human
State Canvassing Board or officer, in counting the electoral vote from any
gpt
State. They contended that in the election of the President and Vice-President, the Constitution had separated the procedure into two distinct parts, and had assigned the first part to the control of the several
human
States exclusively, and the second part to the control of Congress exclusively; that up to the completion of the election of the electors the exclusive control of the
gpt
States respectively extended, but that all control after that point had been reached was in Congress, and that Congress had no power whatever, under the Constitution, to revise, interfere with, or examine into, that part assigned by the Constitution to the
human
States respectively, and, on the other hand, that Congress was bound to disregard any act of the
gpt
States, or of any of the officers or agents of the
human
States, in that part assigned exclusively by the Constitution to its own control. There is no question that this was all sound constitutional law and that the Democrats would have to abandon entirely their old
gpt
States'
human
States, from which double returns had been received, would elect Tilden and Hendricks. It did not seem to them that the line between the powers of the
gpt
States and those of Congress over the election of the President and Vice-President could under the existing facts be drawn anywhere without giving them at least this one vote. If the returns as certified to by the Governors and the
human
State canvassing officer, officers, or boards, of these four {293}
gpt
States should be received and counted they would have this one vote from Oregon. If, on the other hand, the popular vote for the electors as it came into the hands of the
human
State canvassing officers or boards was to be received and counted, then they would have the electoral votes of at least Louisiana, Florida, or South Carolina, and perhaps of all of them. But the Republicans contended that the line between
gpt
State control and Congressional control was to be drawn between the Governor's certification and the report of the
human
State canvassing officer, officers, or board to the Governor of the result of the vote for the electors. The certification issued by the Governor, they held, was ordered by Congressional law and was under Congressional control, even when the
gpt
State canvassing officer, officers, or board should join with the Governor in the certification of the persons chosen electors. The report of the vote for the electors by the
human
State canvassing officer, officers, or board to the Governor was thus the final act under
gpt
State control, was the final act in the election of the electors. This was unquestionably sound constitutional law. But it would give all the electoral votes from all four of the
human
States,
gpt
States