Massachusetts Constitution of 1780
209
ii.—the Senate shall be the first branch of the legislature; and the Senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz: There shall be a meeting on the first Monday in April annually, forever, of the inhabitants of
each town in the several counties of this Commonwealth; to be called by
the Selectmen, and warned in due course of law, at least seven days before the first Monday in April, for the purpose of electing persons to be
Senators and Counsellors. And at such meetings every male inhabitant
of twenty-one years of age and upwards, having a freehold estate within
the Commonwealth, of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate
of the value of sixty pounds, shall have a right to give in his vote for the
Senators for the district of which he is an inhabitant. And to remove all
doubts concerning the meaning of the word ‘‘inhabitant’’ in this constitution, every person shall be considered as an inhabitant, for the purpose
of electing and being elected into any office, or place within this State, in
that town, district, or plantation, where he dwelleth, or hath his home.
The Selectmen of the several towns shall preside at such meetings impartially; and shall receive the votes of all the inhabitants of such towns
present and qualified to vote for Senators, and shall sort and count them
in open town meeting, and in presence of the Town Clerk, who shall
make a fair record in presence of the Selectmen, and in open town meeting, of the name of every person voted for, and of the number of votes
against his name; and a fair copy of this record shall be attested by the
Selectmen and the Town-Clerk, and shall be sealed up, directed to the
Secretary of the Commonwealth for the time being, with a superscription, expressing the purport of the contents thereof, and delivered by the
Town-Clerk of such towns, to the Sheriff of the county in which such
town lies, thirty days at least before the last Wednesday in May annually;
or it shall be delivered into the Secretary’s office seventeen days at least
before the said last Wednesday in May, and the Sheriff of each county
shall deliver all such certifications by him received, in to the Secretary’s
office seventeen days before the said last Wednesday in May.
And the inhabitants of plantations unincorporated, qualified as this
Constitution provides, who are or shall be empowered and required to
assess taxes upon themselves toward the support of government, shall
have the same privilege of voting for Counsellors and Senators, in the
plantations where they reside, as town inhabitants have in their respective towns; and the plantation-meetings for that purpose shall be held