In force, Feb.[February] 20, 1841.
An ACT to amend and explain the Election Law, approved, January tenth, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.
1
Qualification of voter
Proviso
Form of oath
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That hereafter, at any election held in this State, all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, and having resided in the State six months, next preceding such election, shall enjoy the right of an elector, whether such elector has been naturalized or not: Provided, That when any such person shall present himself to give his vote, and either of the judges shall suspect that such person does not possess the aforesaid qualification of age and residence, or either, or if his vote shall be challenged by any elector, who has previously voted at such election, the judges of the election shall tender to such person the oath or affirmation in the following form: “I, A.B. do solemnly swear, or affirm, (as the case may be) that I am a resident of the county of in the State of Illinois, that I have resided in this State for the period of six months immediately preceding this election, that I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief, attained to the age of twenty-one years, and that I have not voted at this election.”2
Vote to be taken, unless proved false
Sec. 2. Any person so offering his vote at such election, and shall take such oath or affirmation, or shall offer to take such oath or affirmation, as prescribed in the preceding section, his vote shall be received, unless it shall be proved by evidence satisfactory to a majority of the judges that such oath or affirmation is false; and if such person shall refuse to take such oath or affirmation, his vote shall be rejected; and if any person shall take the oath or affirmation as is before named, knowing such oath or affirmation to be false, he shall be deemed guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury, and punished accordingly.
Penalty for neglect of duty of judges of election
Sec. 3. If any judge or judges of election shall refuse to receive the vote of any such person so residing in this State, six months before election, and being at the time of offering his vote, twenty-one years of age, as stated in the first section of this act, and he shall comply or offer to comply with the first section of this act, then every judge, or the judges so refusing or neglecting to receive the vote of the person aforesaid, and to record it as a legal vote, shall be liable to be indicted, and on conviction shall be fined five hundred dol-
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lars, and imprisoned not exceeding thirty days, in the county jail, and such judge or judges may also be sued in an action of case by the person aforesaid, and upon proof of such refusal or neglect in said judge or judges to receive and record the vote of such person so offering to vote, damages may be recovered of such judge or judges not exceeding five hundred dollars.3
Penalty for neglect of duty of county clerk
Sec. 4. If the clerk of the county commissioners’ court shall neglect or refuse to perform the duties as pointed out in the seventeenth section of an act entitled “An act regulating elections,” approved January tenth, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, he shall be liable to be indicted, and on conviction shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned not exceeding thirty days, and may be sued in an action of trespass on the case for damages not exceeding five hundred dollars by the person injured by reason of the neglect or refusal of such clerk.4
Persons mutilating or secreting poll books to be indicted
Sec. 5. If any person shall mutilate or erase any name, or figure, or word, in a poll book, taken or kept at any election, or if any person shall take away such poll book from the place where it has been deposited for safe keeping, with an intention of destroying the same, or to prevent the election of any person, or if any person shall destroy any poll book so taken and kept at any election, he or she shall be liable to be indicted, and on conviction, shall be fined five hundred dollars, and imprisoned not exceeding sixty days in the county jail: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall conflict with the one hundred and sixty-fourth section of the criminal code5.6
Approved, February 20, 1841.
1In response to a Senate resolution referred to the Committee on Elections on December 4, 1840, requesting an amendment to the election law, John Pearson introduced SB 112 on January 15, 1841. The Senate passed an amendment on February 10 adding the final proviso. The next day, the Senate passed the bill. The House of Representatives rejected an amendment on February 13 that would have added an additional section by a vote of 27 yeas and 50 nays, Abraham Lincoln voting nay. The House passed the bill on February 16. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 20 and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 380, 391, 392-93, 409; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 44, 167, 179, 283-284, 295, 329, 337, 367.
2The 1829 election law did not specify qualifications for voters. The oath given in this section is the same as that given in Section 12 of the 1829 act.
“An Act Regulating Elections,” 10 January 1829, Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 58.
3Section 23 of the 1829 law provided that judges who improperly rejected votes would be liable to a $50 fine to be recovered in an action of debt in the circuit court, one half going to the county and the other half to the voter.
“An Act Regulating Elections,” 10 January 1829, Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 66.
4Section 17 of the 1829 election law required the clerks of county commissioners’ courts to deliver abstracts of their county’s votes to the Secretary of State, but did not specify punishment for refusal to act.
“An Act Regulating Elections,” 10 January 1829, Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 62.
5Section 164 of the criminal code lists the criminal convictions that disqualify a person from being a voter, juror, or office holder in Illinois. The 1829 act did not specify any punishment for destruction or theft of poll books.
“An Act relative to Criminal Jurisprudence,” 6 January 1827, Revised Laws of Illinois (1833), 171-219.
6The Senate passed an amendment on February 10, adding the final proviso.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 283.

Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841), 111-12, GA Session: 12-2,