USA > Texas > The bench and bar of Texas > Part 43
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62. On the fourth Sunday in August the commissioners of the Ayuntamientos shall present themselves with their credentials to the political chief, or, in his absence, to the first alcalde of the capital of the district ; and, presided by the first or by the second, as the case may be, shall assemble in public session in the town hall ; and, after examining all the lists, they shall form a general list of all the individuals voted for as electors of the district by the citizens of each municipal district respectively, expressing the number of votes they have had and the place of their residence.
63. In order to make this general regulation of votes, the concurrence of not less than four of the commissioners is requisite. In those districts in which there is not that number, the Ayuntamiento of the capital shall name from amongst the individuals of his own body the number de- ficient.
64. The citizens who, upon the result of this general scrutiny, shall be found to have the greatest number of votes on the list, shall be considered chosen constitutionally as electors. In case of a tie between two or more candi- dates, it shall be decided by lot.
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65. The aforesaid list, and all aots relating to the business, shall be attested by the president, the commissioners, and the secretary of the Ayuntamiento of the capital of the district. Extracted copies of the one and the other au- thenticated by the same individuals shall be forwarded by the president to the permanent deputation of Congress, the Governor of the State, and the different municipalities of the district.
66. The same president shall present, without any delay, the corresponding certificate to the electors appointed, that they may go to the capital of the department on the day appointed by the Constitution, in order to celebrate the electoral assembly of the same.
PARAGRAPH SECOND - DISTRICT ELECTORAL ASSEMBLIES.
67. The electoral assemblies of the district shall be com- posed of the electors named by the citizens in the munici- pal assemblies, who shall assemble in the capital of the respective districts with a view of choosing the deputy or deputies required to assist in Congress as the representa- tives of the State.
68. Said assemblies shall be holden at the expiration of fifteen days from making the general regulation of votes mentioned in article sixty-two, the electors convening in the town halls or in the building considered most appropriate for so solemn an act, with open doors and without a guard, and no person of whatever class shall appear armed in said assemblies.
69. They shall be presided over by the police chief, and in his default, by the first alcalde of the capital of the dis- trict, commencing their sessions by choosing from their own body, by majority of vote, a secretary and two tellers ; the president shall then cause the credentials of the electors to be read, which shall be the official letters wherein they are notified of their appointment.
70. The president shall then inquire if there be any legal nullity on the part of any elector for his being such ; and should it be proved in the act that there is, the elector shall lose the right of voting. The president shall after-
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wards also inquire if any bribery, subornation, or force has been used for the election of any particular person, and should it be proved in the act that there has, the delin- quents shall be deprived of a voice, active and passive, and false accusers shall suffer the same penalty. Doubts that arise in either case shall be decided by the assembly in the manner mentioned in article fifty-six.
71. The electors present shall then immediately proceed to make choice of the deputy or deputies corresponding to the district, and they shall be elected one by one, by secret scrutiny, by means of slips which each elector shall deposit in an urn placed upon a table at the foot of a crucifix, after being sworn before the same, and by the president, that for deputies to the Congress of the State, he will give his vote for those citizens who in his opinion possess the qualifications of integrity, probity, and well known adher- ence to the cause of the national independence.
72. On conclusion of the voting, the president, tellers and secretary shall examine the votes, and the candidate who received more than one-half of the votes shall be deputy, constitutionally elected, the president declaring such election. Should no one have received the absolute majority, the two highest candidates shall be run in a second balloting. Should more than two persons have received a like respective majority, they shall all be run in the second balloting, and the same shall be done when on one has received said majority, but all an equal number of votes. In all these cases the candidate securing the majority of votes shall be elected ; should there be a tie, the balloting shall be reported once only, and should there still be a tie, it shall be decided by lot.
73. Should one individual only have received the re- spective majority, and two or more persons an equal number of votes, but greater than that of all the others, to decide which of them shall run in a second balloting with the former, there shall be a second balloting between them, and the one who should receive the most votes shall enter in competition with the candidate who received the re- spective majority. In case of a tie the balloting shall be 35
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repeated, and should there still be a tie, it shall be decided by lot. In the second balloting between the one who received the respective majority over all the candidates and his rival, the provision made in the last part of the preceding article shall be observed.
74. When one person only has received the respective majority, and all the rest an equal number of votes, to determine which of the latter shall enter in competition in a second balloting with the former, the entire provision made in the preceding article with this view, in respect to those between whom there was a tie, shall be executed ; and to determine which of the rival candidates shall be elected deputy, the provision of the last part of said article shall be observed.
