§ 94. “Certified by the Governor.”
In the United States, the returns from the State authorities, declaring that a certain person has been elected senator, are only primà facie evidence of qualification. (Spaulding v. Mead, Cl. and Hall [U.S.] 157; Reed v. Cosden, id. 353.) The refusal of the State executive to grant a certificate does not prejudice the right of a person entitled to a seat. (Richards' Case, Cl. and Hall [U.S.] 95; Baker, Annot. Const. pp. 10, 11. See Note, § 74, supra.)
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Qualifications of senator.
16. The qualifications of a senator 95 shall be the same as those of a member of the House of Representatives.
UNITED STATES.—No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.—Const. Art. I., sec. 3, sub-sec. 3.CANADA.—The qualifications of a Senator shall be as follows:—
- (1.) He shall be of the full age of thirty years.
- (2.) He shall be either a natural-born subject of the Queen, or a subject of the Queen naturalized by an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of one of the Provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, before the Union, or of the Parliament of Canada after the Union:
- (3.) He shall be legally or equitably seised as of freehold, for his own use and benefit, of lands or tenements held in free and common socage, or seised or possessed for his own use and benefit of lands or tenements held in franc-alleu or in roture, within the Province for which he is appointed, of the value of four thousand dollars over and above all rents, dues, debts, charges, mortgages, and incumbrances due or payable out of or charged on or affecting the same:
- (4.) His real and personal property shall be together worth four thousand dollars over and above his debts and liabilities:
- (5.) He shall be resident in the Province for which he is appointed:
- (6.) In the case of Quebec, he shall have his real property qualification in the electoral division for which he is appointed, or shall be resident in that division.—B.N.A. Act, 1867, sec. 23.
HISTORICAL NOTE.—In the Commonwealth Bill of 1891 the qualifications prescribed for a Senator differed in three respects from those of a member of the House of Representatives:—(1.) He must have been of the age of 30 years—as against 21 years for the other House; (2.) He must have been resident in the Commonwealth for five years—as against three in the other House; (3.) He must, if not natural-born, have been naturalized for five years—as against three years for the other House. In Committee there was some debate as to the qualifications of residence and naturalization. (Conv. Deb, Syd. [1891] pp. 605-10.)
At the Adelaide session, 1897, the clause was introduced substantially in its present form. In Committee, Mr. Walker moved an amendment requiring that a Senator should be of the age of 25 years, but this was negatived. (Conv. Deb., Adel., p. 1191.)
At the Sydney session, a suggestion by the Legislative Council of Victoria, to add “with the exception that he must be of the full age of 30 years” was negatived by 29 votes to 4; and a suggestion by both Houses of the Parliament of Tasmania, requiring that Senators should be of the age of 25 years, was also negatived. (Conv. Deb., Syd. [1897] pp. 989-90.) The words “the same as” were added as a drafting amendment.