their meeting. Select Committee to meet at a certain time, to be fixed by the Time and place of House, which time shall be within twenty-four hours of the appointment of the said Select Committee, (unless a Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day, shall intervene,) and the place of their meeting and sitting shall be some convenient room or place adja. cent to the House of Assembly, properly prepared for that purpose -Provided always, That upon the parties withdrawing, as aforesaid, the House shall continue sitting, and the said nine Meinbers, so chosen and nominated, shall no depart the House till the time for the meeting of the said Select Committee shall be fixed. Members of the Cosites not to de part the House till the tin appointed for their meeting. XI. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if in such Petition or Petitions there be more than two parties before the House on district interests, complaining or complained of on different grounds, whose right to be elected or returned may be affected by the determination of the said Select Committee, cach of the said parties shall successively strike off a Member from the twenty-three Members to be chosen by lot, until the said number be reduced to nine, in the same manner as before directed for the striking off a Member, alternately, by the parties mentioned in the last clause; and the lists of the twenty-three Members chosen by lot, shall, for this purpose, be given to all the said parties, and the order in which the said parties shall strike off the said M embers shall be determined by lot, after they are withdrawn from the Bar, and in such case, neither of the said parties (there being more than two) shall be permitted to name a Member to be added to the numbers so drawn by lot, as aforesaid, but as soon as the list of nine Members shall be returned by the parties to the House, such nine Members shall immediately withdraw, and shall, by themselves, choose two Members, then present in the House, whose names shall not have been drawn, to be added to the said nine Member s and shall, within one hour from the time of their withdrawing, res port the names of such two Members to the House; which two Members shall be liable to be set aside on the like objections for which Nominees may be set aside, by virtue of this Act: And in case such two Members, or either of them, shall be set aside for any of the causes aforesaid, then the said nine Members shall choose one or two other Members, as the case shall require, until two Members are chosen against whom none of the objections to Nominees mentioned in this Act shall be taken and allowed; and that the names of such two Members shall be then added to the said list of nine Members; and all the said eleven Members shall be sworn at the table, and they shall be the Select Committee appointed for the purposes expressed in this Act. Members not to de part from the House, after ballot, until the XII. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when the said Nominees are by this Act directed to be named by time of meeting fixed. the said nine Members, no Member present at the time of the ballot shall depart from the House until the time of the meeting of the said Select Committee shall be fixed. XIII. Provided always, And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if upon the drawing out the name of any Member, by lot, as aforesaid, the said Petitioners, or sitting Members, or their Agents, shall declare, that such member is intended to be one of the two Nominees, to be nominated by them respectively, and if such member shall consent to such nomination, the name of such member, so drawn by lot, shall be set aside, and, unless objected to, as aforesaid, he shall serve as such Nominee, and the name of another member shall be drawn to supply his place, to complete the number of twenty-three members to be drawn by lot; and if the said Petitioners, or sitting members, or their Agents, shall not respectively nominate a member then present, who G If either of the par tice decline to nomi. nate a member, his place shall be supplied by a member chosen by ballot. What proceedings shall take place when shall be admitted according to the directions of this Act, then the Want of such nomination shall be supplied by drawing out, instead thereof, the name of one or two members, as the case shall require, who shall be drawn by lot, in the like manner, and subject to the like objections and excuses as the other twenty-three members already drawn by lot, and shall be added to the list of the said twenty-three members, and shall be liable to be struck off in the same manner, leaving always the number of eleven members in the whole, and no more, as a Select Committee, for the purposes aforesaid. XIV. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That a writ of election shall if upon any writ or writs, to be issued for the election of any mem not be returned as by ław it ought to be. ber or members to serve in Parliament, no return shall be made to the same on or before the day on which such writ is made returnable, or if a writ shall have been issued during any Session or Prorogation of Parliament, no return shall be made to the same within forty days after the day on which such writ bears date, it shall and may be lawful for any person, or persons, having had, or claiming to have had, a right to vote at such Election, or claiming to have had a right to be returned as duly elected thereat, who shall think himself, or themselves aggrieved, to petition the House of Assembly concerning the same, and, upon such Petition being presented, a day and hour shall be appointed for taking the same into consideration; and notice thereof, in writing, shall be forthwith given by the Speaker to the Petitioners, and to the Returning Officer, or Officers, by whom such return ought to have been made, or shall have been made, accompanied with an order to him, or them to attend the House at the time appointed, by himself, or themselves, his or their counsel or agents; and a Select Committee shall be appointed according to the directions of this Act, which said Committee shail try and determine whether any, and which of the person, or persons, named in such Petition ought to have The names of mem shall, previous to the day appointed for tal lotting, be sealed up by the Clerk in a box. XV. And for the greater despatch and certainty in the proceed-bers to he ballotted, ing herein-before described, Be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the names of all the Members so written and rolled up, as herein-before directed, shall, previous to the day appointed for taking such Petition into consideration, be prepared by set his seal thereto. the said Clerk, and by him put into a box, or parcel, in the pre- day of Speaker shall also which said box or parcel the Speaker shall seal with his own seal, and to the outside thereof shall annex an attestation signed by him After the ballot, the names und awn shall, if required, te rend aloud by the Clerk Chairman of Select Committee, bow appointed. Committee to have power to send for per sons and papers. Examine witnesses on oath. self, purporting that the said box or parcel was, on the in the manner directed by this Act; and that as soon as the parties shall be withdrawn, as aforesaid, and before the House shall enter on any other business, any member may require that the names of all the members, which remain undrawn, shall be drawn, and read aloud by the said Clerk. XVI. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Select Committee shall, on their meeting, elect a Chairman from amongst such of the members thereof as shall have been chosen by lot; and if, in the election of a Chairman, there be an equal number of voices, the member whose name was first drawn in the House, shall have a casting voice, so likewise, in case there should ever be occasion for electing a new Chairman, on the death or necessary absence of the Chairman first elected. XVII. And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Select Committee shall have power to send for persons, papers, and records, and shall examine all the witnesses who come before them upon oath, and shall try the merits of the return or election, or both, and shall determine, by a majority of voices of the said Select Committee, whether the Petitioners, or the sitting Members, or either of them, be duly returned or elected, or wheTheir decision to be ther the Election be void, which determination shall be final between the parties to all intents and purposes; and the House be final. |