Proviso.

Time and

elections.

seventh section of this act for the election of president and other officers; the chief engineer of the fire department shall be elected every two years by the members of said department, subject to the approval of the council; and a board of engineers, which shall consist of a chief engineer and seven assistants who shall be elected by the respective companies in said city, one of whom shall be a member of one of the companies located in the first assembly district, and one of whom shall be a member of some company located in the second assembly district, and one of whom shall be a member of a company located in the third assembly district, and two from the companies located in the city of Hudson, and two from the companies located in the city o: Bergen, as the same were constituted before the act of consolidation, said assistant engineers to hold their respective offices for the term of two years from the date of their election; provided, that no two assistant engineers shall be elected at the same time who shall be members of the same company; the ward officers to be elected shall be, for each ward, three judges of election, (except where the ward is divided into election districts, and then three judges for each district), two aldermen and one constable, one chosen freeholder, one commissioner of appeals in cases of taxation, a clerk who shall be the clerk of election, and perform all the other duties required by law of the clerks of the townships in this state, as far as the same are not otherwise provided for by this charter, (and in case any ward shall be divided into election districts, then there shall be elected one clerk for each district); and each ward, for general purposes not provided by this act, shall be considered a township; and each of the assessors shall in the meeting of the county assessors, have the same voice as the assessor of any township in the county.

7. And be it enacted, That the city election shall be held mode of city on the second Tuesday in April in each year, at such place or places in each ward as the aldermen shall designate; the election shall be held and conducted by the judges of election and clerk of election, at the same hour, in the same manner, and under the same regulations in all things as prescribed by law for the state elections for members of the legislature, except that the returns of the elections shall be made to the city clerk within seventy-two hours after the closing of the polls, which returns shall be full, true and correct copies of the original statements of the result of such election made

by said judges, and shall be signed by them with their own hands, and attested by the clerk; and the city clerk shall, when he receives said returns, immediately file the same in his office as official papers; the first election in April, eighteen hundred and seventy, shall be held in each ward at the place designated for the election in that ward, under the charter of the city in which that ward now is, and shall be held by the judges and clerk of election, elected or appointed for said ward, under the present charter of said city; the returns of such first election shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the present city of Jersey. City, and the first board of canvassers shall meet in the council chamber of said city, and the clerk of that city shall be their clerk, and their statement of the result shall be filed in the office of the clerk of said city; that the first board of canvassers shall consist of the judges of election appointed to attend for that purpose, and the aldermen or members of the council of the city of Bergen, and of such aldermen or members of the council of the cities of Hudson and Jersey City, as may continue in office after the first Monday in May next.

to vote.

8. And be it enacted, That every person who would, by the who entitled existing laws of this state, be entitled to vote at an election for members of the legislature if held on that day, shall be entitled to vote at the charter election, and every person voting shall vote in the ward or district where he shall actually reside, and in no other.

clared.

9. And be it enacted, That the person or persons re- Election deceiving the greatest number of votes of those given in the city for any city office, and of the votes given in each ward, respectively, for an office in that ward, shall be elected to that office.

result to be

ers.

10. And be it enacted, That the judges of election in each statement of ward, or election district, in every such election shall appoint evered to one of their number to attend the meeting of the board of city canvasscity canvassers, hereinafter provided for, as a member thereof, and shall deliver to the judge who shall be so appointed the original statement of the result of such ward or election district, which shall be certified as herein before directed; and it shall be the duty of the judges of election who shall have been so appointed to attend the meeting of the board of city canvassers for such election as members thereof.

11. And be it enacted, That the judges of election to whom Board, how the original statements of the result of such election in the

constituted.

Meeting of board.

bers..

wards, or election districts, to which they respectively belong shall have been delivered, as directed in the preceding section of this act, together with the aldermen whose term of office will not expire till after the next succeeding charter election, shall constitute the board of city canvassers; a majority of said board shall be a quorum, and the city clerk shall be clerk of said board; that such board shall meet on the Saturday next after the election, at five o'clock in the afternoon of that day, at the council chamber in said city; and at that hour, without delay, the members of said board who shall be then present, if more than six in number, shall proceed to choose one of their number, who shall be chairman thereof; and as soon as such chairman shall be appointed it shall be his duty to administer to each of the other members, and of each of the other members to take an oath or affirmation in the following form: "I do swear, (or affirm, Oath of mem- as the case may be) that I will faithfully and impartially execute the duties of a member of this board of city canvassers according to law;" and thereupon one of the members of said board shall administer to said chairman, and said chairman shall take an oath or affirmation in the same form as that taken by the other members of said board; and if the city clerk shall be absent at such meeting at the time appointed therefor, the board shall forthwith, after the oaths or affirmations shall have been administered as herein before directed, proceed to appoint a fit person to be clerk of such board; and before proceeding to canvass and estimate votes, the chairman of the said board shall administer to the clerk thereof, and the said clerk shall take an oath or affirmation in the following form: "I do swear Oath of clerk. (or affirm, as the case may be), that I will faithfully execute the duties of a clerk of this board according to law;" thereupon the judges of election, who shall be present as members of said board, shall produce the original statements which shall have been delivered to them respectively as hereinbefore directed, and lay the same before such board, and from them the said board shall proceed to ascertain the number of votes given at such election for the several persons voted thereat for the several offices mentioned in such statements.

