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AN ACT in Reference to Divorces Heretofore Decreed.

WHEREAS, There are doubts of the legality of some of the divorces heretofore decreed in this Territory, because of the manner in which notice of the pendency of the proceedings was given; therefore,

Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wyoming :

SECTION 1. That all divorces heretofore decreed in the courts of this Territory are hereby declared legal and valid, so far as such divorces may be illegal or invalid because of the manner in which notice of the pendency of proceedings for divorce was given.

Approved, December 13, 1873.

CHAPTER 45.

ELECTIONS.

AN ACT to Provide for Elections, the Manner of Conducting the Same and for Other
Purposes.

Be it Enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Terri-
tory of Wyoming, as follows:

TITLE I.

SECTION 1. There shall be held in the several precincts or wards Elections when and in this Territory, a general election on the first Tuesday in Sep- where held. tember [Altered by Act of Dec. 11th, 1875. Vide first section of following act.] in each year hereafter, at which time there shall be chosen so many of the following officers, as are by law, to be elected in such year, that is to say: delegate to congress, (who

shall be elected at the first general election.) Members of the What officers council and house of representatives, who shall not be elected until elected. the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, (except to fill a vacancy;) sheriff, probate judge, county superintendent of schools, county clerk, prosecuting attorney, three county commissioners, assessor, county surveyor, and coroner, justices of the peace and constables, as shall be provided by law, including all other county officers or Territorial, as shall be provided by law.

SEC. 2. Special elections may be held in the following cases, Special and for the election of the following officers:

First, When there has been no choice at the general election, of a delegate to congress, members of the council or house of representatives, or any county officers who should properly have been chosen at such general election;

Second, When the rights of a person elected to the office of member of the council, member of the house of representatives, or either of the said county offices, shall cease, by death or otherwise, before the commencement of the term of service for which he shall have been elected;

Third, When a vacancy shall occur in either of said county offices, atter the commencement of the term of service, and more than three months before the next general election;

Fourth, When a vacancy occurs in the office of members of the council, or members of the house of representatives, after the general election, and before the meeting of the legislative assembly.

elec

tion, when held.

SEC. 3. A vacancy in either of the offices named in the second vacancies. section of this act, which shall not have been supplied by an elec

Special elections,how conducted.

Elections, where held.

Proviso.

Adjournment

Proclamation

Notice of elec tion.

Notice, what to state.

Election of members of

tion, before the general election next succeeding the happening thereof, may be supplied at such election.

SEC. 4. Special elections shall be conducted, and the results thereof canvassed and certified, in all respects, as near as practicable, in like manner as general elections, except as otherwise directed; and no special election shall be held within ninety days preceding a general election.

SEC. 5. All general and special elections shall be held at the place in each precinct or district where the last election was held, or at such other place therein as shall have been ordered by the board of county commissioners; Provided, Nothing in this act shall prevent the holding of two or more polls in one precinct or district when the same shall be ordered by the commissioners.

SEC. 6. Whenever it shall become impossible or inconvenient to hold an election at the place designated therefor, the judges of election, after having assembled at, or as near as practicable to, such place, and before receiving any vote, may adjourn to the nearest convenient place for holding the election, and at such adjourned place, forthwith proceed with the election.

SEC. 7. Upon adjourning any election, as provided in the preceding section, the judges shall cause proclamation thereof to be made, and shall station a constable, or some other proper person, at the place where the adjournment was made, to notify all electors arriving at such place, of the adjournment and the place to which it was made.

SEC. 8. The secretary of the Territory shall, between the first day of July and the fifteenth day of the same month in each year, in which a delegate to congress, or any other Territorial officer is to be elected for a full term, make out and cause to be delivered to the sheriff of each county, a notice in writing, stating that at the next general election, the before mentioned Territorial officers are to be elected, or so many of such officers as are then to be chosen.

SEC. 9. If any vacancy shall exist in the office of delegate to congress, or any other Territorial office, proper to be supplied at the ensuing general election, one month before such election, the secretary of the Territory shall give notice in writing to the sheriff of each county, specifying the cause of such vacancy, the name of the officer in whose office it occurred, and the time when his term of office would have expired.

SEC. 10. The secretary of the Territory shall, between the first the legislature day of July and the fifteenth day of the same month in each year, in which the official term of any member of the council or member of the house of representatives shall expire, make out and cause to be delivered to [the] sheriff of each county comprising such district, or to the sheriff of each county which shall form a part thereof, a notice in writing, specifying the number of the district, and the name of the member or members, whose term of office will so expire.

Special election, by wh'm ordered.

