The members of the committees shall not separate, nor shall any
of them leave the room of the meeting, before the election proceedings
are in every respect terminated.
At the voting the chairman of the_ committee for each kingdom
shall read out and exchange the document that contains the name
of the one person on whom the choice of his National Assembly has
fallen. In accordance therewith shall the terms of the proposal to
be voted on be settled, and the names af both the candidates for
the Throne shall be entered therein, after the following formIlj8l
«The delegates of the Storthing of Norway and of the Estates of
the kingdom of Sweden are voting jointly to elect a successor to the
united Thrones of Norway and Sweden. On the part of the Storthing
of Norway, N. N. has been proposed as such; on the part of the
Estates of the kingdom of Sweden, N. N. has been proposed as such.
«If the greatest number of votes fall upon N. N., then he Is
lawfully elected as the King’s, successor (King) to the united Thrones
of Norway and Sweden.»
«If the greatest number of votes fall upon N. N., then he is
lawfully elected as the King’s successor (King) to the united Thrones
of Norway and Sweden.» ■
Before the electors are challenged to cast their votes, all the regulations
relating to the mode of voting are to be read out aloud and clearly.
The call to vote on this occassion shall be so conducted that,
when the chairman of the joint committee is Norwegian, then thè
Swedish delegates shall be called first and cast their votes, and after
them the Norwegians; and vice versa when the chairman is Swedish.
The voting shall take place by means of ballot-papers of equal
size and appearance in every respect, on which the name of each
candidate for the Throne shall be printed in the same type. The
chairman, who does not preside over the proceedings, shall sign his
name to the ballot-papers before they are delivered to the delegates.
In order to be valid, these ballot-papers shall be single, unmarked,
closed and rolled up.
A simple majority decides the issue.
Before the ballot-papers are counted, the “chairman shall pick
out one of them and lay it aside under seal.
If, after the call has taken place, on the opening of the ballot-
papers any one of them is found which according to the foregoing
regulations is inadmissible, it shall there and then be destroyed.
If in consequence thereof, it should turn out that the votes are equal,
the' ballot-paper that was sealed up is to be opened, which shall
then decide the matter, provided it is found to possess the qualities
mentioned ; but if it is inadmissible, then what has passed is to be
deemed to be of'no valid effect, and the voting is at once to be
recommenced afresh.
If the majority is already decided, without the application of
this means, the ballot-paper that was laid aside shall immediately
be destroyed unopened.
The minutes of the-voting shall be kept by some of the delegates
themselves-—in the Norwegian language if the chairman is a
Norwegian, in the Swedish if he is a Swede. These minutes shall
be read out aloud and adopted immediately after the voting, after
which two exactly corresponding copies shall-be made, be signed
by the whole election committee /before it dissolves, be sealed in its
presence, and, by the direction of the chairman of the committee for
each kingdom, be dispatched at Once the same day, the one copy
to the Storthing of Norway, addressed to its president ; the other to
the Estates of the kingdom of Sweden, addressed to the Jandmarshal
and the other presidents'.
These minutes shall be signed in such manner that in the copy
which is to be dispatched to the Norwegian Storthing the signatures
of the delegates from Norway shall stand first, and those of the delegates
from Sweden next; and in the one that is. to be dispatchèd to
the Estates of Sweden the signatures of the delegates from Sweden
shall stand first* and those of the delegates ’from Norway next.
After the receipt of this election return at both places, it shall
immediately, or at latest on the following day, be submitted to the
Storthing in Norway and to the Estates, of the kingdom of Sweden;
and the Storthing of Norway and the Estates of the kingdom of
Sweden shall at once take the necessary steps to inform his Royal
Majesty; or, in case of his demise, the lawful interim, Government,
of this resolution, of the representatives of both kingdoms.
4-. The King shall have the right to assemble troops; to commence
war and to conclude peace, to enter into and to -break off
alliances, to send and to receive ambassadors.
When the King proposes to commence war, he shall communicate
his views to the Government in Norway, and procure its opinion
thereon, together with a full report as to the condition of the kingdom,
with regard to its finances, means of defence and so forth.
This having been complied with, the King shall summon the Norwegian
Minister, and the Norwegian Councillors of State as well as
the Swedish Minister and Councillors,. to an extraordinary Council
of State, and then explain the reasons and circumstances which in
this case have to be taken into consideration. At the same time
the report of the Norwegian Government on the condition of this
kingdom, as well as a similar report on that of Sweden, shall be
laid on the table. The King shall ask their opinion on these subjects,
which they, each for himself, shall enter upon the minutes,
under the responsibility which the Constitution imposes upon, them,
and then the King shall have the right to take and to carry into effect
such resolution as he deems to be for the best interests of the State.
5. The Norwegian Minister of State, as" well as the two’Norwegian
Councillors of State who are in attendance upon the King [at
Stockholm during the King’s, residence in Sweden], shall have seats
and a deliberative vote in the Swedish Council of State when affairs
that affect both kingdoms are being transacted there.