Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1907, (In two parts), Part II

File No. 79/131–132.

Ambassador Riddle to the Secretary of State.

[Extract.]

American Embassy,
St. Petersburg, July 27, 1907.

No. 72.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a translation of the new election law which will govern the elections to the third Douma.

I have, etc.,

J. W. Riddle.

[Inclosure.—Translation.]

the new electoral law.

Chapter First.—General Regulations.

• Article 1. The elections to the imperial Duma are effected: (1) In the provinces and districts indicated in articles 2–4 of the present regulations, and (2) in the cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, likewise in Warsaw, Kieff, Lodz, Odessa, and Riga.
• Art. 2. The elections in the provinces administered by general institutions, as well as in the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk, also in the Don District and the cities of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kieff, Odessa, and Riga are effected in the manner indicated in article 6 and following of the present regulations.
• Art. 3. The elections to the imperial Duma from the provinces and cities of the kingdom of Poland, from the provinces of Yenissei and Irkutsk, as well as from the orthodox population of the provinces of Lublin and Siedlits and from the Military Cossacks of the Oural take place in accordance with the instructions indicated in the election regulations of 1906 (collection of Laws, vol. 1, pt. 2).
• Remark.—There are no elections of members for the Duma of the Empire from the city of Irkutsk. The persons possessing the right to vote in the city of Irkutsk form a general meeting of the city electors, together with those of the district of Irkutsk. The number of electors from the meetings of the province of Irkutsk is limited in accordance with the list attached to this article.
• Art. 4. The elections to the imperial Duma in the districts and provinces of the Caucasian region, also in the Amur, Litoral, and Transbaikal districts, as well as among the Russian population of the provinces of Vilna and Kovno and of the city of Warsaw, take effect in accordance with special conditions, attached to these regulations.
• Art. 5. The number of members of the imperial Duma, according to provinces, districts, and cities, is determined in a list attached to this article.
• Art. 6. The election of members of the imperial Duma, according to provinces and districts (art 1, par. 1), takes place at the provincial election assembly. This assembly is organized under the presidency of the chief of the nobles of the province, or the person acting in that capacity, by persons chosen in each district: (1) At meetings of landowners; (2) at the first assembly of the city electors; (3) at the second assembly of the city electors; (4) at the assembly of the plenipotentiaries from the Volostei; and (5) at the assembly of the plenipotentiaries from Cossack boroughs in those provinces where there are boroughs. Furthermore, in the provinces indicated in the lists attached to article 8, for the election of members of the Duma of the Empire, in the composition of the provincial electoral assemblies are persons chosen at the provincial assemblies with power from the workmen.
• Art. 7. The election of members of the imperial Duma from the cities named in article 2 is by vote.
• Art. 8. The general number elected in each province or district, as well as their distribution in the districts and assemblies, is fixed in the list accompanying this article.
• Art. 9. In the elections (1) women, (2) persons under 25 years of age, (3) students, (4) officers of the army or fleet in actual service, (5) naturalized subjects and foreigners do not vote.
• Art. 10. Besides those mentioned in article 9, the following persons are not allowed to take part in the elections: (1) Persons who have been prosecuted and are under sentence of entire or partial deprivation of their civil rights, or those dismissed from service, or accused of theft, embezzlement, usurping other people’s property, concealing thieves, purchasing or lending money on stolen goods, or who have obtained through usury or improper means other people’s estates or property, when they have not been freed by the court of justice, although the case would be dismissed because of the expiration of the term granted by the law, or those who have not undergone punishment on account of some imperial manifest or special imperial order; (2) persons dismissed from service through court sentences, for three years after the passing of the sentence, although by an imperial manifest or on account of the expiration of the term of law they may not have undergone punishment; (3) persons accused of crimes determined in paragraph 1 of this article or whose crime could cause their dismissal from service; (4) persons declaring themselves bankrupt before the court has given its decision on their cases; (5) persons under guardianship; (6) persons declared bankrupt whose affairs have been passed upon by the court, excepting those declared bankrupt through misfortune; (7) persons deprived of clerical title or rank on account of some fault, or those degraded from rank and nobility; and (8) persons who have been prosecuted for nonperformance of military service.
• Art. 11. Are not allowed to participate in the elections: (1) Governors and vice-governors of provinces, likewise prefects and their assistants, in the districts or provinces under their control; and (2) persons occupying positions in the police in provinces, districts, or towns where the elections are taking place.
• Art. 12. No one can cast more than one vote at the elections.
• Each elector may show his right to participate in the elections at one assembly (art. 27) or category (art. 42) of electors. Persons who have the right to vote in two or more districts or towns, indicated in article 2, may declare their right to participate in the elections at the assembly they may choose, while observing the instructions provided for in articles 61–63 of the present regulations.
• Art. 13. Persons possessing real estate and those indicated in paragraph 4 of article 9 of the present regulations may delegate their rights in view of their real estate to their sons in order that they may participate in the elections.
• Art. 14. Women who possess real estate and thereby have the right to vote may delegate their rights to vote to their husbands or sons.
• Art. 15. The right to represent real estate at the elections (arts. 13 and 14) can not be given to persons who are not allowed to participate in the elections in accordance with the instructions indicated in articles 9–11, Powers of attorney may be certified to by notaries, as well as by empowered administrative persons, the police, justice of the peace, as well as the chiefs of zemstvos and communities.
• Art. 16. Should several persons be jointly interested in one estate, each of these persons is considered as an owner possessing a portion of such estate and by virtue thereof has the right to vote.
• Art. 17. In localities where there is no marshal of nobles as indicated in these regulations, a person will be empowered by imperial order as such. The duties of other functionaries mentioned in these regulations in localities where lacking are executed by other persons who are filling similar duties, in accordance with instructions given them by the minister of the interior.
• Art. 18. The presentation of declarations and complaints relating to the elections do not prevent the elections from taking place.
• Art. 19. The term fixed for making declarations and complaints relating to the elections begins on the day following the act or the declaration of the decision on which the complaint is made. If the last day of the period allowed is a holiday, the day following is fixed as the last allowed.
• Art. 20. Criminal acts which may have been committed during the elections are liable to prosecution and punishment in accordance with the imperial ukase of March 8 (21), 1906 (Collection of Laws, 353).
• Art. 21. The expenses in carrying out the instructions in these regulations in the zemstvos, and cities are to be borne by the respective zemstvos and cities; other expenses referring to the accomplishment of the elections are borne by the Government.
• Art. 22. For the election meetings the halls of the justices of the peace of districts and of the nobility and zemstvos assemblies are offered gratuitously. Should such halls not be large enough for the occasion assembly halls (excepting the prefectures) belonging to the Government may be offered free of charge, or public halls at the option of the governors of provinces or prefects of cities.
• Art. 23. All instructions relating to the composition of the election lists and the proceedings of the elections are to emanate from the minister of the interior.
• Art. 24. Governors of provinces and prefects of towns will, under the guidance of the minister of the interior, follow the proceedings of the elections. They are given the right to demand from the competent electoral colleges any information relating to the proceedings of the elections and to give indications for the proper execution of the same; likewise, they will in their control, should they find any irregularity in the proceedings of the voters’ committees, lodge a protest before the district election committee, and as a last resort they will lay the matter before the ruling senate.
• Art. 25. The details of the electioning proceedings provided for in the present regulations are determined by the minister of the interior, published for general knowledge through the ruling Senate.
• Art. 26. Explanations required on the present regulations must be addressed to the ruling Senate and are finally decided in its first department, by the decision of the procureur-general, with a majority of the votes of the senators present; in the event of an even number of votes the vote of the presiding senator decides the matter.

