rent year shall not then have been completed and filed, and on which, if such property be personal only, all taxes due shall have been paid. The applicant for registration under this section shall make oath before the registration officer or his deputy, that he is a citizen of the United States and of this State, over the age of twenty-one years; that he possesses the qualifications prescribed in section one of this article, and that he is the owner of property assessed in this State to him at a valuation of not less than three hundred dollars, and if such property be personal only, that all taxes due thereon have been paid.

[Right to Vote Because of Ancestry, etc.]

Sec. 5. No male person who was on January 1st, 1867, or at any date prior thereto, entitled to vote under the Constitution or statutes of any State of the United States, wherein he then resided, and no son or grandson of any such person not less than twenty-one years of age at the date of the adoption of this Constitution, and no male person of foreign birth, who was naturalized prior to the first day of January, 1898, shall be denied the right to register and vote in this State by reason of his failure to possess the educational or property qualification prescribed by this Constitution; provided, he shall have resided in this State for five years next preceding the date at which he shall apply for registration, and shall have registered in accordance with the terms of this article prior to September 1, 1898, and no person shall be entitled to register under this section after said date.

[Application and Oath Under This Clause.]

A separate registration of voters applying under this section, shall be made by the registration officer of every parish, and for this purpose the registration officer of every parish shall keep his office open daily, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, from May 16th, 1898, until August 31st, 1898, both included, during the hours prescribed by Act No. 89 of the General Assembly of 1896. In every parish, except the parish of Orleans, he shall keep his office at the courthouse at least during the months of May, June, and August, and during the month of July, he shall keep it for at least one day at or near each polling place, giving thirty days' notice thereof by publication.

[Same Subject-Permanent List, etc.]

The registration of voters under this section shall close on the 31st day of August, 1898, and immediately thereafter the registration officer of every parish shall make a sworn copy, in duplicate, of the list of persons registered under this section, showing in detail whether the applicant registered as a voter of 1867, or prior thereto, or as the son of such voter, or as the grandson of such voter, and deposit one of said duplicates in the office of the Secretary of State, to be by him recorded and preserved as a part of the permanent records of his office, and the other of said duplicates shall be by him filed in the office of the Clerk of the District Court of the parish, and in the parish of Orleans, in the office of the Recorder of Mortgages, there to remain a permanent record.

[Close of Registration Lists for Such Persons.]

All persons whose names appear on said registration lists shall be admitted to register for all elections in this State without possessing the educational or property qualification prescribed by this Constitution, unless otherwise disqualified, and all persons who do not by personal application claim exemption from the provision of sections 3 and 4 of this article before September 1st, 1898, shall be forever denied the right to do so.

[Duty of Legislature to Provide for Subsequent, etc., Registration.]

The Legislature shall, at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, provide the manner in which persons whose names appear upon said registration lists shall hereafter register, which mode may be different from that required for persons registering under the other sections of this article; and shall also provide a remedy whereby subsequently to the close of said registration on August 31st, 1898, the names of any persons who may have obtained registration under this section by false statements of fact or other fraud, shall by appropriate proceedings be stricken from said roll.

[Qualification of Voters-Poll Tax.]

Art. 198. No person less than sixty years of age shall be permitted to vote at any election in this State who shall not,

in addition to the qualifications above prescribed, have paid on or before the 31st day of December, of each year, for the two years preceding the year in which he offers to vote, a poll tax of one dollar per annum, to be used exclusively in aid of the public schools of the parish in which such tax shall have been collected; which tax is hereby imposed on every male resident of this State between the age of twenty-one and sixty years. Poll taxes shall be a lien only upon assessed property, and no process shall issue to enforce the collection of the same except against assessed property.

Const., 1898, Art. 231; See acts printed under title "Revenue and Taxation,'' sub title "Poll Tax,” p. 1618.

[Exhibition of Poll Tax Receipt, etc.-Penalty for Altering Them, etc.-Exemption of Certain Persons, etc.]

