vertence to the satisfaction of the presiding officer, obtain another ballot paper in the place of the ballot paper so delivered up (in this Act called a spoilt ballot paper), and the spoilt ballot paper shall be immediately cancelled. 29. The presiding officer of each station, as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, shall, in the presence of the agents of the candidates, make up into separate packets sealed with his own seal and the seals of such agents of the candidates as desire to affix their seals, (1.) Each ballot box in use at this station, unopened but with the key attached; and (2.) The unused and spoilt ballot papers, placed together; and (3.) The tendered ballot papers; and (4.) The marked copies of the register of voters, and the counterfoils of the ballot papers; and (5.) The tendered votes list, and the list of votes marked by the presiding officer, and a statement of the number of the voters whose votes are so marked by the presiding officer under the heads "physical incapacity," "Jews," and "unable to read," and the declarations of inability to read; and shall deliver such packets to the returning officer. 30. The packets shall be accompanied by a statement made by such presiding officer, showing the number of ballot papers entrusted to him, and accounting for them under the heads of ballot papers in the ballot box, unused, spoilt, and tendered ballot papers, which statement is in this Act referred to as the ballot paper account. Counting Votes. 31. The candidates may respectively appoint agents to attend the counting of the votes. 32. The returning officer shall make arrangements for counting the votes in the presence of the agents of the candidates as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, and shall give to the agents of the candidates appointed to attend at the counting of the votes notice in writing of the time and place at which he will begin to count the same. 33. The returning officer, his assistants and clerks, and the agents of the candidates, and no other person, except with the sanction of the returning officer, may be present at the counting of the votes. 34. Before the returning officer proceeds to count the votes, he shall, in the presence of the agents of the candidates, open each ballot box, and, taking out the papers therein, shall count and record the number thereof, and then mix together the whole of the ballot papers contained in the ballot boxes. The returning officer, while counting and recording the number of ballot papers and counting the votes, shall keep the ballot papers with their faces upwards, and take all proper precautions for preventing any person from seeing the numbers printed on the back of such papers. 35. The returning officer shall, so far as practicable, proceed continuously with counting the votes, allowing only time for refreshment, and excluding (except so far as he and the agents otherwise agree) the hours between seven o'clock at night and nine o'clock on the succeeding morning. During the excluded time the returning officer shall place the ballot papers and other documents relating to the election under his own seal and the seals of such of the agents of the candidates as desire to affix their seals, and shall otherwise take proper precautions for the security of such papers and documents. which he may 36. The returning officer shall endorse rejected" on any ballot paper reject as invalid, and shall add to the endorsement "rejection objected to," if an objection be in fact made by any agent to his decision. The returning officer shall report to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery the number of ballot papers rejected and not counted by him under the several heads of and shall on request allow any agents of the candidates, before such report is sent, to copy it. 37. Upon the completion of the counting the returning officer shall seal up in separate packets the counted and the rejected ballot papers. He shall not open the sealed packet of tendered ballot papers or marked copy of the register of voters and counterfoils, but shall proceed, in the presence of the agents of the candidates, to verify the ballot paper account given by each presiding officer by comparing it with the number of ballot papers recorded by him as aforesaid, and the unused and spoilt ballot papers in his possession and the tendered votes list, and shall reseal each sealed packet after examination. The returning officer shall report to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery the result of such verification, and shall, on request, allow any agents of the candidates, before such report is sent, to copy it. 38. Lastly, the returning officer shall forward to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery (in manner in which the poll books are by any existing enactment required to be forwarded to such clerk, or as near thereto as circumstances admit) all the packets of ballot papers in his possession, together with the said reports, the ballot paper accounts, tendered votes lists, lists of votes marked by the presiding officer, statements relating thereto, declarations of inability to read, and packets of counterfoils, and marked copies of registers, sent by each presiding officer, endorsing on each packet a description of its contents and the date of the election to which they relate, and the name of the county or borough for which such election was held; and the term poll book in any such enactment shall be construed to include any document forwarded in pursuance of this rule. 39. The Clerk of the Crown shall retain for a year all documents relating to an election forwarded to him in pursuance of this Act by a returning officer, and then, unless otherwise directed by an order of the House of Commons, or of one of Her Majesty's Superior Courts, shall cause them to be destroyed. 40. No person shall be allowed to inspect any rejected ballot papers in the custody of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, except under the order of the House of Commons or under the order of one of Her Majesty's Superior Courts, to be granted by such court on being satisfied by evidence on oath that the inspection or production of such ballot papers is required for the purpose of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence in relation to ballot papers, or for the purpose of a petition questioning an election or return; and any such order for the inspection or production of ballot papers may be made subject to such conditions as to persons, time, place, and mode of inspection or production as the House or court making the same may think expedient, and shall be obeyed by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Any power given to a court by this rule may be exercised by any judge of such court at chambers. 