75. The election of deputies proper having closed, that of the substitutes shall immediately follow in the same method and form, and the latter having also terminated, a list containing the names of all the deputies elected, signed by the secretary of the respective assembly, shall be imme- diately posted in the most public place. The electoral act shall be signed by the president and all the electors; and the former, the secretary and tellers shall forward copies, substantiated by themselves, to the permanent deputation of Congress, to the Governor of the State and to all the Ayuntamientos of the district. Said assemblies, as soon as they have performed the acts pointed out in this law, shall immediately dissolve, and any other in which they interfere shall be null, and, furthermore, reputed an offense against the public safety.
76. The president shall also seasonably dispatch the cor- responding official letter to the deputies proper and substi- tutes, accompanied by an attested copy of the act, to serve them as a credential of their election.
77. No citizen shall decline discharging, from any caus or pretext, the duties mentioned in this section.
SECTION THREE - OF THE SESSIONS OF CONGRESS.
78. The Congress shall assemble each year, to hold it- sessions in the place which shall be designated by law, and
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in the building which is destined for this object. When- ever it may be deemed convenient to change it to another place, it can be done with the accordance of two-thirds of the whole number of the deputies.
79. The deputies shall present their credentials to the permanent deputation of Congress, in order that they may examine them, by comparing them with the testimonies of the elections of the electoral assemblies of the district.
80. On the 28th day of the month of December, of the year anterior to the renovation of Congress, the newly elected deputies and the members of the permanent depu- tation shall meet in public session, and shall choose their president and secretary from the said deputation. This meeting shall report as to the legitimacy of the credentials and qualifications of the deputies, and any doubts that may arise on these points shall be definitely determined by a majority vote in this assembly; but the individuals of the permanent deputation who have not been re-elected shall not have a vote.
81. Furthermore, the deputies shall take before the presi- dent an oath that they will observe, and cause to be observed, the constitutive act and the Federal Constitution of the United States of Mexico, and the Constitution of the State, and that they will completely discharge their duties.
82. In continuation, the deputies shall then proceed to choose from amongst themselves, by secret ballot, and by an absolute plurality of votes, a president, vice-president, and two secretaries, upon which the permanent deputation shall cease in all its functions, and those of its members not re-elected, having retired, the president of Congress shall declare that it is solemnly and legitimately constituted.
83. For the celebration of the ordinary and extraordinary sessions of Congress, the deputies shall meet four days pre- vious to its organization, in the manner prescribed in the first part of article eighty, in order to resolve in the man- ner expressed in the second part of the same article upon the legitimacy of the credentials and qualifications of the new deputies who present themselves ; and having approved of them, the deputies shall immediately take the oath pre-
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scribed by article eighty-one, and shall then proceed to make nomination of president, vice-president, and secreta- ries, in the same manner as is provided in article eighty- two.
84. The Congress shall open its ordinary sessions on the first day of January in every year, and on the first day of September in each year following the renovation of the same Congress ; the Governor of the State being obliged to assist upon so important an occasion, when he shall pro- nounce a suitable discourse, which the president of Con- gress shall answer in general terms.
85. On the day after the opening of the ordinary session, the Governor shall present in person to Congress a written account of the state of the public administration, propos- ing such amendments or reforms as may be required in its different branches.
86. The session of Congress shall be held daily, without other interruption than those of solemn festivals. All the proceedings shall be public, with the exception of those requiring reserve, which may be secret.
87. The ordinary sessions of Congress, commencing on the first of January, shall continue for that month, and the . three following, February, March and April, and shall not be prorogued to any other month, except in the two follow- ing instances: first, by petition of the Governor; and secondly, if the same Congress deem it necessary - for which there must be the concurrence, in both cases, of two- thirds of the deputies. The ordinary sessions, which com- mence on the first of September, shall last thirty days of said month, and shall not be prorogued upon any motion or pretext whatever. Both sessions shall be closed with the same formalities which are prescribed for their opening.
88. Before the conclusion of the ordinary session of Con- gress there shall be appointed a deputation of that body consisting of three members proper and one substitute, which shall continue all the intervening time between one ordinary session and the other, and its president shall be the individual first appointed, and its secretary the last proprietary individual named.
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89. When in the intervening time between one ordinary session and another, circumstances or business shall occur requiring the meeting of Congress, it can be convoked in extraordinary sessions, provided it is sanctioned by the unanimous vote of two-thirds of the members of the per- manent deputation and of the council of government, which shall meet for that purpose.
90. If the circumstances or business which caused the extraordinary convocation of Congress should be very mighty and urgent, the permanent deputation, united with the council of government and the other deputies, who are in the capital, shall immediately take such necessary meas- ures as the exigencies shall require, and shall give an ac- count thereof to Congress as soon as it may meet.