Chapter Second—Relative to Election Assemblies.

• Art. 27. The election colleges are convoked in the provinces or district towns under respective presidencies: Assemblies of landowners and persons empowered by the Volosteis, the district marshal of nobility, assemblies of city electors, and likewise assemblies of representatives of workmen, under the presidency of the mayors of provincial or district cities, respectively, or persons who are acting in their place. For districts indicated in article 2 of cities there are formed in these cities separate city assemblies of district voters. In the event of the marshal of nobility, or the city mayors not being able to preside at any of the election assemblies (arts. 29 and 35) a person chosen from among the voters will be appointed by the governor to preside at such an assembly.
• Art. 28. At the landowners’ assemblies participate: (1) Persons who have possessed land in the district for not less than one year, the land to belong personally to such person or to be a life property, paying the taxes in the quantities determined for each district in the lists attached; (2) persons owning in the district, mining property (or possessional rights) in quantity prescribed in the same lists; (3) persons who have owned for not less than one year in that district, as personal property or life property, besides land, household property, not bearing the character of a factory or works, valued by the zemstov at not less than 15,000 rubles; (4) the plenipotentiaries of persons possessing land in the district (par. 1) or other real property (par. 3), if the quantity of such land or the value of such property does not attain the dimensions which give said personsn the right to participate in person at the assembly of landowners; (5) plenipotentiaries of churches and of houses of prayer of all creds, if the churches or wardens of any of these houses of prayer possess land in the district.
• Art. 29. The assembly of landowners may be divided, by permission of the minister of the interior as follows: (1) According to the locality of the district or according to the category of landowners (size and value of property), and (2) according to the nationality of the voters. The number of voters at an assembly is divided into separate assemblies in the first case—corresponding to the surface of land and cost of the property belonging to persons holding land in each of the separate assembly localities, to be present in person or represented—and in the second case compared with the general area of the private personal property in the district belonging to persons of each nationality.
• Art. 30. The representatives of owners of household property, mentioned in parapraphs 4 and 5 of article 28, as well as those from churches and houses of prayer of all creeds, are elected at preliminary assemblies. According to local facilities, one general assembly is convoked for the whole district, or there are formed by the minister of the interior several separate assemblies. Separate preliminary assemblies may be convoked, according to the local conditions in the district, as well as in categories, according to classes of voters corresponding to the kind and dimensions of their voting rights as landowners. The presidency of these preliminary assemblies comes under the marshal of nobility of the district or the person acting in his place. Should several separate preliminary assemblies be formed and the marshal of nobility for the district can not preside at these assemblies, the governor is authorized to invite, for presidency at said assemblies, a person chosen from among the voters of said assemblies, it being understood that such person has the right to participate at the assembly of landowners or at the preliminary assembly of said district assemblies.
• In districts where the population is composed of mixed classes, the preliminary assemblies may be divided according to nationality, upon observing the order prescribed in article 29.
• Art. 31. The number of plenipotentiaries who may participate in the preliminary assembly is determined by the area of the land represented by those present at the assembly, as well as the total value of other real estate belonging to them, admitting but one plenipotentiary for each voter having the full rights provided for, in order that they may take part in the landowners’ assembly.
• Art. 32. At the first assembly of city voters participate: (1) Persons who have possessed for not less than one year property belonging to them in person in city districts or which they have received for life, placed at a value determined for the payment of land and city taxes; in cities of provinces, of districts, or within the jurisdiction of a prefect, as well as in those villages where the population exceeds 25,000 inhabitants, not less than 1,000 rubles, and in the remaining city boroughs not less than 300 rubles; and (2) persons who have possessed within the electoral district, for not less than one year, some industry requiring a trader’s license: Traders—a license of the first or second category; industrials having the licenses of the first five categories or steam-Ship companies who pay a tax of not less than 50 rubles a year.
• Art. 33. At the second assembly of city voters participate: (1) Persons (same as art. 32, with the exception that the tax paid is under 1,000 rubles where the population does not exceed 20,000 inhabitants, and in the remaining city boroughs less than 300 rubles); (2) persons holding a trading or industrial enterprise within the district for not less than one year, requiring the trading license, with the exception of those who participated at the first city assembly; (3) persons who have paid within the district the apartment tax for not less than one year; (4) persons who have paid for not less than one year the taxes required for an industrial enterprise; (5) persons who, for not less than one year, have occupied in their own names apartments within the district; and (6) persons (excepting subalterns and workmen) who have lived for not less than one year within the district and have received a fixed salary or pension for government service or service in the zemstvo, city, railway, or any other such like institutions.
• Art. 34. In city boroughs are included for the elections to the Douma those small villages which possess a communal administration and which pay government taxes on city property (Statutes of Direct Laws, 1903, art. 1, par. 15).
• Art. 35. Assemblies for city elections may be divided, with the consent of the minister of the interior, into divisions according to localities or according to the voting rights of the landowners, and in districts where the nationality of the population is mixed according to nationality. The number of persons to be elected at the assembly is determined according to the number of voters which are to attend each assembly.