Every person liable for such tax shall, before being allowed to vote, exhibit to the Commissioners of Election his poll tax receipts for two years, issued on the official form, or duplicates thereof, in the event of loss, or proof of payment of such poll taxes may be made by a certificate of the tax collector, which shall be sent to the Commissioners of the several voting precincts, showing a list of those who have paid said two years' poll taxes as above provided, and the dates of payment. It is hereby declared to be forgery, and punishable as such, for any tax collector or other person, to antedate, or alter, a poll tax receipt. 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 punished accordingly. The provisions of this section as to the payment of poll taxes shall not apply to persons who are deaf and dumb, or blind, nor to persons under twenty-three years of age, who have paid all poll taxes assessed against them. This section shall not go into operation until after the general State election to be held in the year 1900, and the Legislature elected in the year 1908 shall have authority to repeal or modify the same.

[Qualification of Voters at Municipal, etc., Elections-Women Taxpayers May Vote at Such Elections.]

Art. 199. Upon all questions submitted to the taxpayers, as such, of any municipal or other political subdivision of this

State, the qualifications of such taxpayers as voters shall be, those of age and residence prescribed by this article, and women taxpayers shall have the right to vote at all such elections, without registration, in person or by their agents, authorized in writing; but all other persons voting at such elections shall be registered voters.

[At Primary Elections Only Registered Voters May VoteRepresentation in Political Conventions.]

Art. 200. No person shall vote at any primary election or in any convention or other political assembly held for the purpose of nominating any candidate for public office, unless he is at the time a registered voter. And in all political conventions in this State the apportionment of representation shall be on the basis of population.

[Right of Persons Denied Registration to Appeal to Courts.]

Art. 201. Any person possessing the qualifications prescribed by Section 3 or 4 of Article 197 of this Constitution, who may be denied registration, shall have the right to apply for relief to the District Court having jurisdiction of civil causes for the parish in which he offers to register, and the party cast in said suit shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court; and any citizen of the State shall have a like right to apply to said courts, to have stricken off any names illegally placed on said registration rolls under Sections 3 and 4 of Article 197, and such applications and appeal shall be tried by said courts by preference, in open court or at chambers. The General Assembly shall provide by law for such applications and appeals without cost, and for the prosecution of all persons charged with illegal or fraudulent registration or voting, or any other crime or offense against the registration or election or primary election laws.

[Persons Not Entitled to Register, Vote, Hold Office, etc.]

Art. 202. The following persons shall not be permitted to register, vote or hold any office or appointment of honor, trust or profit in this State, to-wit: Those who have been convicted of any crime punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, and not afterwards pardoned with express restoration of fran

chise; those who are inmates of any charitable institution, except the Soldiers' Home; those actually confined in any public prison; all interdicted persons, and all persons notoriously insane or idiotic, whether interdicted or not.

Const., 1845, Title VI, Art. 92; Const., 1852, Title VI, Art. 93; Const., 1864, Title 93; Const., 1868, Title VI, Art. 99; Const., 1879, Art. 187.

[Methods of Voting.]

Art. 203. In all elections by the people the electors shall vote by ballot, and the ballots cast shall be publicly counted. In all elections by persons in a representative capacity, the vote shall be viva-voce.

Const., 1812, Art. VI, Sec. 13; Const., 1845, Title II, Art. 101; Const., 1852, Title VI, Art. 98; Const., 1864, Title VII, Art. 100; Const., 1868, Title VI, Art. 107; Const., 1879, Art. 194.

See title "Elections," p. 687.

[Privilege of Electors From Arrest-Exception.]

Art. 204. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections, and in going to and returning from the same.

Const., 1845, Title II, Art. 10; Const., 1852, Title II, Art. 10; Const., 1864, Title III, Art. 16; Const., 1868, Title II, Art. 24; Const., 1879, Art. 189.

[General Assembly to Enact Laws Prohibiting Sale, etc., of Intoxicating Liquors on Election Days, etc.]

Art. 205. The General Assembly shall by law forbid the giving or selling of intoxicating drinks, on the day of any election, or primary election, within one mile of any polling place.

Const., 1879, Art. 190. See Act 152, 1898, Sec. 20, p. 693.

[When Elections Shall Be Held.]

Art. 206. Until otherwise provided by law, the general State election shall be held once every four years on the Tuesday next following the third Monday in April.

Presidential electors and members of Congress shall be chosen or elected in the manner and at the time prescribed by law.

Const., 1879, Art. 191.