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for the manner of holding elections and of ascertaining the result . of the same, and shall provide general registration laws not incon- sistent with the provisions of this article, for the registration of all qualified electors from and after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and three. The Legislature shall also make provision by law, not inconsistent with this article, for the regu- lation of primary elections, and for punishing frauds at the same, but shall not make primary elections compulsory. The Legisla- ture shall by law provide for purging the registration list of the names of those who die, become insane, or convicted of crime, or otherwise disqualified as electors under the provisions of this Constitution, and of any names which may have been fraudulently entered on such list by the registrars; provided, that a trial by jury may be had on the demand of any person whose name is proposed to be stricken from the list.
191. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass adequate laws giving protection against the evils arising from the use of intoxicating liquors at all elections.
192. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, or while going to or returning therefrom.
193. Returns of elections for members of the Legislature and for all civil officers who are to be commissioned by the Governor, except the Attorney General, State Auditor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Education and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, shall be made to the Secretary of State.
. 194. The poll tax mentioned in this article shall be one dollar and fifty cents upon each male inhabitant of the State, over the age of twenty-one years, and under the age of forty-five years, who would not be exempt by law; but the Legislature is author- ized to increase the maximum age fixed in this section to not more than sixty years. Such poll tax shall become due and payable on the first day of October in each year, and become delinquent on the first day of the next succeeding February, but no legal process, nor any fee or commission shall be allowed for the collection thereof. The Tax Collector shall make returns of poll tax collections separate from other collections.
195. Any person who shall pay the poll tax of another, or advance him money for that purpose in order to influence his vote, shall be guilty of bribery, and upon conviction thereof shall be im- prisoned in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than five years.
196. If any section or subdivision of this article shall, for any reason, be or be held by any court of competent jurisdiction and of final resort, to be invalid, inoperative or void, the residue of this article shall not be thereby invalidated or affected.
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ARTICLE IX Representation
197. The whole number of Senators shall be not less than one-fourth or more than one-third of the whole number of Representatives.
198. The House of Representatives shall consist of not more than one hundred and five members, unless new counties shall be created, in which even each new county shall be entitled to one Representative. The members of the House of Representatives shall be apportioned by the Legislature among the several coun- ties of the State, according to the number of inhabitants in them, respectively, as ascertained by the decennial eensus of the United States, which apportionment when made shall not be subject to alteration until the next session of the Legislature after the next decennial census of the United States shall have been taken.
199. It shall be the duty of the Legislature at its first session after the taking of the decennial census of the United States in the year nineteen hundred and ten, and after each subsequent decennial census, to fix by law the number of Representatives and apportion them among the several counties of the State, according to the number of inhabitants in them, respectively; provided, that each county shall be entitled to at least one Representative.
200. It shall be the duty of the Legislature at its first session after taking of the decennial census of the United States in the year nineteen hundred and ten, and after each subsegment decen- nial census, to fix by law the number of Senators, and to divide the State into as many Senatorial districts as there are Senators, which districts shall be as nearly equal to each other in the number of inhabitants as may be, and each shall be entitled to one Senator, and no more; and such distriets, when formed, shall not be changed until the next apportioning session of the Legis- lature, after the next decennial census of the United States shall have been taken; provided, that counties created after the next preceding apportioning session of the Legislature may be attached to Senatorial districts. No county shall be divided between two districts, and no district shall be made up of two or more counties not contiguous to each other.
201. Should any decennial census of the United States not be taken, or if when taken the same, as to this State be not full and satisfactory, the Legislature shall have power at its first session after the time shall have elapsed for the taking of said census, to provide for an enumeration of all the inhabitants of this State, upon which it shall be the duty of the Legislature to make the apportionment of Representatives and Senators as provided for in this article.
202. Until the Legislature shall make an apportionment of Representatives among the several counties, as provided in the preceding section, the counties of Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert,
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Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, DeKalb, Escambia, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Lamar, Lawrence, Limestone, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Pickens, Randolph, St. Clair, Shelby, Washington, and Winston, shall each have one Representative; the counties of Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Clarke, Elmore, Etowah, Hale, Henry, Jackson, Lau- derdale, Lee, Lowndes, Madison, Marengo, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, and Wilcox, shall each have two Representatives; the counties of Dallas and Mobile shall each have three Representatives; the county of Montgomery shall have four Representatives; and the county of Jefferson shall have seven Representatives.
