Soldiers at 10 Vict. c. 21. barrack or quarters in which he is stationed, unless for the purpose of mounting or relieving guard, or for giving his vote at such election: and that every soldier allowed to go out for any such purpose within the limits aforesaid shall return to his barrack or quarters with all convenient speed as soon as his guard shall have been relieved or vote tendered. Vote. of 3. And be it enacted, That when and so often as any election any member or members to serve in the Commons House of Parliament shall be appointed to be made, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery or other officer making out any new writ for such election shall, with all convenient speed after making out the said writ, give notice thereof to the Secretary at War, or in case there shall be no Secretary at War to the person officiating in his stead, who shall, at some convenient time before the day appointed for such election, give notice thereof in writing to the general officer commanding in each district of Great Britain, who shall thereupon give the necessary orders for enforcing the execution of this Act in all places under his command. By 26 Vict. c. 12 the office of Secretary at War is abolished, and the duties under this, among numerous other Acts, transferred to the Secretary of State for War. 4. Provided always, and be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed to apply to any soldiers attending as the guards of her Majesty or any person of the Royal Family, or to the soldiers usually stationed or employed within the Bank of England. 15 & 16 Vict. c. 23. So often as her Majesty shall by her royal proclamation appoint a time for the first meeting of the Parliament of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after a dissolution thereof, the time so to be appointed may be any time not less than thirty-five days after the date of such proclamation, the Act of the fifth year of Queen Anne, c. 8, or the Act of the seventh and eighth years of William the Third, c. 25,* or any other law or usage notwithstanding. 16 Vict. c. 15, ss. 2, 3. 2. At every contested election of a knight or knights to serve in any Parliament after the 31st October, 1853, for any county, or for any riding, parts, or division of a county, the polling shall continue for one day only, and the polling shall commence at eight o'clock in the morning and be kept open until five in the afternoon of such day. The rest of this section is repealed by the Ballot Act, 1872. The time is now extended to eight o'clock in the evening (48 Vict. s. 10, p. 515). ss. 2, 3. Adjournment 3. The provisions concerning the adjournment of the poll in 16 Vict. c. 15, the case of riot or open violence, and other the provisions of s. 70 of the Act 2 & 3 Will. 4, c. 45,* shall be and remain applicable to every such contested election as aforesaid as if the said section were re-enacted in this Act, the words "the day of polling" being substituted therein for the words "one of the two days of polling." of poll. * P. 400. 16 & 17 Vict. c. 68. 16 & 17 Vict. c. 68. Direction in writs to sheriffs of counties. be directed to 1. The writ for any election hereafter to be directed to the sheriff of any county in England or Wales (other than the county of a city or of a town) shall require such sheriff to cause election to be made of a knight or knights to serve in Parliament for such county, and for any riding, parts or division thereof only, and not further or otherwise; the writ Writs to for making any election of a member or members to serve in boroughs and Parliament for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and Universities to for every borough, town corporate, port, or place returning returning members to serve in Parliament in England and Wales shall officers. hereafter be directed to the Vice-Chancellor of the said Universities, and to the returning officers of such boroughs, towns corporate, ports and places respectively, and such ViceChancellors and returning officers shall thereupon in due course of law proceed to election, and after such election certify the same together with the writ according to the directions thereof; all such writs hereafter to be issued, and all mandates, precepts, instruments, proceedings, and notices consequent upon such writs shall be, and the same are hereby authorized to be framed and expressed in such manner and form as may be necessary for carrying the provisions of this Act into effect. 4. At any election of a member or members to serve in Parliament for either of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge the polling shall not continue for more than five days at the most, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Ascension Day being excluded. Duration of poll at Oxford and Cambridge. 5. At every such election the Vice-Chancellor shall have Polling stapower to appoint any number of polling places not exceeding tions at Oxford three in addition to the House of Convocation or Senate House, and Cambridge. and to direct at which of such polling places the members of Convocation and of the Senate according to their colleges shall vote, and also to appoint any number of pro vice-chancellors, any one of whom may receive the votes and decide upon all questions during the absence of such Vice-Chancellor; and such Vice-Chancellor shall have power to appoint any number of poll clerks and other officers, by one or more of whom the votes shall be entered in such number of poll books as shall be judged necessary by such Vice-Chancellor. 16 & 17 Vict. c. 68. Polling in public houses. c. 57. 6. No poll at any election for members of Parliament in England and Wales shall be taken at any inn, hotel, tavern, public house, or other premises licensed for the sale of beer, wine, or spirits, or in any booth, hall, room, or other place directly communicating therewith, unless by consent of all the candidates expressed in writing. cases. 17 & 18 Vict. 17 & 18 Vict. c. 57. An Act to amend the Law relating to the Appointment of Returning Officers in certain [31st July, 1854. "Whereas by an Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the sixteenth and seventeenth years of the reign of her present Majesty, chapter sixty eight, it is amongst other things enacted, that the writ for making any election of a member to serve in Parliament for any borough, town corporate, port, or place returning members to serve in Parliament in England and Wales shall thereafter be directed to the returning officer of such borough, town corporate, port or place respectively: And whereas by another Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the sixth and seventh years of his late Majesty, chapter one hundred and one, it was amongst other things enacted, that if at any time during which any precept ought to be issued or other Act done by or with regard to the returning officer for any city, borough, or town, the office of returning officer shall happen to be vacant, it shall be lawful for the sheriff of the county in which such city, borough, or town is situate, by writing under his hand to appoint some fit person as his deputy to perform the duties of returning officer during such vacancy: And whereas difficulties and delay may arise in the appointment of such sufficient deputy, in the case of a vacancy in the office of returning officer, by reason of the writ being directed to such returning officer, and there being no person qualified to receive and execute the same:" BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Sheriff to be returning officer in boroughs where the office of returning officer shall be vacant. 