revising assessor, fifty pounds, and in case of a mayor one hundred pounds as the council by bye-law determine. (2.) If there is no bye-law determining fines, the fine, in case of an alderman, councillor, elective auditor, or revising assessor, shall be twenty-five pounds, and in case of a mayor fifty pounds. (3.) The persons exempt under this section are (a.) Any person disabled by lunacy or imbecility of mind, or by deafness, (b.) Any person who, being above the age of sixty-five years, or having (4.) A fine payable under this section shall be recoverable summarily. Sect. 36.-(1.) A person elected to a corporate office may at any time, by Fine on resignawriting signed by him and delivered to the town clerk, resign the office, on tion, &c. payment of the fine provided for non-acceptance thereof. (2.) In any such case the council shall forthwith declare the office to be vacant, and signify the same by notice in writing, signed by three members of the council and countersigned by the town clerk, and fixed on the town hall, and the office shall thereupon become vacant. (3.) No person enabled by law to make an affirmation instead of taking an oath shall be liable to any fine for non-acceptance of office by reason of his refusal on conscientious grounds to take any oath or make any declaration required by this Act or to take on himself the duties of the office. Sect. 37. A person ceasing to hold a corporate office shall, unless disqualified to hold the office, be re-eligible. Sect. 38. The mayor and aldermen shall, during their respective offices, continue to be members of the council, notwithstanding anything in this Act as to councillors going out of office at the end of three years. Sect. 39. (1.) If the mayor, or an alderman or councillor- (b.) Is (except in case of illness) continuously absent from the borough, being he shall thereupon immediately become disqualified and shall cease to hold the office. (2.) In any such event the council shall forthwith declare the office to be vacant, and signify the same by notice signed by three members of the council, and countersigned by the town clerk, and fixed on the town hall, and the office shall thereupon become vacant. (3.) Where a person becomes so disqualified by being declared bankrupt, or compounding, or making an arrangement or composition, as aforesaid, the disqualification, as regards subsequent elections, shall, in case of bankruptcy, cease on his obtaining his order of discharge, and shall, in case of a compounding or composition as aforesaid, cease on payment of his debts in full, and shall, in case of an arrangement as aforesaid, cease on his obtaining his certificate of discharge. (4.) Where a person becomes so disqualified by absence, he shall be liable to the same fine as for non-acceptance of office, recoverable summarily, but the disqualification shall, as regards subsequent elections, cease on his return. Re-eligibility of office holders. Mayor and alder. members of men to continue council. Avoidance of office by bankruptcy or absence. 32 & 33 Vict. C. 71. Sect. 40.-(1.) On a casual vacancy in a corporate office, an election shall be Filling of casual vacancies. & 46 Vict. 45 C. 50, S. 40. Penalty on unqualified person acting in office. Validity of acts done notwithstanding dis qualification, &c. Duties of town clerk, deputy, and treasurer, during vacancy or incapacity. Preparation and revision of parish burgess lists. 41 & 42 Vict. C. 26. The Lurgess roll and ward rolls. held by the same persons and in the same manner as an election to fill an ordinary vacany; and the person elected shall hold the office until the time when the person in whose place he is elected would regularly have gone out of office, and he shall then go out of office. (2.) In case of more than one casual vacancy in the office of councillor being filled at the same election, the councillor elected by the smallest number of votes shall be deemed to be elected in the place of him who would regularly have first gone out of office, and the councillor elected by the next smallest number of votes shall be deemed to be elected in the place of him who would regularly have next gone out of office, and so with respect to the others; and if there has not been a contested election, or if any doubt arises, the order of rotation shall be determined by the council. (3.) Non-acceptance of office by a person elected creates a casual vacancy. Sect. 41. (1.) If any person acts in a corporate office without having made the declaration by this Act required, or without being qualified at the time of making the declaration, or after ceasing to be qualified, or after becoming disqualified, he shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, recoverable by action. (2.) A person being in fact enrolled in the burgess roll shall not be liable to a fine for acting in a corporate office on the ground only that he was not entitled to be enrolled therein. Sect. 42.--(1.) The acts and proceedings of a person in possession of a corporate office, and acting therein, shall, notwithstanding his disqualification or want of qualification, be as valid and effectual as if he had been qualified. (2.) An election of a person to a corporate office shall not be liable to be questioned by reason of a defect in the title, or want of title, of the person before whom the election was had, if that person was then in actual possession of, or acting in, the office giving the right to preside at the election. (3.) A burgess roll shall not be liable to be questioned by reason of a defect in the title, or want of title, of the mayor or any revising authority by whom it is evised, if he was then in actual possession and exercise of the office of mayor or revising authority. Sect. 43. If there is no town clerk, and no deputy town clerk, or there is no treasurer, or the town clerk, deputy town clerk, or treasurer (as the case may be) is incapable of acting, all acts by law authorized or required to be done by or with espect to the town clerk or the treasurer (as the case may be) may, subject to the rovisions of any other Act, be done by or with respect to a person appointed in ihat behalf by the mayor. PART III. PREPARATIONS FOR AND PROCEDURE AT ELECTIONS. Parish Burgess Lists; Burgess Rolls; Ward Rolls. Sect. 44. (1.) Where the whole or part of the area of a borough is coextensive with or included in the area of a parliamentary borough, the lists of Lurgesses are to be made out and revised, and claims and objections relating thereto are to be made, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878. (2.) Where no part of the area of a borough is co-extensive with or included in the area of a parliamentary borough, the lists of burgesses shall be made out and revised, and claims and objections relating thereto may be made, in accordance, as nearly as may be, with the provisions of Part I. of the Third Schedule. (3.) In either case the lists shall be styled the parish burgess lists. Sect. 45.