• Remark.—For election purposes the prefect of Sevastopol comes under the jurisdiction of the Semphervpol district, in the Tauride Province; the town of Cronstadt to the Peterhof district, government of St. Petersburg; and the prefectures of the Kertchenikalskoe to the district of Theodosia, Tauride Province; and Nikolaef or to the district and province of Kherson.
• Art. 36. In the province of Arkhangel as well as those of Tobolsk and Tomsk preliminary assemblies and assemblies of landowners do not take place. Persons who have a right to take part in the landowners assemblies may be included in each first assembly of the city voters and persons who have the right to participate in the preliminary assemblies take part in the second city assembly of voters. In the province of Stavropol persons who possess the right to take part in the first city assembly of voters, organize one general assembly to include the persons who have the right to attend the landowners’ assembly.
• Art. 37. At assemblies of plenipotentiaries from the Volostei take part those who have been chosen at meetings of the Volosti districts, two members from each meeting. These members are chosen at the Volosti meeting from among the peasant houseowners, belonging to the agricultural class of said Volosti or those who are written in as belonging to such a Volosti, through their possessions of land in the Volosti and having lived in it not less than one year, are personally conducting their affairs.
• At the assembly of plenipotentiaries from the Cossack boroughs participate the members chosen at the meetings of the boroughs in the districts—two members from each borough. These members are chosen at the meetings held by householders of the Military Cossacks or Cossack landowners or Cossacks who have acquired land and are managing their own farms.
• Art. 38. In districts with a mixed population the meetings of plenipotentiaries from the Volosti assemblies, in conformity with instructions from the minister of the interior, may be divided according to nationality fixing among them the number of electors corresponding with the number of plenipotentiaries in each division.
• Art. 39. In the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk at the meetings of plenipotentiaries from the Volosteis participate: (1) Plenipotentiaries, chosen, two from each Volosti at each meeting where the Volosteis are administered under the general peasant laws (special supplement to the Law of Social Classes, edition 1902, book 1, page 472); (2) plenipotentiaries from Volosteis organized in conformity with supplement to article 70 (remark), regulations of Siberian institutions, election, two from each Volosti, at peaceful meetings of the voters, one voter for every 100 inhabitants of the Volosti population (Siberian Institutions, edition 1892, art. 70, remark to supplement arts. 10–12); and (3) plenipotentiaries from the aborigines, one for several camps, elected in the same manner as for the election of a chief.
• Art. 40. In the province of Astrakhan is organized, besides meetings of the plenipotentiaries from the Volosteis, one general meeting of plenipotentiaries from the Astrakhan Cossack army, stationed within the province of Astrakhan, as well as within those of Samara and Saratoff. The assembly is convoked in the town of Astrakhan and is presided over by a person appointed by the ataman of the Cossacks, and elects in accordance with the list (art. 8) the number of voters to the election assembly of the province of Astrakhan.
• Art. 41. In the provinces of Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia the plenipotentiaries from the Volosteis are elected at a general meeting of the Volosteis from among the householders which belong to the Volostei and who have lived not less than one year in the Volosti. In the Ismailovsk district of the province of Besarabia instead of the assembly of plenipontentiaries from the Volosteis is organized a meeting of the plenipotentiaries from agricultural communities, one plenipotentiary for each community. These plenipotentiaries are chosen in each community at a general meeting from among persons who have lived in the commune for not less than one year and who have personally attended to the farms of the community or their personal portions of land, under the presidency of the chief of the commune.
• Art. 42. The elections of deputies for the imperial Douma, which take place in the cities indicated in article 2, take place at two different categories of meetings: (1) Persons who possess personal property or life property not less than one year within the limits if the town, such property being subject to city taxes; in capitals not less than 3,000 rubles, and in other towns not less than 1,500 rubles; (2) persons possessing within the limits of town for not less than one year the required license for some industrial or trading enterprise; (a) in capitals, trading licenses of the first class, industry licenses of one of the first three classes, or shipping enterprises which pay not less than 500 rubles dues; (b) in other towns, trading licenses of the first two categories, industry licenses of the first five categories, or shipping companies which do not pay less than 50 rubles taxes. At the election of the second category take part: (1) Persons who possess within the limits of towns, for not less than one year, or for life, real estate estimated to pay city taxes amounting as follows: In capitals, 3,000 rubles ($1,500), and in the remaining cities, 1,500 rubles ($750); (2) persons who possess within the limits of the town for not less than one year a license for such industrial or trading enterprise which gives the right to vote, excepting those which give the right to take part in the elections of the first category; (3) persons who have paid taxes within the limits of the town for not less than one year for private industrial enterprise; (4) persons who have paid for not less than one year the tax due on the apartment occupied by them; (5) persons who for not less than one year occupy apartments in their own names; and (6) persons (Excepting servants and workmen) who have lived for not less than one year within the limits of towns and are receiving fixed salaries or pensions from the Government, or from the zemstvo, city, railways, or other institutions.
• Art. 43. In the provincial assemblies the plenipotentiaries from the workmen participate those plenipotentiaries who are representing, as named in supplement to article 8, factory, mining, or manufacturing enterprises, the number of workmen in any factory not to be less than 50, regardless of the parties to whom the factories may belong.
• Remark.—Railway shops are included in the above article, and the number of male workmen in these shops must not be less than 50.
• Art. 44. The workmen choose a person to represent them at the election from among themselves, on the following basis: One plenipotentiary for factories containing from 50 to 1,000 workmen; and factories where the workmen number over 1,000, one plenipotentiary for every 1,000 workmen. The plenipotentiaries chosen must have worked at least six months at the factories.