91. When Congress meets in extraordinary sessions, there shall called to the same the deputies who ought to assist at the ordinary sessions of that year, and they shall be exclu- sively occupied upon the subject or subjects mentioned in the letter of convocation ; but if they have not concluded by the day on which they ought to meet in ordinary ses- sions, they shall postpone those and continue the business for which the ordinary session had been convoked.
92. The holding of the extraordinary sessions shall not. impede the election of the new deputies at the time pre- scribed in this Constitution.
93. The extraordinary sessions shall be opened and closed with the same solemnities as the ordinary sessions.
94. The resolutions which Congress may take upon the change of its residence, or the prorogations of its sessions, shall be executed by the Governor without any observations upon them.
95. The Congress, in all that belongs to its government and internal order, shall observe the regulations formed by the present Congress, having power to make reforms it may deem necessary.
96. The deputies shall be renewed totally every two years. Those of the interior Congress can be rechosen, but they can not be compelled to accept this trust unless there should be a vacancy of one-half of the deputation.
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There shall be excepted in this article the deputies of the present Congress, who can not be re-elected for the next constitutional Congress.
SECTION FOURTH - THE ATTRIBUTES OF CONGRESS.
97. The exclusive prerogatives of Congress are : First. To decree, interpret, amend and repeal the laws relating to the administration and internal government of the State in all its branches. Secondly. To regulate the votes which the citizens may have obtained in the electoral assemblies for Governor, Vice-Governor, and for members of the council of government, and to appoint those officers when ever it shall devolve upon itto do so. Thirdly. To decideby secret ballot the ties that may occur between two or more individ- uals in elections to these trusts. Fourthly. To resolve the doubts which may arise upon these elections and upon the qualifications of those elected. Fifthly. To examine the ex- cuses which the elected may allege for not accepting those stations and to determine them as it may think proper. Sixthly. To form itself into a grand jury and declare whether there are, or are not, grounds of accusation for neglect of official duty, as well as for ordinary crimes, against the deputies of Congress, the Governor, the Vice-Governor, the members of the council, the Secretary of the State and the members of the supreme tribunal of justice. Seventhly. To render effective the responsibility of these public func- tionaries, and to do in this case that which is necessary in regard to all others in public office. Eighthly. To fix every year the public expenses of the State, having in view the reports on the subject which shall be presented by the Gov- ernor. Ninthly. To establish or confirm the taxes or contri- butions necessary to meet these expenses under the regu- lations of this constitution, and that of the federation - to regulate their collection, determine their application, and approve their distribution: Tenthly. To examine and ap- prove the accounts of the application of all public funds of the State. Eleventhly. To contract debts in case of necessity upon the credit of the State and to designate the guarantee for their liquidation. Twelfthly. To decree whatever may
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be necessary for the administration, preservation and aliena- tion of the property of the State. Thirteenthly. To create, suspend or suppress the public offices of the State, and to fix, augment or diminish their salaries or pensions. Four- teenthly. To grant premiums or recompenses to corporations or persons who may have rendered distinguished services to the State, and to decree public honors to the posthumous- memory of great men. Fifteenthly. To regulate the manner of recruiting the men which may be necessary for the ser- vice, or to fill the companies of presidential militia, com- panies of cavalry, and the active militia of the same army, auxiliary to that which is destined for the defense of the State by their institution, and approve of the distribution which may be made among the towns of the State of their respective quotas, to effect this object. Sixteenthly. To de- cree that which may be necessary for the enrolling and instruction of the civic militia of the State, and the appoint ment of its officers conformably to the discipline prescribed, or which may be hereafter prescribed by general laws. Seventeenthly. To promote and encourage by laws, public information and education, and the progress of the sciences, arts, and useful establishments, removing the obstacles which may palsy objects so commendable. Eighteenthly. To protect the political liberty of the press. Nineteenthly. To intervene and give or withhold its consent to all those acts and cases for which this Constitution has provided.
98. The attributes of the permanent deputation are : First. To watch over the observance of the constitutive act, Con- stitution and general laws of the Union, and the particular ones of the State, in order to give an account to Congress of any infractions it may have observed. Second. To con- voke the Congress for extraordinary sessions in those cases, and in the manner described by this Constitution. Third. To discharge the functions which are prescribed in articles seventy-nine and eighty. Fourth. To give notice to the super- numeraries of the time when they shall come to the Congress in the place of the proprietary deputies ; and if the death or absolute inability of one or more of them should occur, to
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communicate the corresponding orders to the respective districts, in order that they may proceed to a new election. Fifth. To receive the testimonies of the acts of the elector- of the electoral district assemblies for Governor, for Vice- Governor, and members of the council of government, and to deliver them to Congress as soon as it is installed.
SECTION FIFTH - FORMATION AND PROMULGATION LAWS.
99. The form, internals, and mode of proceeding in dis- cussing and voting on projects of law or decree shall be provided in the internal rules of Congress.