41. No person shall, except by order of the House of Commons or any tribunal having cognizance of petitions complaining of undue returns or undue elections, open the sealed packet of counterfoils after the same has been once sealed up, or be allowed to inspect any counted ballot papers in the custody of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery; such order may be made subject to such conditions as to persons, time, place, and mode of opening or inspection as the House or tribunal making the order may think expedient; provided that on making and carrying into effect any such order, care shall be taken that the mode in which any particular elector has voted shall not be discovered until he has been proved to have voted, and his vote has been declared by a competent court to be invalid. 42. All documents forwarded by a returning officer in pursuance of this Act to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, other than ballot papers and counterfoils, shall be open to public inspection at such time and under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, with the consent of the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Clerk of the Crown shall supply copies of or extracts from the said documents to any person demanding the same, on payment of such fees and subject to such regulations as may be sanctioned by the Treasury. 43. Where an order is made for the production by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery of any document in his possession relating to any specified election, the production by such clerk or his agent of the document ordered, in such manner as may be directed by such order, or by a rule of the court having power to make such order, shall be conclusive evidence that such document relates to the specified election; and any endorse ment appearing on any packet of ballot papers produced by such Clerk of the Crown or his agent shall be evidence of such papers being what they are stated to be by the endorsement. The production from proper custody of a ballot paper purporting to have been used at any election, and of a counterfoil marked with the same printed number and having a number marked thereon in writing, shall be primâ facie evidence that the person who voted by such ballot paper was the person who at the time of such election had affixed to his name in the register of voters at such election the same number as the number written on such counterfoil. General Provisions. 44. The return of a member or members elected to serve in Parliament for any county or borough shall be made by a certificate of the names of such member or members under the hand of the returning officer endorsed on the writ of election for such county or borough, and such certificate shall have effect and be dealt with in like manner as the return under the existing law, and the returning officer may, if he think fit, deliver the writ with such certificate endorsed to the postmaster of the principal office of the place of election, or his deputy, and in that case he shall take a receipt from the postmaster or his deputy for the same; and such postmaster or his deputy shall then forward the same by the first post, free of charge, under cover, to the Clerk of the Crown with the words "Election Writ and Return" endorsed thereon. 45. The returning officer shall, as soon as possible give public notice of the names of the candidates elected, and, in the case of a contested election, the total number of votes given for each candidate, whether elected or not. 46. Where the returning officer is required or authorised by this Act to give any public notice, he shall carry such requirement into effect by advertisements, placards, handbills, or such other means as he thinks best calculated to afford information to the electors. 47. The returning officer may, if he think fit, preside at any polling station, and the provisions of this Act relating to a presiding officer shall apply to such returning officer with the necessary modifications as to things to be done by the returning officer to the presiding officer, or the presiding officer to the returning officer. 48. In the case of a contested election for any county or borough, the returning officer may, in addition to any clerks, appoint competent persons to assist him in counting the votes. 49. No person shall be appointed by a returning officer for the purpose of an election who has been employed by any other person in or about the election. 50. The presiding officer may do, by the clerks appointed to assist him, any act which he is required or authorised to do by this Act at a polling station except ordering the arrest, exclusion, or ejection from the polling station of any person. 51. A candidate may himself undertake the duties which any agent of his if appointed might have undertaken, or may assist his agent in the performance of such duties, and may be present at any place at which his agent may, in pursuance of this Act, attend. 52. The name and address of every agent of a candidate appointed to attend the counting of the votes shall be transmitted to the returning officer one clear day at the least before the opening of the poll; and the returning officer may refuse to admit to the place where the votes are counted any agent whose name and address has not been so transmitted, notwithstanding that his appointment may be otherwise valid, and any notice required to be given to an agent by the returning officer may be delivered at or sent by post to such address. 53. If any person appointed an agent by a candidate for the purpose of attending at the polling station or at the counting of the votes dies, or becomes incapable of acting during the time of the election, the candidate may appoint another agent in his place, and shall forthwith give to the returning officer notice in writing of the name and address of the agent so appointed. 54. Every returning officer, and every officer, clerk, or agent authorised to attend at a polling station, or at the counting of the votes, shall, before the opening of the poll, make a statutory declaration of secrecy, in the presence, if he is the returning officer, of a justice of the peace, and if he is any other officer or an agent, of a justice of the peace or of the returning officer; but no such returning officer, officer, clerk, or agent as aforesaid shall, save as aforesaid, be required, as such, to make any declaration, or take any oath on the occasion of any election. 