-(1.) When the parish burgess lists have been revised and signed, the revising authority shall deliver them to the town clerk, and a printed copy thereof, examined by him and signed by him, shall be the burgess roll of the borough. (2.) The burgess roll shall be completed on or before the twentieth of October in each year, and shall come into operation on the first of November in that year, and shall continue in operation for the twelve months beginning on that day. (3.) The names in the burgess roll shall be numbered by wards or by polling districts, unless in any case the council direct that the same be numbered consecutively without reference to wards or polling districts. (4.) Where the borough has no wards, the burgess roll shall be made in one general roll for the whole borough. (5.) Where the borough has wards, the burgess roll shall be made in separate rolls, called ward rolls, one for each ward, containing the names of the persons entitled to vote in that ward, and the ward rolls collectively shall constitute the burgess roll. (6.) A burgess shall not be enrolled in more than one ward roll. (7.) Where a duplicate of a burgess list is made under section thirty-one of the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878, it shall have the same effect as the original, and may be delivered instead thereof. (8.) Every person enrolled in the burgess roll shall be deemed to be enrolled as a burgess, and every person not enrolled in the burgess roll shall be deemed to be not enrolled as a burgess. 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50, s. 45 Arrangement of (9.) No stamp duty shall be payable in respect of the enrolment of a burgess. Sect. 46.-(1.) If and as far as the council so direct, the parish burgess lists, and the burgess roll, and the ward rolls (if any), and the lists of claimants and lists and rolls. respondents, or any of those documents, shall be arranged in the same order in which the qualifying properties appear in the rate book for the parish in which they are situate, or otherwise in such order as will cause those lists and rolls to record the qualifying properties in successive order in the street or other place in which they are situate. (2.) Subject to any such direction, and to the provisions of this Act as to the polling districts, the arrangement of the lists and rolls shall be alphabetical. Sect. 47.—(1.) Where the parish burgess lists are revised under the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878, the burgess roll is subject to alteration or correction in manner provided by section thirty-five of that Act. (2.) Where the parish burgess lists are revised under this Act, any person whose claim has been rejected or name expunged at the revision of the lists may apply, within two months after the last sitting of the revision court, to the High Court in the Queen's Bench Division for a mandamus to the mayor to insert his name in the burgess roll; and thereupon the court shall inquire into the title of the applicant to be enrolled. (3.) If the court grants a mandamus, the mayor shall insert the name in the burgess roll, and shall add thereto the words "by order of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice," and shall subscribe his name to those words. Sect. 48.-(1.) The town clerk shall cause the parish burgess lists, the lists of claimants and respondents, and the burgess roll, to be printed, and shall deliver printed copies to any person on payment of a reasonable price for each copy. (2.) Subject to section thirty of the Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878, the proceeds of sale shall go to the borough fund. Sect. 49.-(1.) The overseers of each parish shall at the same time that they make the parish burgess list make a list of the persons entitled in respect of the occupation of property in that parish to be elected councillors, as being resident within fifteen miles although beyond seven miles from the borough. (2.) The provisions of this Act as to the parish burgess lists, and claims and objections relating thereto, and the revision of those lists shall, as nearly as circumstances admit, apply to the lists made under this section. (3.) The town clerk shall arrange the names entered in these lists, when revised, in alphabetical order as a separate list (in this Act called the separate non-resident list), with an appropriate heading, at the end of the burgess roll. Correction of burgess roll. Printing and sale of burgess roll and other documents. Separate list of persons qualified to be councillors but not to be burgesses. 45 & 46 Vict. C. 50, S. 50. Borough and ward elections. Title to vote. Day of election. Returning officer at election. Notice of election. Nomination of candidates. Relation of nomination to election. Publication of uncontested election. Mode of conducting poll at contested election 35 & 36 Vict. C. 33. Election of Councillors. Sect. 50.-(1.) Where a borough has no wards, there shall be one election of councillors for the whole borough. (2.) Where a borough has wards, there shall be a separate election of councillors for each ward. Sect. 51.