The House of Representatives, shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.] The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Notes to Decisions
Elections.
Pursuant to U.S. Const. art I § 2 and § 4, each state has a wide discretion in the formulation of an elective system for the choice by the people of representatives in Congress, and accordingly, the state has the authority to regulate the manner of conducting elections by enacting such laws as will secure the secrecy of the ballot, the purity of elections, and guard against the abuse of elective franchise. Dillon v. King, 1974-NMSC-096, 87 N.M. 79, 529 P.2d 745, 1974 N.M. LEXIS 1482 (N.M. 1974).
OPINIONS OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
Elections.
Original nominations by major political parties for the office of United States representative are made in accordance with the Primary Election Law, 1-8-10 NMSA 1978, et seq., or not at all. A political party committee is authorized to select a nominee for that office only in the event there is a vacancy in the party’s list of nominees. Where there has been no nominee chosen in the primary, there can be no vacancy. The fact that in the event of a special election, a party would be entitled to nominate a candidate to fill the remaining term does not, in any way, entitle the party state central committee to nominate a candidate for the general election to fill the unexpired portion of a representative’s office for the next succeeding term. 1979-1982 N.M. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 176.