Sec. 5. No soldier, seaman or marine in the army or navy of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State in consequence of having been stationed therein.
Sec. 6. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest and civil process during attendance at elections and in going to and returning from the same.
Sec. 7. Every person entitled to vote at any election shall be eligible to any office, which now is, or hereafter shall be elective by the people in the county where he shall have resided sixty days previous to such election, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution or the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Sec. 8. The General Assembly shall never pass any law that will deprive any of the citizens of this State of the right of suffrage, except for treason, murder, robbery, or duelling, whereof the persons shall have been duly tried and convicted.
Sec. 9. Presidential electors shall be elected by the people.
Sec. 10. In all elections, State and Federal, there shall be but one ballot box, and one ticket for each party or faction thereof, with the names of all the candidates thereon. There shall be three commissioners of election for each county and three managers for each polling precinct, not more than two of whom shall be of the same political party.
Sec. 11. In all elections held by the people under this Constitution the person or persons who shall receive the highest number of votes shall be declared elected.
On the Suffrage.
Mr. President: I have been asked whether I would speak on this important matter. I replied that it all depended on circumstances whether or not I would. The circumstances are such that I have made up my mind to make a short speech on the general bill, and content myself with the vote I will cast on the amendments and sections as they are brought up; inasmuch as I have been perfectly pleased with the speeches made last night, and the one just concluded by the representatives from my county, as I feel that they echo the sentiments not only of the county they represent, but the entire race in the State, and every one I could claim to represent. I endorse their utterances in the language of Mr. Cash when he said he endorsed “every syllable” and accepted it as his own in this letter. I want to hear some of the speeches on the other side, because I do not like this matter that is called Indian file, as it seems now we are to form a Negro file in this Convention. I will only say that this Convention has violated the principle laid down in the Constitution under which we are now living, it giving the right for any two members to call for an “aye” and “nay” vote, but the skillful chairman of the committee on rules, from Edgefield, I mean ex-governor No. 1, (laughter) has made a rule which requires 10, four above the number we have, to call for the “aye” and “nay” vote, hence we cannot put the members on record without the assistance of some of the white members of the Convention. They formed a “dark corner” over there by themselves.