Chapter Third.—Relative to the Electoral Colleges in the Provinces and Districts.

• Art. 45. In order to verify the accuracy of the elections and to examine declarations and complaints relating to the affairs of the elections, there are established electoral colleges of the provinces and districts, and in the city of Odessa a city electoral committee.
• Art. 46. The electoral colleges in the province are composed, under the presidency of the president of the district court, of district marshals of nobility of the principal provincial towns, the president of the province zemstvo or manager of the zemstvo administration, the city mayors of provinces or persons in charge thereof, one of the active representatives of the provincial administration, to be appointed by the governor of the province, and the senior counsellor of the governor’s administration. Furthermore, upon the appointment of the governor, there must be present at the electoral committee one of the chiefs of the local electoral committee, and one of the chiefs of the local provincial administration.
• Art. 47. The electoral college of Odessa consists, under the presidency of the president of the district court, of a district marshal of nobility, the city mayor or member of the district court, appointed at a meeting of the members, and a chief member of the local administration, appointed by the prefect of the city.
• Art. 48. The electoral colleges of the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk consist, under the presidency of the president of the district court, of the chief of the court of appeals, a member of the district court, chosen at a meeting of the members, the mayor of the provincial city, and a member of the provincial administration.
• Art. 49. The district electoral colleges shall consist, under the presidency of a member chosen at a meeting of the members of the district court, of the district marshal of nobility, of a justice of the peace or city judge appointed at a meeting of city judges or a general assembly at the district court, the president of the district zemstvo administration, of the city mayor of the district city, and of a chief of the zemstvo named at a district meeting.
• Art. 50. In the Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces the district electoral colleges consist, under the presidency of a member of the district court, appointed at a general meeting, of the president of the district assembly of peasant chiefs, the mayor or city alderman, and one of the city chiefs chosen at a district meeting.
• Art. 51. Persons in service who enter upon duties in the electoral colleges of the provinces or districts do not participate in the examination of complaints made against their acts.

Chapter Fourth.—Relative to Electoral Lists.

