§16 Same; Seats for Officers and Members of Two Houses in Joint Session

Summary

At a joint meeting of both Houses, seats must be set up like this: the President of the Senate sits in the Speaker’s chair, the Speaker sits immediately to the President’s left, Senators sit on the presiding officer’s right, Representatives take the rest of the hall, the tellers and the Senate and House clerks sit at the Clerk’s desk, and other officers sit in front of that desk and beside the Speaker’s platform. The joint meeting cannot end until the electoral votes are fully counted and the result announced. No recess is allowed unless a question about counting the votes (or another matter under the same rules) comes up. If that happens, either House may, on its own, order a recess for itself that cannot go past the next calendar day (except Sunday) and must end by 10:00 a.m. If the count and declaration are not finished before the fifth calendar day after the first session, neither House may take any more recesses.