FRANCHISE.--Every male citizen of this State and of the United States twenty-one years old, who has resided in the State one year prior to the election, and in the county in which he offers to vote six months, who has paid all taxes required of him by law since 1877, is an elector, and if registered, may vote. Those who have not paid their taxes, idiots, insane persons, illiterates of poor character who are neither ex-soldiers nor descendants of soldiers nor owners of a certain amount of property, and persons convicted of serious crime, unless pardoned, are disqualified from voting.
REGISTRATION.--Before a citizen can become entitled to vote he is required to register. On the first day of January of every year the tax collector opens a voters' book in which every person wishing to vote subscribes his name, showing that he is entitled to vote. From this book the tax collector prepares a list of registered voters of the county, which he files with the county registrars. The county registrars are appointed by the Judge of the Superior Court for a term of two years. The county registrars take this list and compare it with the list of disqualified voters prepared by the tax collector, the ordinary, and the clerk of the Superior Court, and from the two prepare a final list of registered voters. Only those whose names appear on the list of voters prepared by the registrars, are entitled to vote. On or before the hour for opening the election a copy of the list of registered voters is furnished the election managers. All elections are presided over by three superintendents. Votes are cast by ballot.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.--The Executive Department of the State consists of the Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Comptroller-General. Their powers and duties were originally vested in the Governor and his Council, but now the duties of each office are separate and distinct.
They are elected for a term of two years by the people of the State, at the same time the members of the Legislature are elected. The qualifications for these offices are: twenty-five years of age (for Governor thirty), a citizen of the United States ten years (for Governor fifteen), and of the State six years.
The Governor is commander in chief of the army and naval forces of the State. He has revision of all bills passed by the General Assembly, and, a two-thirds majority in each house is necessary to pass a bill over his disapproval. The Governor can commute sentences, and grant pardons to criminals, except in cases of treason or impeachment. He is empowered to fill many important offices by appointment. He issues commissions to all officers in the State. He may issue proclamations of rewards for the apprehension of criminals. He reports to the Legislature on the financial condition of the State, and gives suggestions as to any general law that should be passed.
The Secretary of State has the custody of the Great Seal of State and all State papers. He preserves all the original bills and acts passed by the General Assembly. He affixes the Great Seal to all State grants, and public documents executed by the Governor, keeps correct maps of surveys; and plats of lands granted by the State, and records all grants. The Secretary of State grants charters to banking, insurance, railroad, canal, navigation, express, telephone, and telegraph companies.
The Secretary of State is ex-officio Commissioner of Corporations. All State and foreign corporations are required to file an annual statement in his office. He is also the official who passes upon the legality of all stocks, bonds, debentures, and other securities offered for sale in the State of Georgia. He is the legal officer of the State who issues licenses for automobiles. The Secretary of State is ex-officio Surveyor-General who acts in disputed boundary lines of counties. He is the officer to whom election returns of all officers elected by the people are submitted for certification. He keeps a record in his office of the subdivisions of the State into counties, and all records pertaining to the original subdivisions of the State into counties and land districts.
The State Treasurer has custody of all State funds, and pays out moneys only on warrants issued by the Governor. The members of the General Assembly receive their pay from the Treasurer upon drafts drawn by the Speaker of the House or President of the Senate. He has control of the funds pledged to the payment of the public debt, and keeps accounts of all receipts and expenditures. He acts also as State Bank Examiner.
The Comptroller-General audits all accounts against the State. He examines the digests of all tax returns, receives and collects all evidences of debts due the State from any other source than taxes, issues executions against defaulting tax collectors, and countersigns all warrants drawn on the Treasury by the Governor. He must keep a record of all tax collectors' and receivers' bonds. He must make an annual report to the Governor, showing the currents account between the Treasurer and the State. The report must include a statement of taxes paid in by each county, the annual income from the educational fund, and the amounts paid out of said fund, the condition of the public debt, and accounts of all officers and agents disbursing public money. For the use of the members of the General Assembly he must prepare a table of the taxable property in each county of the State, a table of the polls and number of voters in each county, the number of children in each county returned for participation in the educational fund, and the amount drawn by each county out of that fund. He is ex-officio Insurance Commissioner, and has general supervision over all insurance companies doing business in Georgia.
This properly ends the executive department as fixed by the Constitution, but there are other State officers whose duties are such that they really belong to the same class, and may be considered under this head.