• Art. 52. The lists of persons who have a right to take part in the elections at the assemblies of landowners and city electors are prepared and kept in order; for the preliminary assemblies and the assembly of landowners, by the zemstvo district administration for business relating to the zemstvo landowners, and in the localities where there are no such administrations by the borough’s administration, by the district police administration, and in both the first and second assemblies of city electors, by the city administration of the province or of the district, correspondingly, or by an institution which takes its place.
• Art. 53. In towns outside of districts and small localities mentioned in article 34, the election lists are prepared: In towns by the town council or institution which takes its place; and in localities, by the borough administration, separately for each of their city populations, and are communicated to the town council of the district town.
• Lists of city electors for districts belonging to the towns mentioned in article 2 are prepared by the city councils of those cities.
• Art 54. Persons who have landowners’ rights to take part in the elections at the first or second assemblies of city electors are named in the list for that assembly, at which they themselves write their names down, and should no declaration be made by them they are inserted in the list for the first assembly.
• Art. 55. In the city election lists indicated in article 2, those persons who have a right to vote are separated into two distinct divisions and are kept in order by the town council.
• Art. 56. Persons who have the right to take part in the elections of both divisions (art. 55) may enter their names in that assembly at which they wish to be present, and should they not declare any such intention their names are inserted in the list for the first assembly.
• Persons who have the right to participate in the elections at two or several election colleges (art. 135) state that place in the list, and should they make no statement, they are inserted in the list for the place where they are residing.
• Art. 57. Person who have a right to participate in the elections on account of apartments they occupy though they do not pay apartment taxes, or on account of pensions they are receiving, should they desire to take part in the elections, send in a written declaration to the institution which is preparing the list of voters before said list shall have been published, presenting therewith proper certification.
• Other persons who have independently the right to participate in the elections are inserted in the lists independently of the declarations they make.
• Art. 58. Persons holding household property who wish to take part in the elections, when such property belongs to their father, mother, or wife, must file a power of attorney (art. 15) before the publication of the lists to the institutions charged with the preparation of the list, within two weeks.
• Art. 59. The insitutions which have the duty of preparing the electoral lists have the right to avail themselves of all information in the possession of government and local officials. A list of persons who pay industry licenses or apartment taxes is communicated by the local and Government authorities as well as a list of persons who are serving in government institutions and have the right to vote.
• Art. 60. Persons who have the right to vote are placed on the list in alphabetical order. Against each person’s name is placed (1) his Christian name, his father’s Christian name, and his family name; (2) by what right he can vote. With regard to persons who have the right to vote through their father, mother, or wife possessing household property, the corresponding information is inserted.
• Art. 61. Workmen who have the right to vote in conformity with article 43 are not inscribed on the lists of landowners or city voters, even though they should hold property which would give them the right; likewise the plenipotentiaries from the Volostnoy assemblies and borough meetings are not inserted in these lists.
• Art. 62. Persons belonging to the agricultural and Volostnoy communities are not inserted in the lists of landowners or city voters, although they would have the right to be put on these lists.
• Art. 63. Land belonging to peasant communities or boroughs, as well as peasants’ land in the province of Livonia, land hired by peasants in the province of Esthonia and on the isle of Esel, as well as land belonging to peasants in the province of Courland, although belonging to them as acquired land, does not give their owners the right to vote under the landowners’ list.
• Art. 64. The owners of land which gives them the right to vote as landowners, but whose land lies within several districts, the part in no one district giving such owner the right to vote, are inserted in such list as the landowner may indicate, and should such owner not send in any statement he is inscribed in the list in that district in which the largest porton of the property lies.
• Art. 65. In determining the time the owner has possessed land, the date when the property in question was left him in heritage by direct lineage is reckoned from.
• Art. 66. In order to take part in the elections in conformity with paragraph 5 of article 28, the superiors of the churches and houses of prayer are inserted in the lists.
• Art. 67. Directors (presidents) and members of boards of administration of societies and companies, as well as of limited or other companies which own factories or mining enterprises, also the managers of such companies or associations when they pay the regular taxes of industry or enterprise outside the limits of that town or district wherein are situated the factories or enterprises, are inserted in the voting lists at the place where the factories, etc., are situated, and not at the place where they pay the taxes. Should companies, associations, or others possess several factories, etc., in various towns or districts, each of the parties mentioned above may be inserted in the list of voters of the towns or district they may choose.
• Art. 68. The lists of voters are published not later than one month before the elections in the local newspapers, and at the same time general information is given relative to the management for guaranteeing the correctness of these lists.
• Art. 69. A copy of the lists of voters, with documents belonging to them, may be examined by interested persons at institutions named on days and hours fixed for that purpose.
• Art. 70. Persons whose names have not been inserted in the lists or who up to the time of voting have lost their voters’ rights, do not participate in the elections.
• Art. 71. At the time the elections are put into effect at factories, etc., the list of the workmen who are to take part in the elections (art. 43) are posted up, signed by the proper official at the works, stating the total number of workmen in each factory and the number of representatives they may choose to vote at the elections.
• Art. 72. The total list of factories in the province, at which elections take place (art. 43), showing the total number of workmen and the number of representatives they may appoint to vote for them, is brought by the governor of the province to the knowledge of the public, as well as all information which will secure the proper execution of this list.
• Art. 73. During the two weeks after the publication of the lists of voters in the local newspapers, the persons interested may present claims or complaints relative to irregularities and improper execution of the lists, as provided for in article 52, to the district electoral committee; those provided for in article 55, to the provincial electoral college; and for Odessa, to the city electoral committee.
• Art. 74. After the examination of the lists of voters and of the complaints and claims presented, by the proper electoral committees, the parties making claims are informed or the changes, if any, made in the lists, and these changes are inserted in the first lists and are published in the local papers; and furthermore, these changes are made known through publication to the public in general.
• Art. 75. After the corrected lists have been published no further changes are allowed except those which may follow in the decision of complaints brought before the electoral committees.

Chapter Fifth.—The Election Proceedings.

part first.—relative to preliminary meetings.

• Art. 76. Electors and voters are authorized to organize special preliminary assemblies in order to discuss what persons are worthy of election.
• Art. 77. At the preliminary assemblies of electors, only those persons take part whose names are inserted in the electoral lists of said electoral assemblies, or of the said electoral division, as well as the president of the assembly.
• At preliminary meetings of voters, only voters of one and the same election assembly and its president may be present.
• Art. 78. Preliminary assemblies of electors and voters must take place in closed premises only.
• Art. 79. The electors and voters inform the chief of the local police of the time and place of preliminary assemblies not later than twenty-four hours before the assembly, inclosing a list of the names of those organizing the assembly.
• Art. 80. The chief of the local police appoints an officer to be present at the assembly, and should this official find it necessary to dissolve the meeting, it must be dissolved at once.
• Art. 81. Preliminary assemblies of electors may be dissolved by the police in the following cases only: (1) When the assembly evidently met to discuss other matters than those for which it had assembled; (2) When the questions discussed at the assembly are hostile and are instigating one portion of the population against the other; (3) When collections of money are made; (4) When persons whose presence is not allowed are found at the assemblies and have not been rejected or will not be expelled; (5) When the discussions at the assemblies become revolutionary and threaten the public peace and order.
• Art. 82. In the meetings of voters the police do not take part, but they must see that outside persons do not enter or take part in the meeting.

part second.—relative to the proceedings for electing plenipotentiaries at meetings of the volosts, boroughs, and factories.

