The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1868-08-20
The Registry Law.
,4e CHAPTER Ill, .

ase s1o CHARTER Ill. y y3Iset
ANaACT for the registry Of electors
and TO prevent fraudulent voting
Section ]. Be it enacted BY the
General Assembly. Of the State ol
Iowa, That IL shall be the duty of the
township assessors at every annual
assessmentto record in 3 separate
book ofsuitable sise, to be provided
BIZ the board ,ot supervisors Of the
county, tho full name and place o1
residence Of every resident voter in The
township who u Or wko may become
b qualified eIector pretious to the
next general slectipn.p Said List, prop
erly certified, shall Be, delivered to the
township clerk on or before the 1st
day of July III each year, after the
year a. d. 1868 4. nsi8
q Sec. 3. The township trustees and
clerk shall constitute : board Of reg.
istry for, their respective townships,
and shall meet after the year 1858,
annually ct the ohice Of the township
clerk on the first Monday in Septem-
Der, at g oiclock 4. NJ, for the purpose
Of making : list ofall qualified elect.
orsin their respective townships. This
list shall be called and known as the
register Of elections. aie' @ Ste3
See. B. The sregistersof elections
shall rcontain the names in full, al
phabetically arranged, according to
their surnaInee, so as to show in one
column the name at full length and
III another column opposite, In cities
and incorporated villages, the rcsi-
dence by number Of dwelling, If there
be number and the name Of the
street or other location Of the dwell
ing place Of each person. The reg
ister shall Be made from the asses
sor's list and from tho poll book Of
the " next previous election. Said
register shall be kept by the town
ship clerk, who shall within two
days after tho adjournment Of the
board, cause certihed copy Of said
register to be- posts,tshp in q conspic-
nous place in hia aoftice, which shall
be accessible to any, elector OF the
township who may desire TO examine
the same. ~
Sec. 4. The board Of registry
shall hold q meeting at the place
where the last general election was
held, or, If from any, cause it cannot
be held al such . place, then at some
place to be designated BY notice pub
lished in at least one paper printed
in the township, or posted in at least
three public places therein, on the
Tuesday preceding the general elcc-
tion of each year, at which they
shall reYise, correct and complete the
register or election, and they shall
hear any evidence that may be bro't
before them in reference to such cor
rection. They shall be in session for
this purpose from 8 o'clock a. m, un-
ill 5 p. M, and from day 10 day
thereafter and unit. they shall deem
the register properly completed.
Sec. 5. In cases Incorporation elec.
tions, it shall be the duty ofthe clerk
of the city or town to prepare, from
the poll-books of the last. preceding
annual election Of said corporation,
an aiphabeticalregister oftheeiectors
as provided in section 3 of this act, and
shall post up one copy thereofin each
ward at the place where the last pre-
ceding election was held, one month
preceding such election, and furnish
the original to the board Of registry
at their next meeting. The board of
registry for said cities and towns
shall consist Of the mayor, assessor,
clerk, and marshal, who shah meet,
for the purpose Of correcting the reg
Eissry, one week before such election,
at the usual place of meeting Of the
city council or trastees, and after
having corrected the registry Of vo-
ters in each ward, as contemplated in
the general provisions of this act, said
board shall cause certified copy OF
said registry for each ward in said
town or city, to be delivered to the
election board Of such ward at or be-
fore tho time Of opening the polls.-
After the canvassing of the votes, the
rcgistries shall be attached to the
poll>books and filed in the Office Of
the clerk Of the city or town for the
use ofthe succeeding board of regis
try. The general provisions ofthis
act shall extend TO incorporate towns
and cities SO far as the same. may be
applicable. The names Of all persons
not qualified as electors shall be estrick-
en- from the register, and any person
appearing to register his name may
be challenged by any elector or mem-
Der of the board, and in case of such
challenge shall be examined on oath
touching his qualifications as m elec-
tor, which examination may or may
not, in the discretion of the board,
be reduced to writing, and fit. shall
aspear upon such examination that
the person is entitled to be registered,
in the opinion of the board, or if after
such examination thesaid person will
take an oath that he is, or viii be at
the election for which the registry is
made, q legal voter. stating the Ward
District, or Township, in which he
resides, and complying in other re.
spects with the requirements Of the
oath now administered to an elector
in case Of his being challenged then
the board shall cause the name OF said
person TO be registered.
Sec. 6. The register of elections
shall at all times be omen to inspec--
ton At the Office Of the township
clerk withoutcharge. |
Sec. Z. The board of registry may
appoint clerk in the. absence Of the
township clerk, and may administer
oaths in al cases coming before them
for action.
Sec. 8. 1t shall bc the duty Of
Judges Of elections to desinate one
OF their number to check the name
ofeveiy person voting, whose name
Is on the register. No vote shall be
received at any general or special
election hereafter held in This State
from any person whose name does
not appear on the registry, unless the
person offering to vote shall furnish
the judges of election his affidavit,
showing that he lisa qualified electors,
and a proper reason for not appear.
ing before said board on the day for
correcting said register, and prove
by the affidavit Of person whose
name is on said register that he knows
such person to be resident Of such