of Illinois for one year next preceding this election, and ninety days preceding such election, a resident of the county of..... and am a qualified voter resid

ing at (street and number, if any). in the (city or town) of.....

; that I am in the actual military (or naval) service of the State of Illinois, or of the United States, and at present attached to. . . . .

(here state the principal command to which attached), and that I have never been convicted of any crime (or if convicted, state the time and when pardoned by the Governor of any State).

The Secretary of State shall also furnish poll books and necessary poll lists, tally sheets, copies of this law, and any and all other blanks and forms necessary for the conduct of such election.

§ 5. Elections in the camps shall be held not less than five nor more than twenty days prior to the general election day. The date of such election shall be fixed by the commanding officer of any command. where the poll or polls of such election shall be held, by proclamation duly made. Such polls shall be opened at such hour of the day as shall be most convenient for such voters, and shall remain open not less than three hours, and as much longer as shall, in the opinion of the officers of election serving at such polls be necessary in order to receive the votes of all voters of this State entitled to vote at such poll, but no poll shall be kept open later than sunset of the day on which said election shall be held.

§ 6. At the hour and place for the opening of the polls, the qualified voters of this State then and there present, shall, by a viva voce vote,

select three of their own number to act at such election as judges of election. Such judges shall, so far as possible, be so selected that they shall represent the leading political parties of this State. When so elected, they shall choose one of their number as chairman and another as clerk, by drawing lots. Such chairman shall then administer the oath of office to the other judges, and one of the judges shall then administer the same to the chairman. The oath to be administered shall be as follows:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of judge of election, according to the best of my ability."

Such oath or affirmation shall be written or printed, or partly written or partly printed, attached to or entered upon the poll books used at such election, subscribed by the persons taking the same, and certified to by the person administering the same.

§ 7. Immediately upon the organization of the board of judges the commanding officer to whom shall have been delivered any official war ballots, poll books and envelopes, shall deliver the same to the judges of election and shall take a receipt therefor, which receipt shall be forwarded by mail by such commanding officer, to the Secretary of State. Said judges shall produce and have at the polls before any votes are taken by them, a box for the reception of the ballots to be voted at such election. Before proceeding to take any votes, they shall open said box and publicly exhibit the inside thereof, and the same shall be entirely emptied. They shall then close and securely fasten the same, and said box shall not be opened again until the close of the polls at such election. Each such box shall have an opening in the top thereof for the reception of voted ballots.

The chairman of the board shall have charge of the ballot box during the election and shall receive from the qualified voters, their envelopes containing ballots, and shall deposit them in the ballot box. The other two members shall keep the poll books.

§ 8. Before any person shall receive an official ballot or be permitted to vote, he shall make and subscribe the oath printed upon the official envelope, as provided herein, and any one of the judges of elec tion is hereby authorized to administer and attest such oath. If any voter shall refuse to take the oath so tendered, he shall not be allowed to vote, but if he shall take the oath tendered him, his vote shall be accepted. Upon subscribing to the required oath, the voter shall state his name and residence by street and number, if any, county, city or town, which information shall be entered upon the poll books. He shall also give such other information as is required to be entered in the poll books. When such voter has given such information, the judge in charge of the polls and envelopes, shall write in the proper blank spaces upon such official envelope, the name and residence, by street and number, if any, of such voter, and the county, city or town in which he claims to reside, and shall deliver such ballot or ballots and such envelope to such voter. Such voter shall then retire to some convenient place and shall

prepare his ballot and envelope for voting. After preparing his ballot, the voter shall fold his ballot in such a way that the contents of the ballot shall be concealed, and enclose the same in such envelope, which he shall securely seal. He shall then deliver such envelope to the chairman of the board of judges. Before such envelope shall be deposited in the ballot box, the chairman shall state the name of such voter, his residence, whether or not he is entitled to vote and whether or not the envelope is securely sealed. If the voter's name and other information hereby required, appear upon the poll books, the judges keeping such poll books shall so announce and record such voter as voting. The chairman shall thereupon deposit such envelope in the ballot box. Any person so voting shall not in any manner vote again for any candidate or on any question in such election.