55. Where in this Act any expressions are used requiring or authorising or inferring that any act or thing is to be done in the presence of the agents of the candidates, such expressions shall be deemed to refer to the presence of such agents of the candidates as may be authorised to attend, and as have in fact attended, at the time and place where such act or thing is being done, and the non-attendance of any agents or agent at such time and place shall not, if such act or thing be otherwise duly done, in anywise invalidate the act or thing done. 56. In reckoning time for the purposes of this Act, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and any day set apart for a public fast or public thanksgiving, shall be excluded; and where anything is required by this Act to be done on any day which falls on the above-mentioned days such thing may be done on the next day, unless it is one of the days excluded as above-mentioned. 57. In this Act The expression "district borough" means the borough of Monmouth and any of the boroughs specified in Schedule E. to the Representation of the People Act, 1832; and The expression "polling place" means, in the case of a borough, such borough or any part thereof in which a separate booth is required or authorised by law to be provided; and The expression "agents of the candidates," used in relation to a polling station, means agents appointed in pursuance of section eighty-five of the Parliamentary Voters Registration Act, 1843. Modifications in Application of Part One of Schedule to Scotland. 58. In Scotland, the place of election shall be a convenient room situate in the town in which the writ for the election would, if this Act had not passed, have been proclaimed. 59. In Scotland, the candidates may respectively appoint agents to attend at the polling stations. The ballot papers and other documents other than the return required to be sent to and kept by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, shall, in Scotland, be kept by the sheriff clerks of the respective counties in which the returns (including those for burghs) are made, and the provisions of this schedule relating thereto shall be construed as if the sheriff clerk were substituted for Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. 60. In Scotland, the term "district borough" shall mean the combined burghs and towns specified in Schedule E. of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1832, and in Schedule A. of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1868. 61. The provisions of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1832, in so far as they relate to the fixing and announcement of the day of election, the interval to elapse between the receipt of the writ and the day of election, the period of adjournment for taking the poll in the case of Orkney and Shetland, and of the district of burghs comprising Kirkwall, Wick, Dornoch, Dingwall, Tain and Cromarty, and to the keeping open of the poll for two consecutive days in the case of Orkney and Shetland, shall remain in full force and effect, anything in this Act or any other Act of Parliament now in force notwithstanding; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to exclude Orkney and Shetland or Orkney or Shetland, or the said district of burghs, or any of the burghs in the said district, from any of the benefits and obligations of the other portions of this Act. Modifications in Application of Part One of Schedule to Ireland. PART II. RULES FOR MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. 64. In the application of the provisions of this schedule to municipal elections the following modifications shall be made : (a.) The expression "register of voters" means the burgess roll of the burgesses of the borough, or, in the case of an election for the ward of a borough, the ward list; and the mayor shall provide true copies of such register for each polling station : (b.) All ballot papers and other documents which, in the case of a parliamentary election, are forwarded to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery shall be delivered to the town clerk of the municipal borough in which the election is held, and shall be kept by him among the records of the borough; and the provisions of Part One of this schedule with respect to the inspection, production, and destruction of such ballot papers and documents, and to the copies of such documents, shall apply respectively to the ballot papers and documents so in the custody of the town clerk, with these modifications; namely, (a.) An order of the county court having jurisdiction in the borough, or any part thereof, or of any tribunal in which a municipal election is questioned, shall be substituted for an order of the House of Commons, or of one of Her Majesty's Superior Courts; but an appeal from such county court may be had in like manner as in other cases in such county court; (b.) The regulations for the inspection of documents and the fees for the supply of copies of documents of which copies are directed to be supplied, shall be prescribed by the council of the borough with the consent of one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State; and, subject as aforesaid, the town clerk, in respect of the custody and destruction of the ballot papers and other documents coming into his possession in pursuance of this Act, shall be subject to the directions of the council of the borough ; (c.) Nothing in this schedule with respect to the day of the poll shall apply to a municipal election. Modifications in Application of Part II. of Schedule to Scotland. 65. In Part Two of this schedule as applying to Scotland— The expression "register of voters" means the register, list, or roll of persons entitled to vote in a municipal election made up according to the law for the time being in force. The expression "county court" means the sheriff court. The expression "town clerk" includes the clerk appointed by the Commissioners of Police under the Act of the session of the thirteenth and fourteenth years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter thirty-three, intituled "An Act to make "more effectual provision for regulating the police of towns and populous places "in Scotland, and for paving, draining, cleansing, lighting, and improving the same," and of the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862. Modifications in Application of Part II. of Schedule to Ireland. [Rule 66 applies to Ireland exclusively.] 66 Note. The forms contained in this schedule, or forms as nearly resembling the same as circumstances will admit, shall be used in all cases to which they refer and are applicable, and when so used shall be sufficient in law. Writ for a County or Borough at a Parliamentary Election. Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, to the of the county [or borough] of * , greeting: Whereas by the advice of our Council we have ordered a Parliament to be holden |