SEC. 16. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall be printed and made public immediately after the adjournment of the General Assembly.
SEC. 17. Any member of either House may dissent from and protest against any act or resolve, which he may think injurious to the public, or any individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the journal.
SEC. 18. The House of Representatives shall choose their own Speaker and other officers.
SEC. 19. The Lieutenant-Governor shall preside in the Senate, but shall have no vote unless it may be equally divided.
SEC. 20. The Senate shall choose its other officers and also a Speaker (_pro tempore_) in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor.
SEC. 21. The style of the acts shall be: "The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact."
[Sidenote: Powers of the General Assembly.]
SEC. 22. Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and election of its own members, shall sit upon its own adjournment from day to day, prepare bills to be passed into laws; and the two Houses may also jointly adjourn to any future day or other place.
[Sidenote: Bills and resolutions to be read three times, etc.]
SEC. 23. All bills and resolutions of a legislative nature shall be read three times in each House, before they pass into laws; and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both Houses.
SEC. 24. Each member of the General Assembly, before taking his seat, shall take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of North Carolina, and will faithfully discharge his duty as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives.
SEC. 25. The terms of office for Senators and members of the House of Representatives shall commence at the time of their election.
SEC. 26. Upon motion made and seconded in either House by one-fifth of the members present, the yeas and nays upon any question shall be taken and entered upon the journals.
[Sidenote: Election for members of the General Assembly.]
SEC. 27. The election for members of the General Assembly shall be held for the respective districts and counties, at the places where they are now held, or may be directed hereafter to be held, in such manner as may be prescribed by law, on the first Thursday in August, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and every two years thereafter. But the General Assembly may change the time of holding the elections.