9. As soon as the polls of such election are closed, the judges shall publicly destroy all official envelopes and ballots not voted and shall then publicly open such ballot boxes and count and ascertain the number of voters voting, and shall not adjourn or postpone the count until it shall have been fully completed. The judges shall number each voter whose name is recorded in such poll books as having voted, beginning with the first name entered therein, and numbering the same in consecutive order, and shall fill out and sign the certificate to be made by them as to the whole number voting at such election. If the envelopes containing ballots found in such box shall be more than the number of such envelopes so shown by the poll books to have been deposited therein, the judges shall compare the names upon such envelopes with the names recorded in such poll books, and all such envelopes so found in said. ballot box purporting to have been deposited therein by a voter whose name is not duly entered in such poll books, as herein provided, shall, with their contents, be immediately destroyed, without opening the same, and if more than one such envelope shall be found in said ballot box purporting to have been deposited therein by the same voter, then all such envelopes and their contents purporting to have been deposited in such ballot box by such voter, shall be destroyed. No such envelope without an official endorsement, as herein provided, shall be counted.

§ 10. At the completion of the count, the judges shall certify the correctness of the same upon the poll books, and shall publicly announce the number of votes cast. They shall, thereupon, enclose all such envelopes containing ballots, without opening the same, in a sealed package, with the poll books, and shall forward them to the Secretary of State, at Springfield, Illinois, as soon as possible after such election.

11. Upon the receipt by the Secretary of State of the packages containing the envelopes and poll books, he shall at once forward such envelopes to the county clerk of the respective counties wherein reside such voters absent in military service. Each county clerk shall deliver all envelopes so received from the Secretary of State to the county canvassing board at the time of its regular meeting, and such board shall count all the ballots enclosed in such envelopes and make abstracts of the same, which abstracts shall be sent to the Secretary of State, to be canvassed in the manner provided by law for the canvassing of other

votes. Such abstracts shall be made and sent to the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of sections 71 and 76 of an Act entitled: "An Act in regard to elections, and to provide for filling vacancies in elective offices," approved April 3, 1872, in force July 1, 1872, as subsequently amended.

Any such ballots may be rejected for cause by the county canvassing board.

§ 12. If any person shall wilfully swear falsely to any affidavit herein provided for, he shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be punished as in such case by law provided. If any election officer shall refuse or neglect to perform any of the duties prescribed by this Act, or shall violate any of the provisions thereof, or if any officer taking any of the affidavits provided for herein, shall make any false statement in his certificate thereto attached, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail, not exceeding thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

§ 13. The general election laws to the extent that the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall govern and control all elections under this Act.

AN ACT to amend an Act entitled, "An Act in regard to elections, and to provide for filling vacancies in elective offices," approved April 3. 1872, in force July 1, 1872, as subsequently amended, by amending section fifty-nine (59) thereof.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly: That an Act entitled, "An Act in regard to elections and to provide for filling vacancies in elective offices," approved April 3, 1872, in force July 1, 1872, as subsequently amended. be and the same is hereby amended by amending section fifty-nine (59) thereof so as to read as follows:

§ 59. All the ballots counted by the judges of election shall, after being read, be strung upon a strong thread or twine, in the order in which they have been read, and shall then be carefully enveloped an! sealed up by the judges, who shall direct the same to the officer to wher by law they are required to return the poll books, and shall be delivered, together with the poll books, to such officer, who shall carefully preserve said ballots for six (6) months, and at the expiration of that time sai clerk shall remove the same from original package and grind and sha sell the same, together with all reserve and unused ballots, to the highest and best bidder for cash in hand paid, and deposit the proceeds in the city treasury, county treasury, or treasury of the municipality, or other subdivision of the State which paid for such ballots. Provided, if any