[Sidenote: Fraudulent voting and unlawful voting.] [Sidenote: The recall of Pope and the appointment of Meade in his stead.] The next step in the procedure was the submission of these constitutions to the voters. The registration was effected in the same manner as for the vote on the question of holding the conventions, and the election of the delegates; and the elections were held, as before, under the direction and control of the military commanders. The voting upon the question of ratification came off first in Alabama. General Pope had issued orders that the votes of persons registered in one precinct might be received in another, and that "State" officers and legislative members should be elected at the same election with the vote on ratification, and by the same voters. There is no doubt that the General only desired to secure the freedmen, who were then moving about restlessly, in their right of suffrage under the Reconstruction Acts, and to expedite the process of reconstruction so far as possible. But he undoubtedly opened the door to fraudulent voting by offering unrivalled opportunities for repeating, and he also violated the law and practice under the Constitution of the United States in regard to the qualified electors of "State" officers and legislators. Such officers and legislators could have been constitutionally elected only by the electors {152} designated in the constitution submitted for adoption. The qualifications of the electors who vote upon the question of the adoption of the first "State" constitution are necessarily fixed by Congress, but Congress has no constitutional power to fix the qualifications of the electors of "State" officers and legislators. Neither has the constitutional convention, which frames the first "State" constitution any such power, for the constitution which it frames is only a proposition, and ratification by the electors designated by Congress is necessary to its validity. Furthermore, any resolution which it might pass ordering the election of "State" officers or legislators by the electors designated by the Congressional statute is only a proposition to those electors, which must be accepted by them by a preliminary vote before they can proceed to the election of such officers and legislators. The General certainly did not understand these niceties of constitutional law and practice, and his desire to hurry up the re-establishment of civil government was rather laudable than otherwise. The President, however, who had in his Attorney-General one of the ablest lawyers of the country, understood well the constitutional limitations upon the General's powers and duties. He recalled the reckless commander and sent the more conservative Meade to take his place, December 28th, 1867. [Sidenote: Rejection of the constitution in Alabama.]