Appendix No. 8., May 31, 1869

Appendix No. 8.

The electoral law for the Reichstag (Diet) of the North German Union, enacted May 31, 1869.

We, Wilhelm, by the grace of God King of Prussia, &c., with the consent of the Bundesrath and the Reichstag, ordain as follows, in the name of the North German Union:

§ 1.

Every North German who has attained the age of twenty-five years is an elector for the Reichstag of the North German Union m that state of the Union where he resides,

§ 2.

Soldiers of the army and navy are not entitled to vote during their term of service.

§ 3.

The following parties are excluded from the privilege of voting:

• Persons who have been put under guardianship or curatorship (kuratel).
• Persons against whom proceedings in court are had as bankrupts, viz, during the time of such proceedings.
• Persons who are receiving support as paupers or have received such support in the year last preceding the election.
• Persons who by a judicial decree have been deprived of the full enjoyment of their civil rights, until such time as they are reinstated in those rights. If they have been deprived of the full enjoyment of their civil rights in consequence of political misdemeanors or crimes, they shall be reinstated in their right to vote as soon as they have been pardoned or served out their time of punishment.

§ 4.

Every North German who has attained the age of twenty-five years, and has been a subject of a state of the Union for at least one year, is eligible within the whole territory of the Union as a deputy, provided he be not deprived of the privilege of voting by the regulations of § 3.

§ 5.

In every state of the Union one deputy shall be elected for about every 100,000 souls, according to the census returns which served as a basis for the elections to the Reichstag which framed the constitution. A surplus of at least 50,000 souls of the total population of a state of the union shall be counted as equal to 100,000 souls. In that state of the union whose population is less than 100,000 souls one deputy shall be elected. Hence it follows that the number of deputies is 297, and that Prussia is entitled to 235, Saxony to 23, Hesse 3, Mecklenburg-Schwerin 6, Saxe-Weimar 3, Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1, Oldenburg 3, Brunswick 3, Saxe-Meiningen 2, Saxe-Altenburg 1, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 2, Anhalt 2, Schwarzbnrg-Rudolstadt 1, Schwarzburg-Sonders-hausen 1, Waldeck 1, Reuss, elder line 1, Reuss, younger line 1, Schaumburg-Lippe 1, Lippe 1, Lauenburg”1, Liibeck 1, Bremen 1, Hamburg 3. The law shall provide for an increase of the number of deputies in consequence of increased population.

§ 6.

Every deputy shall be elected in a distinct electoral district. Every such district shall be divided into smaller precincts for the purpose of depositing votes. These latter precincts shall, if possible, be identical with the town communities, unless a subdivision becomes necessary with densely populated town communities.

The electoral districts, as well as the electoral precincts, must have their limits well defined and be rounded off as much as feasible.

A law of the Union shall prescribe the limits of the electoral districts. Until then the present electoral districts are to remain, with the exception of those which at present are not locally limited and rounded off as coterminous districts. These must be formed according to the regulation of the third paragraph for the purpose of the next general elections.

§ 7.

Whoever wishes to vote in an electoral district must reside in the same at the time of the election; the same regulation applies to the case where the community is divided into several electoral districts. No one is permitted to vote in more than one place.

§ 8.

In every district lists are to be prepared, in which the persons entitled to vote shall be recorded, with their Christian name, family name, age, occupation, and residence., These lists are to be open for the inspection of every one at least four weeks before the day of election, and a public announcement of this is to be made, and of the time until which protests will be heard. Protests against the lists are to be addressed to the authority which has made the announcement within eight days after the lists have been opened, and are to be settled within the next fourteen days, when the lists are to be closed. Only those whose names are recorded in the lists shall be entitled to take part in the election.

In the case of occasional new elections which may take place within one year after the last general election there shall be no necessity for the exhibition and presentation of the election-list.

§ 9.

The act of the election, as well as the examination of the result thereof, shall be public.

The offices of chairman, assistant, and secretary acting for the purpose of obtaining returns in the electoral districts shall be honorary posts, without remuneration, and can only be filled by persons who are not in the immediate service of the state.

§ 10.

The right to vote shall be exercised by the voter in person, by depositing a covered ballot, without signature, in the urn. The ballots must be of white paper, and must not be marked in any way.

§ 11.

The ballots must be printed or inscribed, outside of the polling-place, with the name of the candidate.

§ 12.

The election shall be direct. It shall take place by absolute majority of all votes deposited in an electoral district. If an absolute majority does not result, an election shall take place among the two candidates who have received the largest number of votes. In cases where candidates have received an equal number of votes, lots shall be drawn.

§ 13.

The presiding officers of the electoral district only shall decide by a majority of their members as to the validity or non-validity of the ballots, their decision being subject to an examination by the Reichstag.

The invalidated ballots are to be transmitted, together with the minutes of the election, for the purpose of examination by the Reichstag. The chairman of the returning board shall keep those ballots found valid under seal until the Reichstag has finally declared the validity of the election.

§ 14.

The general elections shall take place within the whole territory of the Union on a day determined upon by the President of the Union.

§ 15.

The Bundesrath shall regulate the procedure at the election, in so far as it has not been determined by this present law, by one system of election-rules, which are to be valid for the whole territory of the Union. The same can only be modified with the consent of the Reichstag.

§ 16.

The expenses for the printed blanks of the minutes of the election and for the inquiries into the results of the election in the electoral districts shall be borne by the states of the Union; all the other expenses of the election shall be borne by the communities.

§ 17.

Those entitled to vote shall have the privilege to form associations for the purpose of consulting on matters relative to the Reichstag elections, and to call and attend unarmed public meetings in closed localities.

The clauses of the civil laws in relation to the announcements of the meetings and associations and as to the surveillance of the same remain in force.

§ 18.

The present law shall be put in force at the first new election of the Reichstag fating place after its announcement. At the same period all other election-laws as to the Reichstag shall become null and void.

In witness whereof our own signature and the seal of the Union are hereunto affixed.