• Art. 83. The election of plenipotentiaries at the volost and borough meetings takes place with the full number of plenipotentiaries chosen in the villages and boroughs to discuss current affairs.
• Art. 84. Assemblies for the nomination of representatives of the peasants take place in each district as far as possible on one and the same day fixed by the governor.
• Art. 85. At the meetings of the volosts and boroughs, as well as at those of the landowners of the district of Ismael in the province of Bessarabia, only such persons may be present as have the right to attend those meetings.
• Art. 86. At the meetings held by volosts and boroughs for electing their representatives the votes are given by secret ballots.
• Art. 87. The decision arrived at, at the meetings of the volosts and boroughs, as well as at the meetings of the partial landowners, in the district of Ismael in the Province of Bessarabia, must be turned in to the district electoral committee not later than one day before the elections.
• Remark.—The decisions come to at the meetings of volosts need not be examined by the chief of the Zemstvo or corresponding official.
• Art. 88. Complaints formulated against the proceedings of the volosts and boroughs as well as of the partial landowners of the district of Ismael, in the province of Bessarabia, relative to the election of representatives for the general elections must be presented within three days after said meetings either directly to the electoral committee or to the volost seniors or borough attamans for immediate transmission to the electoral colleges.
• Art. 89. The volosts, boroughs, and partial landowners of the district of Ismael, province of Bessarabia, are authorized to defray the traveling expenses of the representatives chosen by them at their meetings to be present at the general elections.
• Art. 90. The representatives of the workmen are elected by them at meetings fixed by the governors as far as possible on one and the same day.
• Art. 91. The manner and procedure of the election of representatives is determined by the workmen themselves at each factory. The workmen choose from among themselves one or several presidents to maintain order during their elections and to guide them.
• Remark.—The elections of workmen at which they choose their representatives take place in premises put at their disposal by the owner of the works. During these elections persons who are not authorized to participate in them are not allowed to enter the premises.
• Art. 92. Complaints of irregularities which may have taken place during these elections are presented to the electoral committee of the district. A member of the factory or enterprise is appointed by the governor to be present when these are examined by the committee.
• Art. 93. The lists of representatives chosen by the workmen at each factory are signed by the presidents and by not less than ten of the voters. These lists are presented to the administration of the factories or enterprises or chief of the railway shops, which send them immediately to the governor. Copies of the lists are posted in visible places for the information of the workmen. In the said lists must be stated: The Christian names, fathers’ names, and family names, the titles, and ages of the representatives chosen by the workmen.
• Art. 94. The complete lists of the workmen’s representatives in the provinces or regions, with the names of the works at which they were chosen, are published by the governor.
• Art. 95. The representatives of the workmen will, upon their claiming it, receive from the government funds their traveling expenses to and from the provincial town where the elections take place, at the rate of 5 copecks per verst (2½ cents per mile).

part third.—relative to the procedure of elections at the preliminary and voting assemblies.