SEC. 11. All special elections for county officers, and the filling of all vacancies at a general election, shall be ordered by the county commissioners, which order shall be countersigned

to specify.

by the clerk of the board of county commissioners; in all other cases of special elections, they shall be called [by] the governor. SEC. 12. Every order or writ issued for a special election, shall orders, what specify the county or district in which such election is to be held, how the vacancy occurred, the name of the officer in whose office it occurred, the time when his term of office would have expired, and the day on which such election is to be held, which shall not be less than twenty nor more than forty days from the date of the order or writ; and the same shall be forthwith delivered to the sheriff of the proper county, or, in case of a vacancy in a district composed of more than one county, then to the sheriff of each county in such district.

cincts.

SEC. 13. County commissioners of the several counties in this Election preTerritory are hereby authorized to divide their respective counties into as many election precincts, for all general and special elections, as they may think expedient for the convenience of the voters of said county; and to appoint as many sets of judges of elections to receive votes at the county seats, as they may think necessary; and shall designate the house or place in such precinct, and in the precinct including the county seat, the house or houses, the place, or places, at which elections are to be holden; and the precincts and places of holding elections so established, shall so remain until changed by the board of county commissioners; Provided always, That it shall be the duty of the county Proviso. commissioners, at any time, to change any place of holding elections, upon a petition of a majority of voters residing within said. precinct.

SEC. 14. The board of county commissioners shall respectively, Judges of elec at the last session preceding any election, appoint three capable and tion. discreet persons, possessing the qualifications of electors, to act as judges of the election in each election precinct; and the clerk of said board shall make out and deliver to the sheriff of the county, immediately after the appointment of said judges, a notice in writing, directed to the judges so appointed; and it shall be the duty of said sheriff, within twenty days after the receipt of said notice, to serve said notice upon each of the said judges of the election.

SEC. 15. The said judges of the election shall choose two per- Two clerks. sons having similar qualifications with themselves, to act as clerks of the election. The said judges of the election shall be, and continue judges of all elections of officers to be held within their precinct, for one year, and until other judges shall be appointed, as hereinbefore directed, and the said clerks of election may continue to act as such during the pleasure of the judges of the election.

sworn.

be

SEC. 16. If any person appointed to act as a judge of the elec- Neglect of tion, as aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse to be sworn or affirmed Judge to to act in such capacity, the place of such person shall be filled by the votes of such qualified voters residing within the precinct, as may then be present at the płace of election, and the person or persons so elected or nominated to fill such vacancy or vacancies, shall be, and are hereby vested with the same power as if appointed by the board of county commissioners.

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SEC. 17. The clerks of election shall, before they enter upon the duties of their office, take a like oath as hereinafter required of judges of election. The oath of both judges and clerks to be written out in full, and signed by such judges and clerks, and subscribed by the officer or person administrating the oath.

TITLE II.

SEC. 18. That every male person above the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of this Territory ninety days prior to any election, and who is a citizen of the United States, or have declared on oath before a competent court of record, their intention to become such, and have taken an oath to support the constitution and government of the United States, shall be entitled to vote; and be eligible to any office within said Territory.

[See Chapter 50, "Female Suffrage."]

SEC. 19. No person under guardianship, non compos mentis, or insane, shall be qualified to vote at any election; nor shall any person convicted of treason, felony, or bribery, unless restored to civil rights; nor shall any person who shall have made, or become, either directly or indirectly, interested in, any bet, or wager, depending upon the result of any election at which he shall offer to vote, be permitted to vote at such election.

SEC. 20. At all general or special elections held in the Territory of Wyoming, where the judges provided by law, or some of them, are absent, the electors present at the polls of any election at the hour of nine o'clock, in the forenoon, shall proceed by vira voce vote to elect persons qualified as voters at such election to fill any vacancy to serve as judges of election, who, whether appointed by the commissioners, or elected, shall then and there severally take the following oath: "I, A, B, do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that I will impartially, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, perform the duties of judge of this election, and will studiously endeavor to prevent all frauds, deceit and abuse in conducting the same." Such oath may be taken before any justice of the peace, or other person authorized to administer oaths; but if no person authorized to administer an oath be present, then such judges shall administer the oath to each other, with like effect in all proceedings, both civil and criminal, as though the oath had been administered by a person authorized to administer oaths independent of this act.

SEC. 21. At all elections, a poll shall be opened at the place of election in each precinct. Such polls shall be opened as soon after nine o'clock in the forenoon as possible, and be kept open until sundown without adjournment. Proclamation shall be made of the closing of the polls one-half hour before the closing thereof. SEC. 22. The judges of election shall appoint some constable present (if there shall be one) to preserve order at and about the polls. If no officer be in attendance, the judges of the election may appoint one specially by a written appointment, and he shall have all the powers of a regular constable, and be obeyed as such.

SEC. 23. If any person conducts himself in a noisy, riotous or tumultuous manner, at or about the polls, so as to disturb the election, or insults or abuses the judges or clerks of election, or any voter in exercising his right of suffrage, it shall be the duty of the

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