Imperial Valley press., 1916-09-06
Osborn VS.. Beard, 20 Cal. App. Dec.

5ss.
In Osborn VS.. Board of Supervisors,
| 20 Cal. App. Dec. 530-532, decided
March 25, 1915, the former decisions
were reviewed with the result as fol-
lows
q. The last objection Of respon-
dents grows out of the failure of some
Of the petitioners to give after their
| signatures the places of their residence
ty street and number. The require
ment as to residence" is undoubtedly
for the convenience and aid Of the
clerk in finding the name in the great
register. While the petition might
have been more specific in this resepct
it was apparently sufficient for the
clerks information and the objection
goes to mere irregu,arity that could
and did result in no prejudice. The
point is really covered by the case of
Conn VS.. City Council, II Cal. App.
l717, and Locker VS.. Walsh, II Cal. App.
| 727. In the former it is said: in this
connection it appears that some of the
| signers Of the several recall petitions
did not sign their names in full--that
is TO say, they gave only the in tials
of their given name. Others failed
to comply with the charter requirement
that each signer shall add to his sig
nature his place of residence, giving
/ the street and number. Because of
this It is urged that the petitions, upon
their face, fail to contain the requ site
number Of adequate Signatures called
fer by the charter and that therefore
the petitions were wholly insufficient
tc. confer jurisdiction upon ether the
~ c'crk Cr the city council to iuauru-
rate The recall election petitionod fer
After Stating that such structures
were quite technical and that the ch"~-
ter in Quest on should receive a liberal
construction with view Of promoting
the purpose for which it was enacted
il was declared that said specifications
were intended solely sror the purpose
Ct facilitating the work of the clerk in
investiga ting, identifying and verify
ing the persons and signatures CT the
7 urnorted signers Of the recall petition
and that there was substantial COM
rl.ance with 'the requirements of said
charter"
Turning to the copy OF the petition
submitted for this opinion, it must be
admitted that there has been no at
tempt to comply with the provision Of
Section 2S1& so far as relates to the
e'ving the irrigation district precinct.
Having regard to the purpose Of the
requirement it seems to me clear that
the precinct meant in the statute is
the irrigation district precinct.
Section of the act provides for the
original establishment by the board of
supervisors Of the county of "con-
venient number of election precincts
in said proposed district and define
the boundaries Of the same" Section
1512 provides for changing the bound
aries of the divisions and eletc;on pre-
cincts of the district. Section q again
recognizes precincts by providing for
rosting of not ces in each election pre-
cinct and appointing of inspectors and
Judges from each precinct. 1t thus
appears that the Imperial Irrigation
District has a system of election pre-
cincts which are entirely d'stinct from
those Of the county precincts, which
may not be all co-terminous with the
district precincts.
1t is important that the secretary
ST ould be able to determine in addit on
to the fact that signature on the pc
tition is the genuine signature OF reg
is tered elector, the additional fact that
c, ch elector resides in Div sion No. 2
Of the Irrigation District. For it may
easily happen that signer's name ap-
pears on the petition and registra-
ton, but that he resides elsewhere in
the county than in Division No. 2.
Hence it is essential that the location
Of the place Of residence Of the signer
be added to the signature, Having re-
gard to this purpose think that the
location of residence may be sufficient
ly designated either by giving the
name Of the place or the number Of the
district election precinct, and that 1t
is not essential to give both the name
G" the place Of residence and the pre-
1ct (although it is desirable that
he statute be fully complied WITH for
he adding of either will give the in
formation as to residence thin Dlyl-
SION No. 2 The giving Of either W Ii
afford the means OF determining
whether the residence is within the
division.
The same remark applies to the CIV
ing of the street number, if the resi-
dence is within town having named
streets and numbered houses. What