In Re the Voting List

The opinion of the judges was given July 23, 1896, and is as follows : To His Excellency Charles Warren Lippitt, Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations : In response to your Excellency’s request for our opinion upon certain questions propounded by the Board of Canvassers and Registration of the city of Providence, we have the honor to submit our opinion as follows : In construing the laws in relation to the elective franchise, it must be borne in mind that the rights of voters of the several classes known to our laws are defined and secured by the Constitution. Our statutes are not intended to enlarge or diminish these rights, but to provide modes in which they may be claimed and exercised. We say, then, in answer to the first question : That a person qualified to vote only under the provisions of article 2, section 1, of the Constitution, who alienates all his real estate, is no longer so qualified, and his name should he removed immediately from the *616 voting list. It' may happen, however, that such person is also qualified to vote as a registry voter; and if so, and hfe has resided in the State two years and has, as the question supposes, paid a tax in the preceding year upon property, real or personal, assessed at $131 or more, his name, if not already there, should be added to the list prescribed in the second clause of section 3 of chapter 8 of the General Laws. The tax specified in article 7 of the amendments to the Constitution is one levied upon property without discrimination as to its kind. • We find no provision in the Constitution disfranchising such a voter when he loses his personal property or alienates his real estate. In other words, as there are two kinds of qualification, one hy ownership of real estate and the other by registration, or, in the case supposed, by registration and the payment of a tax, if the person possesses either qualification, and the requirements of age and residence are satisfied, his name should be borne on the list of persons similarly qualified. The second question, so far as it relates to State and town or city officers, is answered by the Constitution. One who votes upon certificate can only vote- for such officers as the Constitution specifies,- — that is to say: He “shall have a right to vote in the election of all general officers and members of the General Assembly.” Constitution, Art. 2, § 1. Under the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, article 2, section 1, he is qualified to vote for electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, for the provision reads: “Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors,” &c. And the Legislature of Rhode Island has directed, General Laws, chapter 13, section 1, that the people of this State who are qualified to vote for general officers shall choose the electors of President and Vice-President of the United States to which the State is entitled. Such person is also qualified to vote for representatives in Congress, because he is qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly by our Constitution, and by the Constitution of the United States, article 1, sec. 2, it is provided, *617 •that the electors for members of the house of representatives in Congress “shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.” Charles Mattbson, John H. Stiness, P. E. Tillinghast, George A. Wilbur, Horatio Rogers, Wm. W. Douglas.