Certified copy

of statement

12. And be it enacted, That if any of the judges who may be used shall have been appointed to attend the meeting of the board not produced. of city canvassers as a member thereof, shall be unable to at tend such meeting on the day appointed therefor, he shall

if original is

at or before the hour of five o'clock in the afternoon of that day, deliver or safely transmit to the city clerk the original statement of the result of the election, which shall have been delivered to him as herein before directed; and if from any cause such original statement shall not be produced to said board of city canvassers, at the time appointed for the meeting of the said board, the city clerk shall produce and lay before the said board the certified copy thereof filed in his office; and thereupon the said board shall proceed to make their statement and declaration, from such certified copy in the same manner and with the same effect as if the original statement had been produced by the judge of election to whom the same was delivered.

made.

13. And be it enacted, That the said board of can- written statevassers shall make a written statement of the whole number ment to be of votes given for mayor of said city, as well as for the several other officers to be elected for the said city, and the several districts and wards thereof, the names of the persons for whom such votes were given, and the number of votes given for each.

14. And be it enacted, That upon such statement the board shall proceed to determine and declare what person or persons have received the highest number of votes for each of the offices mentioned in such statement; the statement and final determination of the board shall be certified by the presiding officer and clerk, and filed in the office of the city clerk.

Statement of

board to be

filed.

declaration to

15. And be it enacted, That the clerk shall keep Statement and proper minutes of the proceedings of the board, and enter be published. the same with the statement and declaration of the board in the book of minutes of the aldermen; said statement and de claration shall, within one week thereafter, be published in three of the newspapers printed in said city; and within ten days after the board shall have determined what persons shall have been elected to the several offices in said city, the said clerk shall cause written notice of his election to be given to each of the persons so elected.

to be made in

year eighteen

16. And be it enacted, That at the annual charter Returns, how election to be held in the year one thousand eight hundred case of elecand seventy, the returns of the election shall be made to the tion in the city clerks of the respective cities comprising this city, within hundred and the same time and in the same manner as provided in the seventh section of this act, and the said city clerks shall,

seventy.

Board of canvassers for

teen hundred

when they receive said returns, immediately file the same in their respective offices as official papers.

17. And be it enacted, That the board of city canvassers the year eigh for the annual charter election of eighteen hundred and and seventy. Seventy, shall consist of the judges of election who shall have been appointed to attend the meeting of the board of city canvassers as members thereof, as provided in section tenth of this act, together with the city clerks of the respective cities hereby consolidated, and the said board shall forthwith, after taking the oaths or affirmations required by law, proceed to appoint some fit person to be clerk of said board, and the said board shall proceed in the same manner and perform the same duties as the board of city canvassers hereinbefore provided for by this act.

State and

tions.

18. And be it enacted, That all elections hereafter to be county elec- held within the said city for members of the senate, and general assembly of this state, for sheriff, clerk, surrogate and coroners of the county of Hudson, and for members of the house of representatives of the United States, and electors of president and vice president of the United States, or for any other officers of the general or state governments, or officers of the said county of Hudson to be elected by the people, shall be held in the several wards or districts of the said city, at the places therein appointed by the aldermen for holding the city elections on the day or days which now are, or hereafter may be designated for holding such elections; the polls shall be opened at seven o'clock in the forenoon, and closed at seven o'clock in the afternoon, and the judges of election, before mentioned, shall preside at and conduct all such elections, and the clerks of the said wards or districts shall be the clerks of such elections in their respective wards or districts; every person in said city entitled to vote at such elections shall give his vote in the ward, or district, wherein he actually resides at the time of such election, and not elsewhere; and in case any person, at any election whatever held in said city, shall fraudulently vote, or offer his vote, in a ward or district in which he is not entitled to vote, he shall be liable to the penalty prescribed in the fiftieth section, chapter first, of the act entitled "An Act to regulate elections," approved April sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fortysix, to be sued for and recovered in the name of the clerk of the ward, or district, where the offence shall be committed, in