• Art. 96. The assemblies for the elections and the preliminary assemblies take place on certain days fixed by the governor, who announces the day and place by publication.
• Art. 97. The voting at the assemblies, including those in which not more than 500 persons are on the lists, take place by secret ballot.
• Art. 98. The preliminary and other assemblies where the voting takes place by means of balls (art. 97) are opened at midday and will stay open until all those who desire to vote will have done so. Persons who arrive after the voting has begun are not allowed to vote.
• At those assemblies where the votes are made by secret writs these must be presented on a fixed day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Art. 99. During the proceedings at the assemblies there may be present, besides the president, only such persons as have a right to take part in said assemblies.
• Art. 100. The presidents of the assemblies examine the documents and the full powers of the voters and representatives which give them the right to vote.
• Art. 101. At the opening of the assemblies the presidents read the articles of the law relating to the manner of voting and conditions of participation, as well as the list of voters. After this, if the voting is to be by means of balls, an act is drawn up stating the number of voters present, and at the preliminary assemblies, likewise, the quantity of land controlled by the voters present, as well as the value of household property they represent, and the number of representatives holding full powers to vote.
• Art. 102. Representatives holding full powers given at preliminary assemblies, as well as voters, may be chosen from among those persons only who have a right to participate in the elections in those assemblies only where the elections are effected.
• Art. 103. The ballots for the appointment of representatives and voters may be cast by those persons only who have made known to the president of the assembly that they are willing to ballot.
• Art. 104. Persons chosen to vote by means of writs immediately declare their assent to the committee, and if within three days of the receipt of their notification their declarations refusing to accept the appointment as electors are not presented they are considered as having accepted the appointment.
• Art. 105. Each voter must present his voting writ in person. This writ must include the Christian and family names of the persons to whom they give their votes in numbers not to exceed the total number of persons who are to be elected. The name of the person they choose should not appear more than once on the same writ. Repetitions of names on writs by the same person will not be accepted.
• Art. 106. Plenipotentiaries from preliminary meetings, as well as representatives chosen to vote, are recognized in such persons as receive more than half of the votes of the persons participating at the meeting; in case there are several members who receive an equal number of votes they should draw lots. Should the proper number of voters not be elected the meeting must take place again in order to elect the proper number of voters: (1) For meetings where the elections are effected by means of balloting on the following day, and (2) for meetings where the elections are effected by means of writs on a day fixed therefor, when those persons who received the largest number of votes will be considered as elected.
• Art. 107. The number of votes which any persons received, whether elected or not elected, but who took part at the meeting, is inserted in a special list. Special tellers are chosen to count the votes cast at the elections, under the control of a president at the balloting. After the elections election lists are read at the meeting and then signed by the president and by any members present who desire to do so.
• Art. 108. At the assemblies of landowners and town elections, the elections which are effected by means of writs are organized for the reception of the writs and for keeping account of them by a committee composed of the president and members of the assembly invited by him, not less than three in number. The counting of the writs is made on the next day in open session, beginning at 9 o’clock. When this is completed they draw up a protocol relative to the number of votes given to each person, which protocol is signed by the president, the members of the committee, and such other persons of the assembly as wish to.
• Art. 109. In those small districts attached to towns, in which separate assemblies of city electors (art. 35) are, according to local circumstances, impossible, they may be organized, in the cases provided for in paragraph 2 of article 97 of these instructions, with the permission of the governor, by establishing election boxes for the reception of voters’ writs.
• In this event the mayor, or the person acting in his stead, with the assistance of three members chosen from among the voters, fill the functions of a committee. The rendering of the figures or numbers of the votes given is effected by the election committee of that town to which the inhabitants belong.
• Art. 110. The election assemblies are limited to the procedure of the elections and must not enter upon any discussions, nor have they the right to make any rules or to give any instructions which do not strictly pertain to the procedure of the elections.
• Art. 111. When the elections, as well as the rendering of the votes of both the preliminary and the final elections, have been brought to a close, the assemblies are suspended. Not later than the following day the results of the elections are presented by the presidents: Those of the preliminary assemblies and of the assemblies of landowners and of the towns to the district electoral committee; and those relating to the representatives chosen by the workmen to the provincial electoral committee.
• Art. 112. Within three days after the closing of the assemblies and the dismissal of the electoral committees, persons who are interested therein may present claims: To the district electoral committee, for irregularities which may have occurred in the procedure of the elections at the assemblies; and to the provincial electoral committee, for irregularities which may have occurred while taking the votes of the workmen.
• A member chosen from among the administration of the workmen or miners, appointed by the governor, may be present at the examination of a complaint lodged by the workmen for irregularities occurring during the elections.
• Art. 113. Should complaints thus made be found properly based, changes may be made in the election of one or all the persons chosen at such assemblies, and this information is brought to the knowledge of the persons who lodged the complaints by the electoral committee.
• Should any change thus be effected, the person who next secured the most votes is recognized in the stead of that or those persons struck off the list. Should these persons not be present, or should it be found necessary to change all the persons chosen at the assemblies, new or supplementary elections take place.
• Art. 114. Within three days from the announcement of the result of the elections by the election committees of districts or provinces, persons interested therein may lodge complaints against the announcement made by the district committee, to the committee of the province; and against the latter to the existing Senate. The complaints are filed with the district or provincial committees, respectively, and must be presented with the necessary explanations to the district committee within a week, or to the existing Senate within a fortnight.
• Art. 115. The lists of electors of the provincial election assemblies are made up by the district electoral committee, and the lists for the workmen’s elections by the provincial electoral committee; they must be immediately made known to the governor for publication and they are also sent to the general committee.
• Art. 116. When the lists of the elected are published in the local papers they must state: (1) The Christian name, father’s name, and surname; (2) the town, district, and volost, borough, or community—when in the district of Ismael, province of Bessarabia—to which the elector has been chosen; (3) the permanent residence of the elector (person elected to vote); and (4) information relative to the social position, kind of occupation, and, if possible, education received. At the time the publication is made a copy is sent to the person elected.
• Art. 117. Persons elected may, if they so desire, be reimbursed their traveling expenses to the provincial town for the election assembly, at the rate of 5 copecks per verst (2½ cents per two-thirds of a mile) from the district town to the provincial town, and return.

part fourth.—relative to the election of members to the imperial douma, at the provincial assemblies.

• Art. 118. The elections for members of the imperial Douma in the provincial election assemblies take place on days fixed by imperial ukases which the minister of the interior asks for through the council of ministers and presents to the existing Senate for publication.
• Art. 119. Election assemblies begin at 12 o’clock in the day and continue, with proper intervals, until all the electors have given their votes for members of the imperial Douma for that province. The time allowed for intervals is fixed by the assembly, but no interval can last longer than twelve hours at a time. Electors arriving after the elections have begun can not participate in them.
• Art. 120. At the election assemblies, besides the president only persons who have a right to participate in the elections may be present.
• Art. 121. The election assembly is recognized as having taken place if not less than one-half of the electors are present at the assembly. In the contrary case a new assembly is convoked, being fixed seven days in advance, and that assembly is final regardless of the number of members present.
• Art. 122. In opening the assembly, the president reads the laws relating to the conduct of the elections, the conditions of participation, and the lists of electors.
• Art. 123. At the provincial electoral assemblies, in the presence of all the voters, the first thing done is to elect: (1) In the provinces administered by the general institutions, as well as the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk and the Military District of the Don, one member to the Douma from among the voters at the assemblies of representatives from the Volosts; (2) in the provinces administered under the general institutions, excepting Archangel and the Military District of the Don, one member to the Douma from the landowners’ assemblies; (3) in the provinces of Archangel, Astrakhan, Vitebsk, Volhynia, Vologda, Grodno, Kaluga, Kieff, Kovno, Kostroma, Courland, Livonia, Minsk, Mohilev, Novgorod, Pskoy, Simbirsk, Esthonia, Yaroslav, Tobolsk, and Tomsk, one member each, to the Douma from among the electors of the first or second town assemblies; (4) in the remaining provinces administered by general institutions, excepting Stavropol and the Military District of the Don, one member each to the Douma from the electors at the first or second town assembles; (5) in the provinces of Astrakhan, Orenburg, and the Military District of the Don, one member each to the Douma from among the representative electors chosen at the assemblies of the Cossack boroughs; and (6) in the provinces of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vladimir, Ekaterinoslav, Kostroma, and Kharkov, at the rate of one member to the Douma from among the representatives of the workmen. The assembly then elects from among the voters who have the right to be present the remaining number of members to the Douma.
• Art. 124. The elections of members to the Douma are effected by balloting. Those elected must have at least one-half of the number of votes cast by those present at the assembly. In the event of even numbers, those so elected draw lots.
• Art. 125. The preliminary election of candidates takes place at the assemblies by means of writs. The election of these candidates is later on confirmed by the majority of votes. Candidates who have received less than three votes are not confirmed.
• Art. 126. If after the balloting for the candidates proposed as members of the imperial Douma, elected from among a separate division of voters, not one of them receives more than half of the votes (art. 124), that assembly then effects a repetition of the election, without pursuing the former method, those then receiving the largest number of votes being then confirmed as elected.
• In the same manner are elected supplementary members to the Douma from among the voters themselves, if after the ballot of candidates has taken place, the candidates have not received more than half of the votes of those present at the assembly.
• Art. 127. As members of the Douma, only those who have been elected at assemblies from among the voters of the assemblies are acceptable, and then only after they have given their consent to become members of the Douma. Persons occupying a post in the government service, receiving a salary therefor, must resign such positions in order to become members of the imperial Douma.
• Art. 128. Persons not knowing the Russian language can not be elected as members of the imperial Douma.
• Art. 129. On a separate list must be inserted the number of votes each member received, as well as the number of votes cast against him, at the assembly. In order to keep an account of the number of votes given at the assemblies, a special accounting bureau is attached to the assembly under the control of the president. After the elections have taken place the results are read at the assembly and signed by the president and by any others present who may wish to sign.
• Art. 130. The electoral assemblies are limited to the voting, and do not bring up matters of any kind for discussion; nor must they make any resolutions or regulations which do not directly refer to the elections.
• Art. 131. As soon as the elections are ended the assembly is closed, and not later than the day following the report of the elections is presented by the president of the assembly to the governor.
• Art. 132. The governor, immediately upon receipt of the elections, sends them to the imperial Douma with a list of the persons elected as members of the Douma, which list is presented to the existing Senate for general publication.