100. No project of law or decree that should be rejected according to the rules shall be again proposed until the ordinary sessions of the year following; but this shall not prevent any one or more of their articles from forming a part of other projects which have not been rejected.
101. One more than the half of the entire number of deputies shall form a quorum for dictating measures and steps not possessing the character of law or decree. For discussing and voting upon projects of law or decree, and dictating orders of great importance, the concurrence of two-thirds of the members shall be required.
102. Should a project of law or decree, after being dis- cussed, be approved it shall be communicated to the Governor, who, should he also approve it, shall immedi- ately proceed to promulgate and circulate the same with the corresponding formalities ; but should he not, he may make thereon such observations as he may deem proper, pre- viously hearing the counsel, and shall return the same, with his remarks, to Congress within ten available days, reckoned from its reception.
103. The projects of law or decree returned by the Gov- ernor, according to the preceding article, shall be discussed the second time, and the public speaker, whom the executive should designate, may attend the discussion. Should they be approved by two-thirds of the members present in this second discussion they shall be again communicated to the Governor, who, without objecting, shall immediately pro-
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ceed to their formal promulgation and circulation; but should the said projects not be approved in this form they can not be again proposed until the session of the year following.
104. Should any project of law or decree not be returned by the Governor within the time assigned in article one hundred and two it shall be considered from that very fact as sanctioned, and shall be promulgated accordingly, unless Congress should have closed or suspended its sessions for that term, in which case it shall be returned on the first day of the next session.
105. Laws shall be repealed with the same formalities, and by the same steps as they are established.
ELECTION OF DEPUTIES TO THE GENERAL CONGRESS.
106. The electoral district assemblies, on the same day, and in the same method, as they are required to perform the election of deputies to the State Congress, shall pro- ceed to elect the individuals who are to choose the deputies to the General Congress, choosing, for every seven thousand souls, one person possessing the qualifications required by article fifty-three of this Constitution. In districts wherein there proves to be an excess of population of more than three thousand five hundred souls, for this fraction another elec- tor shall be chosen, and in those of which the population does not amount to seven thousand, one shall be chosen notwithstanding. The election having closed said juntas shall forward a certified copy of their act to the Vice-Gov- ernor of the State, and also a corresponding attested copy to each person elected, to serve him as a credential.
107. The electors thus chosen shall repair to the capital of the State, where they shall present themselves to the Vice-Governor, or person acting in his stead, and convening under the presidence of either, three days previous to the first Sunday of October, in public session, in the building they consider the most appropriate, they shall choose from among themselves two tellers and a secretary that they may examine the credentials, and report on the day following
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whether or not they are in conformity to law. A committee of three persons shall likewise be appointed, to examine the credentials of the secretary and tellers.
108. On the following day they shall again assemble, the minutes shall be read, and should any defect be found in the credentials or qualifications of the electors, the meeting shall decide without adjourning, and the resolutions thereof shall be carried into effect without appeal, for that time and case only, it being understood that the doubt can not turn upon any provision in this or any other law.
109. On the first Sunday of the aforementioned month of October, the electors having convened, and one more than half of them all being present, they shall proceed in the form provided by this Constitution for the election of deputies to the State Congress, to the election of those who are to represent the State in the General Congress. This having been concluded, the meeting shall make the proper provision for complying with article seventeen of the Federal Constitution, and it shall then dissolve.
TITLE II .:
EXECUTIVE POWER OF THE STATE.
SECTION FIRST - THE GOVERNOR.
110. The Governor of the State shall possess the follow- ing qualifications at the time of his election : First. He shall be a citizen in the exercise of his rights. Second. Born in the territory of the Republic. Third. Thirty years of age complete. Fourth. An inhabitant of this State, having resided five years therein, two of which immediately pre- ceded the election.
111. Ecclesiastics, military and other officers of the Republic, in actual service, can not obtain the office of Governor.
112. The Governor of the State shall continue four years in the discharge of his office, and can not be re-elected to the same office, except in the fourth year after having ceased the functions of his office.
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113. The prerogatives of the Governor, his attributes, and the restrictions of his powers, shall be as follows : -
PREROGATIVES OF THE GOVERNOR. -
First. The Governor may make observations upon the laws and decrees of Congress in the manner and form pre- scribed by article one hundred and two, suspending their publication until said Congress resolves thereon, unless in cases excepted by this Constitution. Second. He may pro- pose to Congress such laws or amendments as he thinks conducive to the general good of the State. Third. He may pardon delinquents conformably to law. Fourth. He can- not be accused for any crime whatever, committed during his term of office, and one year after, reckoned from the date whereon he ceased in his functions, except before Congress, and after the expiration of that time, not even before Congress.
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