203. Until the Legislature shall divide the State into Senatorial districts, as herein provided, the Senatorial districts shall be as follows:
First district, Lauderdale and Limestone; Second district, Law- rence and Morgan; Third district, Blount, Cullman and Winston; Fourth district, Madison; Fifth district, Jackson and Marshall; Sixth district, Etowah and St. Clair; Seventh district, Calhoun; Eighth distriet, Talladega; Ninth district, Chambers and Ran- dolph; Tenth district, Tallapoosa and Elmore; Eleventh district, Tuscaloosa; Twelfth distriet, Fayette, Lamar and Walker; Thir- teenth district, Jefferson; Fourteenth district, Piekens and Sumter; Fifteenth district, Autauga, Chilton and Shelby; Sixteenth district, Lowndes; Seventeenth district, Butler, Conecuh and Covington; Eighteenth district, Bibb and Perry; Nineteenth district, Choctaw, Clarke and Washington; Twentieth district, Marengo; Twenty- first district, Baldwin, Escambia and Monroe; Twenty-second dis- trict, Wilcox; Twenty-third district, Dale and Geneva; Twenty- fourth district, Barbour; Twenty-fifth district, Coffee, Crenshaw and Pike; Twenty-sixth distriet, Bullock and Macon; Twenty- seventh district, Lee and Russell; Twenty-eighth district, Mont- gomery; Twenty-ninth district, Cherokee, and DeKalb; Thirtieth district, Dallas; Thirty-first district, Colbert, Franklin and Marion; Thirty-second district, Greene and Hale; Thirty-third district, Mobile; Thirty-fourth district, Cleburne, Clay and Coosa; Thirty- fifth district, Henry.
ARTICLE X Exemptions
204. The personal property of any resident of this State to the value of one thousand dollars, to be selected by such resident, shall be exempt from sale on execution or other process of any court, issued for the collection of any debt contracted since the thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, or after the ratification of this Constitution.
205. Every homestead, not exceeding eiglity acres, and the dwelling and appurtenances thereon, to be selected by the owner thereof, and not in any city, town or village, or in lieu thereof, at the option of the owner, any lot in a city, town or village, with the dwelling and appurtenances thereon owned and occupied by
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any resident of this State, and not exceeding the value of two thousand dollars, shall be exempt from sale on execution or any other process from a court; for any debt contracted since the thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, or after the ratification of this Constitution. Such exemption, however, shall not extend to any mortgage lawfully obtained, but such mortgage or other alienation of said homestead by the owner thereof, if a married man, shall not be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the wife to the same.
206. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner thereof, shall be exempt from the payment of any debts contracted since the thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty- eight, or after the ratification of this Constitution, in all cases, during the minority of the children.
207. The provisions of Sections 204 and 205 of this Constitution shall not be so construed as to prevent a laborers' lien for work done and performed for the person claiming such exemption, of a mechanics' lien for work done on the premises.
208. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow, but no children, such homestead shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof shall inure to her benefit.
209. The real and personal property of any female in this State, acquired before marriage, and all property, real and personal, to which she may afterwards be entitled by gift, grant, inherit - ance or devise, shall be and remain the separate estate and property of such female, and shall not be liable for any debts, obligations or engagements of her husband, and may be devised or bequeathed by her, the same as if she were a feme sole.
210. The right of exemption hereinbefore seenred may be waived by an instrument in writing, and when such waiver relates to realty, the instrument must be signed by both the husband and the wife, and attested by one witness.
ARTICLE XI
Taxation
211. All taxes levied on property in this State shall be assessed in exact proportion to the value of such property, but no tax shall be assessed upon any debt for rent or hire of real or per- sonal property, while owned by the landlord or hirer during the current year of such rental or hire, if such real or personal property be assessed at its full value.
212. The power to levy taxes shall not be delegated to indi- viduals or private corporations or associations.
213. After the ratification of this Constitution, no new debt shall be created against, or incurred by this State, or its authority, except to repel invasion or suppress insurrection, and then only by a concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each House of the Legislature, and the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered on the Journals; and any act creating or incurring any new debt against this State, except as herein provided for,
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shall be absolutely void; provided, the Governor may be authorized to negotiate temporary loans, never to exceed three hundred thon- sand dollars, to meet the deficiencies in the treasury, and until the same is paid no new loan shall be negotiated; provided fur- ther, that this section shall not be so construed as to prevent the issuance of bonds for the purpose of refunding the existing bonded indebtedness of the State.
214. The Legislature shall not have the power to levy in any one year a greater rate of taxation than sixty-five one-hundredths of one per centum of the value of the taxable property within this State.