part fifth.—the election of members of the douma effected in the towns mentioned in article 2 of these regulations.

• Art. 133. In the towns named in article 2 of these regulations the members of the imperial Douma are elected by means of secret ballots (writs). The day for the election is fixed in conformity with the provisions made in article 118.
• Art. 134. Each class of town electors (art. 42) chooses members of the imperial Douma exclusively from among the number of persons who have the right to participate in the elections of that class.
• Art. 135. In order to receive the election lists and number of votes, the town is divided, in accordance with the instructions of the minister of the interior, into electoral divisions.
• Art. 136. There is appointed to each division an electoral committee consisting of a president and not less than two members who are appointed by the mayor from among the electors of each division. In order to secure the final results of each electoral division, a general city electoral committee is established under the presidency of the mayor of the city and the presidents of each electoral division.
• Art. 137. The elections take place in premises which the city administration disposes of.
• Art. 138. Each voter presents his vote in person. The writ contains the Christian name, father’s Christian name, and family name of each person for whom the vote is given, these votes not to exceed the total number of persons to be chosen as members of the Duma in each respective division. The name of the person voted for must not appear twice on the same voter’s writ. Repetitions of votes for the same persons or the mention of names outside the voting power of that division will not be accepted.
• Art. 139. The votes in writing are presented on one day from 9 a.m. to to 9 p.m. The following day each division counts the number of votes given there to each candidate, and on the third day the city electoral committee makes up the general result of the votes cast in all the electoral divisions of the city.
• Art. 140. Those who have received more than half of the votes cast at each separate electoral division are considered elected members of the imperial Douma, and are reported as elected by a majority of the votes. In case the electors have not elected a sufficient number of members to the Douma, new elections take place at which those persons who receive the most votes are elected members of the imperial Douma.
• Art. 141. Not later than the day after that on which the elections are ended, the results of all the elections are sent by the city electoral committee to the governor or prefect of police, who transmits them to the imperial Douma, and the list of persons elected as members of the Douma is sent to the existing Senate for publication.

part sixth.—the manner of verification of credentials of the members of the imperial douma.

• Art. 142. The Douma examines the credentials of the members. Complaints relative to the elections are presented to the Douma. These complaints must be presented within three days after the elections to the governor, or prefect of police—as the case may be—who, within a week after the elections, sends them to the Douma with the explanation of the president of the electoral assembly or, in the cities named in article 2, by the president of the town electoral committee.
• Art. 143. The decision of the imperial Douma relative to the rejection of an elected member of the Douma, on account of irregularity, goes into force if it is upheld by two-thirds of the members of the Douma present at the assembly.
• Art. 144. Should the imperial Douma reject a member, the member accepted in his stead is he who received the next largest number of votes at the separate electoral divisions or who received more than half of the votes of those present at these elections. Should there not be any such person or should all the members of that particular electoral division be rejected by the imperial Douma, new elections must be held.
• Should the imperial Douma reject, either in their entirety or in part, the elections in towns named in article 2 of the present regulations, new elections must take place at those electoral divisions whose member or members are rejected.
• Art. 145. The provisions of the foregoing article (No. 144), for the order to be observed, are also followed in the event of a member of the imperial Douma being rejected by it for any reason whatsoever, unless new elections are expected within a year.
• Art. 146. The list of persons elected as members of the imperial Douma is drawn up by the existing Senate in accordance with the representations made by the governors and prefects or police; and is published by it in the newspapers.
• Art. 147. Persons whose names are published in the lists by the existing Senate, until they are rejected by the Douma, enjoy all the privileges granted to members of the Douma.

Stolipine,
President of the Council of Ministers.