Those who are to take the places of the deputies deceased or resigned should be elected every year two months before the beginning of a new year.
The deputies of the quarters should be elected by the inhabitants of Constantinople. But the deputies of the provinces should be elected by the General Assembly of each province.
Article 70.—The deputies of the quarters or of the provinces need not necessarily be the inhabitants of the same quarter or of the same province, provided they live in Constantinople, are well acquainted with the national affairs of the quarter or of the province they represent, and have, by their love for their nation, by their honesty and justice, deserved the esteem and confidence of their electors.
The national deputies are not regarded in the General Assembly as the deputies of any particular locality, but as the deputies of the nation, all enjoying the same equal rights.
Article 71.—The Patriarch sends a communication to every quarter in Constantinople, in the month of February, in regard to the one-fifth of the deputies to be elected by them every two years, giving notice of the number of the deputies to be elected by each one, and reminding them of the qualifications of electors and candidates.
On receiving this communication, the Councils in the quarters undertake the election of the deputies, but during the process of the election the preacher of the quarter, or in his absence the head of the priests, will preside, and from three to six honourable inhabitants of the place are added to the number of the Council.
The Electoral Council thus formed ascertains the number of those who have the right of election in their quarter, prepares in alphabetical order a list of electors, and causes it to be hung for eight days in the Council hall, which is to be kept open during all this time.
The Electoral Council, in order to facilitate the decision of electors, prepares a list of candidates in three times the number required, and causes this list also to be hung in the Council hall; the electors, however, are in no way bound to follow this list.
In the provinces the members of the Provincial General Assemblies are elected in the same way.
The Voting