[United States Senate Manual, 117th Congress]
[S. Doc. 117-1]
[Cleaves Manual of Conferences and Conference Reports]
[Pages 321-323]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                               TITLE 3--THE PRESIDENT

            
                   Chapter 1--PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES

       318  Sec. 5. Determination of controversy as to appointment of 
                electors
                If any State shall have provided, by laws enacted prior 
            to the day fixed for the appointment of the electors, for 
            its final determination of any controversy or contest 
            concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of 
            such State, by judicial or other methods or procedures, and 
            such determination shall have been made at least six days 
            before the time fixed for the meeting of the electors, such 
            determination made pursuant to such law so existing on said 
            day, and made at least six days prior to said time of 
            meeting of the electors, shall be conclusive, and shall 
            govern in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in 
            the Constitution, and as hereinafter regulated, so far as 
            the ascertainment of the electors appointed by such State is 
            concerned. (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 Stat. 673.)
       319  Sec. 6. Credentials of electors; transmission to Archivist 
                of the United States and to Congress; public inspection
                It shall be the duty of the executive of each State, as 
            soon as practicable after the conclusion of the appointment 
            of the electors in such State by the final ascertainment, 
            under and in pursuance of the laws of such State providing 
            for such ascertainment, to communicate by registered mail 
            under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the United 
            States a certificate of such ascertainment of the electors 
            appointed, setting forth the names of such electors and the 
            canvass or other ascertainment under the laws of such State 
            of the number of votes given or cast for each person for 
            whose appointment any and all votes have been given or cast; 
            and it shall also thereupon be the duty of the executive of 
            each State to deliver to the electors of such State, on or 
            before the day on which they are required by section 7 of 
            this title to meet, six duplicate-originals of the same 
            certificate under the seal of the State; and if there shall 
            have been any final determination in a State in the manner 
            provided for by law of a controversy or contest concerning 
            the appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, 
            it shall be the duty of the executive of such State, as soon 
            as practicable after such determination, to communicate 
            under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the United 
            States a certificate of such determination in form and 
            manner as the same shall have been made; and the certificate 
            or certificates so received by the Archivist of the United 
            States shall be preserved by him for one year and shall be a 
            part of the public records of his office and shall be open 
            to public inspection; and the Archivist of the United States 
            at the first meeting of Congress thereafter shall transmit 
            to the two Houses of Congress copies in full of each and 
            every such certificate so received at the National Archives 
            and Records Administration. (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 62 
            Stat. 673; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, Sec. 6, 65 Stat. 711; 
            Pub. L. 98-497, Title I, Sec. 107(e)(1), (2)(A), Oct. 19, 
            1984, 98 Stat. 2291.)

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       320  Sec. 15. Counting electoral votes in Congress
                Congress shall be in session on the sixth day of January 
            succeeding every meeting of the electors. The Senate and 
            House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House 
            of Representatives at the hour of 1 o'clock in the afternoon 
            on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their 
            presiding officer. Two tellers shall be previously appointed 
            on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House 
            of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are 
            opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates 
            and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral 
            votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened, 
            presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the 
            States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, 
            having then read the same in the presence and hearing of the 
            two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall 
            appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been 
            ascertained and counted according to the rules in this 
            subchapter provided, the result of the same shall be 
            delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall 
            thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement 
            shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if 
            any, elected President and Vice President of the United 
            States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered 
            on the Journals of the two Houses. Upon such reading of any 
            such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall 
            call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made 
            in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and 
            without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by 
            at least one Senator and one Member of the House of 
            Representatives before the same shall be received. When all 
            objections so made to any vote or paper from a State shall 
            have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon 
            withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the 
            Senate for its decision; and the Speaker of the House of 
            Representatives shall, in like manner, submit such 
            objections to the House of Representatives for its decision; 
            and no electoral vote or votes from any State which shall 
            have been regularly given by electors whose appointment has 
            been lawfully certified to according to section 6 of this 
            title from which but one return has been received shall be 
            rejected, but the two Houses concurrently may reject the 
            vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have 
            not been so regularly given by electors whose appointment 
            has been so certified. If more than one return or paper 
            purporting to be a return from a State shall have been 
            received by the President of the Senate, those votes, and 
            those only, shall be counted which shall have been regularly 
            given by the electors who are shown by the determination 
            mentioned in section 5 of this title to have been appointed, 
            if the determination in said section provided for shall have 
            been made, or by such successors or substitutes, in case of 
            a vacancy in the board of electors so ascertained, as have 
            been appointed to fill such vacancy in the mode provided by 
            the laws of the State; but in case there shall arise the 
            question which of two or more of such State authorities 
            determining what electors have been appointed, as mentioned 
            in section 5 of this title, is the lawful tribunal of such 
            State, the votes regularly given of those electors, and 
            those only, of such State shall be counted whose title as 
            electors the two Houses, acting separately, shall 
            concurrently decide is supported by the decision of such 
            State so authorized by its law; and in such case of more 
            than one return or paper purporting

