NOTE: - 15 -

...from the lists, having learned the opinion of the two competent Assemblies concerning both the religious and civil qualifications of the candidates, [the General Assembly] shall elect the Patriarch by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of votes. The General Assembly may also cast a ballot for an individual outside the list presented by the Civil Assembly; but the name of that individual must be designated in the list prepared by the General Religious Assembly, because no election may fall upon a person remaining outside this ecclesiastical list. If an absolute majority of votes is not obtained on the first occasion, the names of the two persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be announced by the Locum Tenens (*Teghapah*) to the members of the General Assembly; and the second ballot shall lawfully proceed upon those two. At the time of this second balloting, those National Deputies who are unable to be present may send their votes to the Assembly by a signed and sealed letter, addressing it either to the Locum Tenens or to the Chairman (*Atenapet*) of the General Assembly. After the ballots have been placed in a special ballot-box, the counting of votes shall be carried out by the bureau (*divan*) of the General Assembly, in the presence of eight examiners—four ecclesiastics and four laymen—elected from within the said Assembly. If it should happen that a second [time]... *[Armeno-Turkish parallel text:]* ...upon [having become] acquainted with the opinion of both Assemblies possessing competence and authority regarding the capacities, both spiritual and temporal, of the persons eligible for election, [the General Assembly] elects the Patriarch by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of votes. Although in the General Assembly (*Meclis-i Umumi*) a vote may also be cast for an individual outside the register presented by the Temporal Assembly (*Meclis-i Cismani*), the name of that individual must be recorded in the aforesaid register, since the election of persons whose names are not contained in the register arranged by the General Spiritual Assembly (*Meclis-i Umumi-i Ruhani*) shall not be permissible. In the event that an absolute majority of votes is not achieved on the first occasion, the names of the two persons who have obtained the greatest number of votes shall be communicated to the members of the General Assembly by the aforementioned Locum Tenens (*Kaymakam*); and in the second round, votes shall be cast for these two persons according to the regulation. National Deputies (*Millet vekilleri*) who are unable to be present at the casting of the second vote may convey their votes to the said Assembly by means of a sealed and signed letter to be sent addressed to the aforementioned Locum Tenens or to the head of the bureau (*kalem reisi*) of the General Assembly. After the ballots have been placed into a special small box, the votes cast [shall be verified] through the bureau of the General Assembly, in the presence of eight persons elected from within the said Assembly, four of whom being of the clergy and four of the laity...