1. Every writ for making any election of a member to serve in Parliament for any borough, city, or town shall be directed to the returning officer of the said borough or his deputy, and in their absence to the sheriff of the county in which the said city, borough, or town is situate; and in all cases whatever, whenever there shall be, either from temporary vacancy or from some other cause, no person duly qualified in any borough, city, or town to perform the duties of a returning officer for the same, the sheriff of the county in which such borough, city, or town is situate shall be charged with the execution of the said c. 57. writ, and shall execute the same and in all respects perform the 17 & 18 Vict. duties of and incidental to the office of returning officer: Provided always, that it shall not be lawful for the said sheriff to receive or execute the writ except when there shall be no person within the said borough, city, or town legally qualified and competent as returning officer to execute the same. 17 & 18 Vict. c. 102. CORRUPT PRACTICES PREVENTION ACT, 1854. "Whereas the law now in force for preventing corrupt practices in the election of members to serve in Parliament have been found insufficient: And whereas it is expedient to consolidate and amend such laws, and to make further provision for securing the freedom of such elections: BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: [1. Repealed by the Corrupt Practices Act, 1883.] 2. The following persons shall be deemed guilty of bribery, and shall be punishable accordingly: 1. Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, by himself, or by any other person on his behalf, give, lend, or agree to give or lend, or shall offer, promise, or promise to procure or to endeavour to procure, any money or valuable consideration, to or for any voter, or to or for any person on behalf of any voter, or to or for any other person in order to induce any voter to vote, or refrain from voting, or shall corruptly do any such act as aforesaid, on account of such voter having voted or refrained from voting at any election: 17 & 18 Vict. c. 102. Bribery by bribers. Giving money or value to voter. 2. Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, by himself Procuring or by any other person on his behalf, give or procure, or place for voter. agree to give or procure, or offer, promise, or promise to procure or to endeavour to procure, any office, place, or employment to or for any voter, or to or for any person on behalf of any voter, or to or for any person, in order to induce such voter to vote, or refrain from voting, or shall corruptly do any such act as aforesaid, on account of any voter having voted or refrained from voting at any election: 3. Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, make any such gift, Gift or promise for procuring 17 & 18 Vict, c. 102. Bribery defined. Procuring votes for gift or promise. Providing money for bribery or repaying money expended. Saving for legal expenses. Bribery by bribed. Receiving at or before election, gift, &c., for vote. After election. loan, offer, promise, procurement, or agreement as aforesaid, to or for any person, in order to induce such person to procure, or endeavour to procure, the return of any person to serve in Parliament, or the vote of any voter at any election: 4. Every person who shall, upon or in consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, or agreement, procure or engage, promise, or endeavour to procure the return of any person to serve in Parliament, or the vote of any voter at any election: 5. Every person who shall advance or pay, or cause to be paid, any money to or to the use of any other person with the intent that such money or any part thereof shall be expended in bribery at any election, or who shall knowingly pay or cause to be paid any money to any person in discharge or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery at any election: Provided always, that the aforesaid enactment shall not extend or be construed to extend to any money paid or agreed to be paid for or on account of any legal expenses bonâ fide incurred at or concerning any election. The punishments are provided by ss. 4-6 of the Corrupt Practices Act, 1883, p. 468. This section and the next are repeated for purposes of Consolidation in Sched. 3, Part III., of the Corrupt Practices Act, 1883, p. 511. Travelling Expenses.] A letter to a voter asking him to come from a distance to vote, and adding, "your expenses will be paid," was held by the House of Lords evidence of bribery under subs. 1 (Cooper v. Slade, 6 E. & B. 447; 27 L. J. Q. B. 449). By 21 & 22 Vict. c. 87, conveyance for voters was allowed to be provided, by s. 36 of the Representation of the People, 1867, payment of money on account of conveying a voter to the poll was forbidden in boroughs, with certain exceptions, which were repealed in 1880, but by the Corrupt Practices Act, 1883, 21 & 22 Vict. c. 87, was repealed, and by s. 7 (p. 469), payments for the conveyance of electors are illegal; s. 48 of that Act, however, making an exception for the conveyance of voters by sea. Giving a holiday to workpeople and paying their wages was held to amount to bribery in Truscott v. Bevan, 44 L. T. 64, and so remunerating a voter for loss of time (Simp son v. Yeend, L. R. 4 Q. B. 626, 38 L. J. Q. B. 313), but not hiring voters to preserve the peace. A corrupt offer of a valueless thing may be bribery (Spencer v. Harrison, 44 L. T. 483), and whether the voter votes according to the bribe is immaterial (Sulston v. Norton, 3 Burr 1235), as also whether he has a vote if he is believed to have one (Lilley v. Corne, 1 Selw. N. P. 650 n.). 3. The following persons shall also be deemed guilty of bribery and shall be punishable accordingly: 1. Every voter who shall, before or during any election, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, receive, agree, or contract for any money, gift, loan, or valuable consideration, office, place, or employment, for himself or for any other person, for voting or agreeing to vote, or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting, at any election: 2. Every person who shall, after any election, directly or |