-(1.) At an election of councillors a person shall be entitled to subscribe a nomination paper, and to demand and receive a voting paper, and to vote, if he is enrolled in the burgess roll, or, in the case of a ward election, the ward roll, and not otherwise. (2.) No person shall subscribe a nomination paper in or for more than one ward, or vote in more than one ward. (3.) Nothing in this section shall entitle any person to do any act therein mentioned who is prohibited by law from doing it, or relieve him from any penalty to which he may be liable for doing it. Sect. 52. The ordinary day of election of councillors shall be the first of November. Sect. 53. (1.) At an election of councillors for a whole borough the returning officer shall be the mayor. (2.) At an election for a ward the returning officer shall be an alderman assigned for that purpose by the council at the meeting of the ninth of November. Sect. 54. Nine days at least before the day for the election of a councillor, the town clerk shall prepare and sign a notice thereof, and publish it by fixing it on the town hall, and, in the case of a ward election, in some conspicuous place in the ward. Sect. 55. The nomination of candidates for the office of councillor shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules in Part II. of the Third Schedule. Sect. 56.-(1.) If the number of valid nominations exceeds that of the vacancies, the councillors shall be elected from among the persons nominated. (2.) If the number of valid nominations is the same as that of the vacancies, the persons nominated shall be deemed to be elected. (3.) If the number of valid nominations is less than that of the vacancies, the persons nominated shall be deemed to be elected, and such of the retiring councillors for the borough or ward as were highest on the poll at their election, or, if the poll was equal, or there was no poll, as are selected for that purpose by the mayor, shall be deemed to be re-elected to make up the required number. (4.) If there is no valid nomination, the retiring councillors shall be deemed to be re-elected. Sect. 57. If an election of councillors is not contested, the returning officer shall publish a list of the persons elected not later than eleven o'clock in the morning on the day of election. Sect. 58.-(1.) If an election of councillors is contested, the poll shall, as far as circumstances admit, be conducted as the poll at a contested parliamentary election is by the Ballot Act, 1872, directed to be conducted, and, subject to the modifications expressed in Part III. of the Third Schedule, and to the other provisions of this Act, the provisions of the Ballot Act, 1872, relating to a poll at a parliamentary election (including the provisions relating to the duties of the returning officer after the close of the poll), shall apply to a poll at an election of councillors. (2.) Every person entitled to vote may vote for any number of candidates not exceeding the number of vacancies. (3.) The poll shall commence at nine o'clock in the forenoon and close at four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. (4.) But if one hour elapses during which no vote is tendered, and the returning officer has not received notice that any person has within that hour been prevented from coming to the poll by any riot, violence, or other unlawful means, the 45 & 46 Vict. returning officer may, if he thinks fit, close the poll at any time before four o'clock. c. 50, s. 58. (5.) Where an equality of votes is found to exist between any candidates, and the addition of a vote would entitle any of those candidates to be declared elected, the returning officer, whether entitled or not to vote in the first instance, may give such additional vote by word of mouth or in writing. (6.) Nothing in the Ballot Act, 1872, as applied by this Act, shall be deemed to authorise the appointment of any agents of a candidate at a municipal election; but if, in the case of a municipal election, an agent of a candidate is appointed, and notice in writing of the appointment is given to the returning officer, one clear day before the polling day, then the provisions of the Ballot Act, 1872, with respect to agents of candidates, shall, as far as regards that agent, apply in the case of that election. Sect. 59.-(1.) At an election of councillors, the presiding officer shall, if required by two burgesses, or by a candidate or his agent, put to any person offering to vote, at the time of his presenting himself to vote, but not afterwards, the following questions, or either of them : (a.) Are you the person enrolled in the burgess [or ward] roll now in force for this borough [or ward] as follows [read the whole entry from the roll]? (b.) Have you already voted at the present election [add, in case of an election for several wards, in this or any other ward]? (2.) The vote of a person required to answer either of these questions shall not be received until he has answered it. (3.) If any person wilfully makes a false answer thereto he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour. (4.) Save as by this Act authorized, no inquiry shall be permitted at an election as to the right of any person to vote. Election of Aldermen. Sect. 60.-(1.) The ordinary day of election of aldermen shall be the ninth of November, and the election shall be held at the quarterly meeting of the council. (2.) The election shall be held immediately after the election of the mayor, or, if there is a sheriff, the appointment of the sheriff. (3.) An outgoing alderman, although mayor elect, shall not vote. (4.) Every person entitled to vote may vote for any number of persons not exceeding the number of vacancies, by signing and personally delivering at the meeting to the chairman a voting paper containing the surnames and other names and places of abode and descriptions of the persons for whom he votes. (5.) The chairman, as soon as all the voting papers have been delivered to him, shall openly produce and read them, or cause them to be read, and then deliver them to the town clerk to be kept for twelve months. (6.) In case of equality of votes the chairman, although as an outgoing alderman or otherwise not entitled to vote in the first instance, shall have the casting vote. (7.) The persons, not exceeding the number of vacancies, who have the greatest number of votes, shall be declared by the chairman to be, and thereupon shall be, elected. Election of Mayor. Questions which may be put to voters. Time and mode of election of aldermen. Sect. 61.—(1.) The ordinary day of election of mayor shall be the ninth of Time and mode November. (2.) The election of mayor shall be the first business transacted at the quarterly meeting of the council on the day of election. (3.) An outgoing alderman may vote although the person for whom he votes is an alderman. (4.) In case of equality of votes, the chairman, although not entitled to vote in the first instance, shall have the casting vote. of election of mayor. |