215. No county in this State shall be authorized to levy a greater rate of taxation in any one year on the value of the tax- able property therein than one-half of one per centum; provided, that to pay debts existing on the sixth day of December, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, an additional rate of one-fourth of one per centum may be levied and collected which shall be appro- priated exclusively to the payment of such debts and the interest thereon; provided further, that to pay any debt or liability now existing against any county, incurred for the erection, construc- tion, or maintenance of the necessary public buildings or bridges, or that may hereafter be created for the erection of necessary public buildings, bridges or roads, any county may levy and collect such special taxes, not to exceed one-fourth of one per centum, as may have been or may hereafter be authorized by law, which taxes so levied and collected shall be applied exclusively to the purposes for which the same were so levied and collected.
216. No city, town, village or other municipal corporation, other than as provided in this article, shall levy or collect a higher rate of taxation in any one year on the property situated therein than one-half of one per centum of the value of such property as assessed for State taxation during the preceding year; provided, that for the purpose of paying debts existing on the sixth day of December, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and the interest thereon, a tax of one per centum may be levied and collected, to be applied exclusively to the payment of such indebtedness; and provided further, that this section shall not apply to the city of Mobile, which city may from and after the ratification of this Constitution, levy a tax not to exceed the rate of three-fourths of one per centum to pay the expenses of the city government, and may also levy a tax not to exceed three-fourths of one per centum to pay the debt existing on the sixth day of December, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, with interest thereon, or any renewal of such debt; and, provided further, that this section shall not apply to the cities of Birmingham, Huntsville and Bessemer, and the town of Andalusia, which cities and town may levy and collect a tax not to exceed one-half of one per centum in addition to the tax of one-half of one per centum as hereinbefore allowed 10 be levied and collected, such special tax to be applied exclu- sively - to the payment of interest on bonds of said cities of Birmingham, Huntsville and Bessemer and town of Andalusia,
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ALABAMA HISTORY
respectively, heretofore issued in pursuance of law, or now author- ized by law to be issued, and for a sinking fund to pay off said bonds at the maturity thereof; and provided further, that this section shall not apply to the city of Montgomery, which eity shall have the right to levy and collect a tax of not exceeding one-half of one per centum per annum upon the value of the taxable. prop- erty therein, as fixed for State taxation, for general purposes, and an additional tax of not exceeding three-fourths of one per centum per annum upon the value of the property therein, as fixed for State taxation, to be devoted exclusively to the payment of its public debt, interest thereon, and renewals thereof, and to the maintenance of its publie schools, and publie conveniences; and provided further, that this section shall not apply to Troy, Attalla, Cadsden, Woodlawn, Brewton, Pratt City, Ensley, Wylam, and Avondale, which cities and towns may from and after the ratifi- cation of this Constitution, levy and collect an additional tax of not exceeding one-half of one per centum; and provided further, that this section shall not apply to the cities of Decatur, New Decatur and Cullman, which cities may from and after the rati- fication of this Constitution, levy and collect an additional tax of not exceeding three-tenths of one per centum per annum; such special tax of said city of Decatur to be applied exclu- sively for the public schools, publie school buildings, and public improvements; and such special tax of New Decatur and Cullman to be applied exclusively for educational purposes, and to be expended under their respective boards of Public School Trustees; but this additional tax shall not be levied by Troy, Attalla, Gadsden, Woodlawn, Brewton, Pratt City, Ensley, Wylam, Avon- dale, Decatur, New Decatur, or Cullman unless authorized by a. majority vote of the qualified electors voting at a special election held for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not said tax shall be levied; and provided further, that the purposes for which such special tax is sought to be levied shall be stated in such election call, and, if authorized, the revenue derived from such special tax shall be used for no other purpose than that stated; and provided further, that the additional tax authorized to be levied by the city of Troy, when so levied and collected, shall be used exclu- sively in the payment of the bonds and interest coupons thereon, hereafter issued in the adjustment of the present bonded indebt- edness of said city; and provided further, that the additional tax authorized to be levied and collected by the city of Attalla shall, when so levied and collected, be used exclusively in the payment of bonds to the amount of not exceeding twenty-five thousand dol- lars, and the interest coupons thereon, hereafter to be issued in the adjustment of the present indebtedness of said city; provided further, that the governing boards of said cities, which are authorized to levy an additional tax after the holding of an election as aforesaid, are hereby authorized to provide by ordi- nanee the necessary machinery for the holding of said election and declaring the result thereof.
217. The property of private corporations, associations and indi-
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viduals of this State shall forever be taxed at the same rate; provided, this section shall not apply to institutions devoted exclusively to religious, educational or charitable purposes.
218. The Legislature shall not have the power to require coun- ties or other municipal corporations to pay any charges which are now payable out of the State treasury.