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            to be a return from a State, if there shall have been no 
            such determination of the question in the State aforesaid, 
            then those votes, and those only, shall be counted which the 
            two Houses shall concurrently decide were cast by lawful 
            electors appointed in accordance with the laws of the State, 
            unless the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently 
            decide such votes not to be the lawful votes of the legally 
            appointed electors of such State. But if the two Houses 
            shall disagree in respect of the counting of such votes, 
            then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose 
            appointment shall have been certified by the executive of 
            the State, under the seal thereof, shall be counted. When 
            the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again 
            meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the 
            decision of the questions submitted. No votes or papers from 
            any other State shall be acted upon until the objections 
            previously made to the votes or papers from any State shall 
            have been finally disposed of.  (June 25, 1948, ch. 644, 
            Sec. 1, 62 Stat. 675.)
       321  Sec. 16. Same; seats for officers and Members of two Houses 
                in joint meeting
                At such joint meeting of the two Houses seats shall be 
            provided as follows: For the President of the Senate, the 
            Speaker's chair; for the Speaker, immediately upon his left; 
            the Senators, in the body of the Hall upon the right of the 
            presiding officer; for the Representatives, in the body of 
            the Hall not provided for the Senators; for the tellers, 
            Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of 
            Representatives, at the Clerk's desk; for the other officers 
            of the two Houses, in front of the Clerk's desk and upon 
            each side of the Speaker's platform. Such joint meeting 
            shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes 
            shall be completed and the result declared; and no recess 
            shall be taken unless a question shall have arisen in regard 
            to counting any such votes, or otherwise under this 
            subchapter, in which case it shall be competent for either 
            House, acting separately, in the manner hereinbefore 
            provided, to direct a recess of such House not beyond the 
            next calendar day, Sunday excepted, at the hour of 10 
            o'clock in the forenoon. But if the counting of the 
            electoral votes and the declaration of the result shall not 
            have been completed before the fifth calendar day next after 
            such first meeting of the two Houses, no further or other 
            recess shall be taken by either House.  (June 25, 1948, ch. 
            644, Sec. 1, 62 Stat. 676.)
       322  Sec. 17. Same; limit of debate in each House
                When the two Houses separate to decide upon an objection 
            that may have been made to the counting of any electoral 
            vote or votes from any State, or other question arising in 
            the matter, each Senator and Representative may speak to 
            such objection or question five minutes, and not more than 
            once; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours it 
            shall be the duty of the presiding officer of each House to 
            put the main question without further debate.  (June 25, 
            1948, ch. 644, Sec. 1, 62 Stat. 676.)
       323  Sec. 18. Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting
                While the two Houses shall be in meeting as provided in 
            this chapter, the President of the Senate shall have power 
            to preserve order; and no debate shall be allowed and no 
            question shall be put by the presiding officer except to 
            either House on a motion to withdraw.  (June 25, 1948, ch. 
            644, Sec. 1, 62 Stat. 676; Sept. 3, 1954, ch. 1263, Sec. 3, 
            68 Stat. 1227.)
                   5 u.s.c.--government organization and employees

                   united states senate procedures enacted in law