the county, riding, parts, or division, as also by a notice to be fixed in some public and conspicuous situation at the principal place of election for the county, and to be given [put up] three days at the least before the commencement of his circuit, that he will make a circuit of the county, riding, parts, or division for which he shall be so appointed, and the notice must specify the several times and places at which he will hold courts for that purpose, such times being between the 15th day of September inclusive, and the 25th day of October inclusive in every year, in which he will be directed by the abstract required to be furnished to him for that purpose by the clerk of the peace.

S. 41.

Notice of cir

cuit, and time

and places of holding courts

Where more than one barrister shall be appointed Sitting of revising Barrisfor the revisal of the lists for the same county, ters. riding, part, or divison of a county, the Statute requires that they shall attend together at the same time and place, and that they shall hold their courts simultaneously, but severally, at such same place; in other words, they are to sit at one and the same time and place, but not together.

SECTION 4.

Revising Barrister's first Court for Counties.

Officers at

At the commencement of the first public sitting s. XLII. by each revising Barrister, or in the more digni- tending courts fying language of the Statute, at the opening of the of revisal. first court to be held by him for his particular Clerk of the county, or part of county, the clerk of the peace is required to produce or cause to be produced before revising Bar

peace to produce lists of voters before

rister.

S. 40.

Overseers of parishes to attend, &c.

Examination of overseers.

S. XLIII.

him, the several lists of voters for the same county, &c. received by him from the overseers through the high constable of the hundred, and to lay such lists before the Barrister for revision.

The overseers of each parish and township who made the lists of voters, are also required at the same time to attend the court and deliver to the barrister a copy of the lists of persons objected to, as made out by such overseers.

It is then provided that the overseers shall answer upon oath questions put by the barrister.

This seems obviously to imply that the barrister is to examine the overseers strictly as to the due performance of their duty, and the result. This, therefore, is an imperative and important part of his duty. In order to check the statements of the overseers, the reviser should have the assessor, or other officers having custody of the duplicates, or tax assessments, and the overseers having custody of the poor's rate, present before them with those assessments and rates ready to produce to him in court, according to the power given to him by the 51st Section of the Statute.

Omissions, by overseers, from the lists of voters for knights of the shire, it should appear, are first to be disposed of, on proof of due notice of claim given.

Where the overseer has not objected, it may perhaps be taken that he has no knowledge of cause of objection. He will, of course, be able to say whether many acts within his own local and personal means of information necessary to give the right of voting have been satisfied, as residence, &c.

There may be various causes of objection within the knowledge of the overseer at the time when he is attending the Barrister's Court, of which he was not aware, or which did not exist when in the earlier stage of his duty he would have been required to make a marginal note of objection on the lists which he had made.

This will be the object of some of the earliest of the questions which the revising barrister should put to the overseer, in order to prepare himself for the discussion of objections and claims.

SECTION 5.

Objections by Electors, and Adjudication thereon.

The next duty of the barrister revising the lists, Investigation of objections. according to the order of proceeding to be implied from the collocation of progressive duties adopted by the 42d clause of the statute, will be to examine the list of objections, and cite the party objecting to support and make good his objection, either in person or by proxy. He must then require it to be proved to his satisfaction, that the person objected to was entitled on the last day of the preceding July to have his name inserted in the list of voters in respect of the very qualification therein described.

proof of right

claimant.

This requisition of the Act involves three propo- Onus of sitions. The onus of proof is thrown, by the fact of to vote lies on the objection made, on the voter to prove his claim; he must also prove it to be supported by and What he is to grounded on the particular qualification expressed in the list, which will have been transcribed from

prove.

Objector then to substantiate objection.

Future

ground of objection.

his own notice; and, lastly, that it was a subsisting, valid, unobjectionable, and perfected qualification on the last day of July, so as to give him a title then to be inserted in the list.

The qualification having been fully proved to the satisfaction of the revising Barrister, the person who has to sustain his objection to the claimant's right to vote may then prove that the claimant was not entitled then to be inserted in the list, or that he was then, or has since become either personally or legally incapacitated by some law or statute from voting.*

It will in aftertimes probably become a frequent source of successful objection, that the voter, though qualified, is not qualified as registered; or that though so qualified, he is no longer resident as there described, having since changed his place of abode; and in either case he is no longer entitled to vote until he shall have made fresh claim to be registered anew. [S. 37. (Prov.)]

*See chapter on incapacity and incompetency to vote.

It would perhaps be an advantageous amendment, that the reviser of the lists should be required to state the short nature or at least general ground of the objection, and reason of his decision with reference to the right of petitioning,—as whether the claim or objection were allowed or disallowed by reason of property or competency, qualification or registration, and whether the determination was founded on proof or absence of proof, on fact or on law, all of which may be done in three words, thus-Freehold not proved, or disproved-House in Borough— unsound mind-Collector of Customs, &c. &c.-not registrable (rates not paid), or on any other of the several objections to competency enumerated, distinguishing the ground of qualification from that of registration.

Retainer of names.

It is the duty of the reviser to retain on the lists s. XLII. the names of all persons who have not been objected to by any persons other than overseers entitled to object to the retainer of names; and also the names of all persons against whom the objectors do not appear, or if the objections made have not been supported by proof, where the objector attends or appears to substantiate them, and fails.

names.

If the objecting party establish his objection, or s. XLII. Expunging the claimant do not support his claim by evidence, it then becomes the duty of the revising barrister, after notice given to the party, or left at his place of abode, or delivered to his tenant, to strike out, or, as it is termed in the 42d and 50th Sections of the Act, expunge the claimant's name from the list, and place his initials in the margin of the list against the rejected name. By this act of expunging, whatever it is, or in whatever manner it is to be performed whether by line drawn through it, or by the word expunged written against it, the name will be made to appear to have been improperly inserted.

persons since

The reviser of the list will next have to inquire Names of and ascertain whether any of the persons whose dead to be expunged names have been enlisted are since dead, and he from lists. must mark and obscribe with his initials the names of all such persons upon the list.

SECTION 6.

Correcting Mistakes in supplying Omissions of matter

from County Lists.

There is a special power given by the 42d Sec- s. XLII. Correcting tion of the Act to the reviser during his revisal, but mistakes in