219. The Legislature may levy a tax of not more than two and one-half per centum of the value of all estates, real and personal, money, public and private securities of every kind in this State, passing from any person who may die seized and possessed thereof, or of any part of such estate, money or securities, or interest therein, transferred by the intestate laws of this State, or by will, deed, grant, bargain, sale or gift, made or intended to take effect in possession after death of the grantor, devisor, or donor, to any person or persons, bodies politie or corporate, in trust or otherwise, other than to or for the use of the father, mother, husband, wife, brothers, sisters, children or lineal descendants of the grantor, devisor, donor or intestate.
ARTICLE XII
CORPORATIONS
Municipal Corporations
220. No person, firm, association or corporation shall be au- thorized or permitted to use the streets, avenues, alleys or public places of any city, town or village for the construction or opera- tion of any public utility or private enterprise, without first obtaining the consent of the proper authorities of such city, town or village.
221. The Legislature shall not enact any law which will permit any person, firm, corporation or association to pay a privilege, license or other tax to the State of Alabama, and relieve him or it from the payment of all other privilege and license taxes in the State.
222. The Legislature, after the ratification of this Constitution, shall have authority to pass general laws authorizing the counties, cities, towns, villages, districts or other political subdivisions of counties to issue bonds, but no bonds shall be issued under authority of a general law unless such issue of bonds be first authorized by a majority vote by ballot of the qualified voters of such county, city, town, village, district, or other political subdivision of a county, voting upon such proposition. The ballot used at such election shall contain the words "For ...... bond issue," and "Against ...... bond issue," (the character of the bond to be shown in the blank space), and the voter shall indicate his choice by placing a cross mark before or after the one or the other. This section shall not apply to the renewal, refunding or reissue of bonds lawfully issued, nor to the issuance of bonds in cases where the same have been authorized by laws enacted prior to the ratification of this Constitution, nor shall this section apply to obligations incurred or bonds to be issued to procure means to
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pay for street and sidewalk improvements or sanitary or storm . water sewers, the cost of which is to be assessed, in whole or in part, against the property abutting said improvements or drained by such sanitary or storm water sewers.
223. No city, town or other municipality shall make any assess- ment for the cost of sidewalks or street paving, or for the cost of the construction of any sewer against property abutting on such street or sidewalk so paved, or drained by such sewers, in excess of the increased value of such property by reason of the special benefits derived from such improvements.
224. No county shall become indebted in an amount including present indebtedness, greater than three and one-half per centim of the assessed value of the property therein; provided, this limi- tation shall not affect any existing indebtedness in excess of such three and one-half per centum, which has already been created or authorized by existing law to be created; provided, that any county which has already incurred'a debt exceeding three and one-half per centum of the assessed vale of the property therein, shall be authorized to ineur an indebtedness of one and a half per centum of the assessed value of such property in addition to the
debt already existing. Nothing herein contained shall prevent any county from issuing bonds, or other obligations, to fund or refund any indebtedness now existing or authorized by existing laws to be created.
225. No city, town or other municipal corporation having a population of less than six thousand, except as hereafter pro- vided, shall become indebted in an amount, including present indebtedness, exceeding five per centum of the assessed value of the property therein, except for the construction or purchase of water works, gas or electric lighting plants, or sewerage, or for the improvement of streets, for which purposes an additional indebtedness not exceeding three per centum may be created: provided this limitation shall not affect any debt now authorized by law to be created, nor any temporary loans to be paid within one year, made in anticipation of the collection of taxes, not exceeding one-fourth of the annual revenues of such city of town. All towns and cities having a population of six thousand or more, also Gadsden, Ensley, Decatur, and New Decatur, are hereby authorized to become indebted in an amount including present indebtedness, not exceeding seven per centum of the assessed valuation of the property therein, provided that there shall not be included in the limitation of the indebtedness, to-wit: Temporary loans, to be paid within one year, made in anticipation of the collection of taxes, and not exceeding one-fourth of the general revenues, bonds or other obligations already issued, or which may hereafter be issued for the purpose of acquiring, providing or constructirg school houses, water works and sewers; and obligations incurred and bonds issued for street or sidewalk im- provements, where the cost of the same, in whole or in part, is to be assessed against the property abutting said improvements; provided, that the proceeds of all obligations issued as herein
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provided, in exeess of said seven per centum shall not be used for . any purpose other than that for which said obligations were issued. Nothing contained in this article shall prevent the fund- ing or refunding of existing indebtedness. This section shall not apply to the cities of Sheffield and Tuscumbia.
226. No city, town or village, whose present indebtedness ex- ceeds the limitation imposed by this Constitution, shall be allowed to become indebted in any further amount, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, until such indebtedness shall be reduced within such limit; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any municipality, except the city of Gads- den, from issuing bonds already authorized by law; provided further, that this section shall not apply to the cities of Sheffield and Tuscumbia.
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