ARTICLE VII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1838.) A sheriff shall be appointed in each county, by the electors therein, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law, who shall hold his office for three years, removable by the General Assembly, and shall become bound with sufficient sureties to the Treasurer of the State, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. ARTICLE VIII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1845.) Every white male citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, who shall have resided in this State for a term of one year next preceding, and in the town in which he may offer himself to be admitted to the privileges of an elector, at least six months next preceding the time he may so offer himself, and shall sustain a good moral character, shall, on his taking such oath as may be prescribed by law, be an elector. ARTICLE IX. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1850.) The Judges of Probate shall be appointed by the electors residing in the several probate districts, and qualified to vote for Representatives therein, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. ARTICLE X. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1850.) The Justices of the Peace for the several towns in this State. shall be appointed by the electors in such towns; and the time and manner of their election, the number for each town, and the period for which they shall hold their offices, shall be prescribed by law. ARTICLE XI. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1855.) Every person shall be able to read any article of the Constitution or any section of the Statutes of this State before being admitted an elector,10 ARTICLE XII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1856.) The Judges of the Supreme Court of Errors, and of the Superior Court, appointed in the year 1855, and thereafter, shall hold their offices for the term of eight years, but may be removed by impeachment; and the Governor shall also remove them on the address of two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly. No Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors or of the Superior Court shall be capable of holding office after he shall arrive at the age of seventy years. ARTICLE XIII.* (ADOPTED AUGUST, 1864.) [Every elector of this State, who shall be in the military service of the United States, either as a drafted person or volunteer. during the present rebellion, shall, when absent from this State because of such service, have the same right to vote in any election of State officers. Representatives in Congress, and electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, as he would have if present, at the time appointed for such election, in the town in Altered by amendment of 1886. Altered by amendments of 1855, 1876 and 1897. Altered by amendments of 1855 and 1897. Altered by amendment of 1876. 19 Altered by amendments of 1876 and 1897. *Now inoperative. which he resided at the time of his enlistment into such service. This provision shall, in no case, extend to persons in the regular army of the United States, and shall cease and become inoperative and void, upon the termination of the present war. The General Assembly shall prescribe, by law, in what manner and at what time, the votes of electors absent from this State, in the military service of the United States, shall be received, counted, returned and canvassed.] ARTICLE XIV. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1873.) All annual and special sessions of the General Assembly shall, on and after the first Wednesday of May, A. D. 1875, be held at Hartford; but the person administering the office of Governor may, in case of special emergency, convene said Assembly at any other place in this State. ARTICLE XV. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1874.) The House of Representatives shall consist of electors residing in towns from which they are elected. Every town which now contains, or hereafter shall contain a population of five thousand, shall be entitled to send two representatives, and every other one shall be entitled to its present representation in the General Assembly. The population of each town shall be determined by the enumeration made under the authority of the census of the United States, next before the election of Representatives is held. ARTICLE XVI. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1875.) SECTION 1. A general election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Comptroller, and members of the General Assembly, shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and annually thereafter, for such officers as are herein and may be hereafter prescribed11 SEC. 2. The State officers above named and the Senators from those districts having even numbers elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and those elected biennially thereafter on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, shall respectively hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January. The Senators from those districts having odd numbers elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, shall hold their offices for one year from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of January, 1877; the electors residing in the senatorial districts having odd numbers shall, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1877, and biennially thereafter, elect Senators who shall hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January. The Representatives elected from the several towns on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and those elected annually thereafter, shall hold their offices for one year from and after the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January.12 SEC. 3. There shall be a stated session of the General Assembly in Hartford on the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877, and annually12 thereafter on the Wednesday after the first Monday of January. SEC. 4. The persons who shall be severally elected to the State offices and General Assembly on the first Monday of April, 1876, shall hold such offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877. Altered by amendment of 1884. SEC. 5. The General Assembly elected in April, 1876, shall have power to pass such laws as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this amendment. ARTICLE XVII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1875.) The General Assembly shall have power, by a vote of two-thirds of the members of both branches. to restore the privileges of an elector to those who may have forfeited the same by a conviction of crime. ARTICLE XVIII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1876.) In case a new town shall hereafter be incorporated, such new town shall not be entitled to a Representative in the General Assembly unless it has at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants, and unless the town from which the major portion of its territory is taken has also at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants; but until such towns shall each have at least twenty-five hundred inhabitants, such new town shall. for the purpose of representation in the General Assembly, be attached to, aml be deemed to be a part of, the town from which the major portion of its territory is taken, and it shall be an election district of such town for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives. ARTICLE XIX. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1876.) The provisions of Section 2, Article IV of the Constitution, and of the amendments thereto, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to all elections held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and annually thereafter. ARTICLE XX. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1876.) Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas, and of the District Courts, shall be appointed for terms of four years. Judges of the City Courts and Police Courts shall be appointed for terms of two years. ARTICLE XXI. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1876.) Judges of Probate shall be elected by the electors residing in their respective districts on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876. and biennially thereafter. Those persons elected Judges of Probate on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and those elected biennially thereafter, shall hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday after the first Monday of the next succeeding January. Those persons elected Judges of Probate on the first Monday of April, 1876, shall hold their offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877. ARTICLE XXII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1876.) The compensation of members of the General Assembly shall not exceed three hundred dollars per annum, and one mileage each way for each session. at the rate of twenty-five cents per mile.13 ARTICLE XXIII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1876.) That Article VIII of the amendments to the Constitution be amended by erasing the word "white" from the first line. "Altered by amendments of 1884 and 1915. ARTICLE XXIV. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1877.) Neither the General Assembly, nor any County, City, Borough, Town or School District, shall have power to pay or grant any extra compensation to any public officer, employee, agent, or servant, or increase the compensation of any public officer or employee, to take effect during the continuance in office of any person whose salary might be increased thereby, or increase the pay or compensation of any public contractor above the amount specified in the contract. ARTICLE XXV. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1877.) No County. City, Town, Borough, or other municipality, shall ever subscribe to the capital stock of any railroad corporation, or become a purchaser of the bonds, or make donation to, or loan its credit, directly or indirectly, in aid of any such corporation; but nothing herein contained shall affect the validity of any bonds or debts incurred under existing laws, nor be construed to prohibit the General Assembly from authorizing any Town or City to protect by additional appropriations of money or credit any railroad debt contracted prior to the adoption of this amendment. ARTICLE XXVI. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1880.) The Judges of the Supreme Court of Errors and of the Superior Court shall, upon nomination of the Governor, be appointed by the General Assembly in such manner as shall by law be prescribed. ARTICLE XXVII. SECTION 1. A general election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor. Secretary, Treasurer, Comptroller, and members of the General Assembly shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1886, and biennially thereafter, for such officers as are herein and inay be hereafter prescribed. SEC. 2. The State officers above named, and members of the General Assembly elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1886, and those elected biennially thereafter, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, shall hold their respective offices from the Wednesday following the first Monday of the next succeeding January until the Wednesday after the first Monday of the third succeeding January, and until their successors are duly qualified. SEC. 3. The compensation of members of the General Assembly shall not exceed three hundred dollars for the term for which they are elected, and one mileage each way for the regular session at the rate of twenty-five cents per mile; they shall also receive one mileage at the same rate for attending any extra session called by the Governor, 14 SEC. 4. The regular sessions of the General Assembly shall commence on the Wednesday following the first Monday of the January next 'succeeding the election of its members. SEC. 5. The Senators elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1885, shall hold their offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1887. ARTICLE XXVIII. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1886.) Sheriff's shall be elected in the several counties on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1886, and quadrennially thereafter for the term of four years, commencing on the first day of June following their election. 14 Altered by Amendment of 1915. *། ARTICLE XXIX. (ADOPTED OCTOBER, 1897.) Every person shall be able to read in the English language any article of the Constitution or any section of the Statutes of this State before being admitted an elector. ARTICLE XXX. In the election for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Comptroller, and Attorney-General, the person found by the General Assembly, in the manner provided in the fourth article of the Constitution of this State, to have received the greatest number of votes for each of said offices respectively, shall be declared by said Assembly to be elected. But if two or more persons shall be found to have an equal and the greatest number of votes for any of said offices, then the General Assembly, on the second day of its session, by joint ballot of both houses, shall proceed without debate to choose said officer from a list of the names of the persons found to have an equal and greatest number of votes for said office. ARTICLE XXXI. SECTION 1. From and after the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1905, the Senate shall be composed of not less than twenty-four and not more than thirty-six members, who shall be elected at the electors' meetngs held biennially on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. SEC. 2. The General Assembly which shall be held on the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1903, shall divide the State into senatorial districts, as hereinafter provided: the number of such districts shall not be ess than twenty-four nor more than thirty-six, and each district shall elect only one Senator. The districts shall always be composed of contiguous territory, and in forming them regard shall be had to population in the several districts, that the same may be as nearly equal as possible under the limitations of this amendment. Neither the whole or a part of one county shall be joined to the whole or a part of another county to form a district, and no town shall be divided, unless for the purpose of forming more than one district wholly within such town, and each county shall have at least one Senator. The districts, when established as hereinafter provided, shall continue the same until the session of the General Assembly next after the completion of the next census of the United States, which General Assembly shall have power to alter the same, if found necessary to preserve a proper equality of population in each district, but only in accordance with the principles above recited after which said districts shall not be altered, nor the number of Senators altered, except at a session of the General Assembly next after the completion of a census of the United States, and then only in accordance with the principles hereinbefore provided. ARTICLE XXXII. Each town shall, annually, or biennially, as the electors of the town may determine, elect selectmen and such officers of local police as the laws may prescribe. ARTICLE XXXIII Voting machines or other mechanical devices for voting may be used in all elections in this state, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law; provided, however, that the right of secret voting shall be preserved. |