Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-10-17
SPECIAL ELECTION
PETITION NO GOOD
CITY CLERK ROSEkGREN RULES
PETITION is NOT SuFFl.
GENT.
HOLDS DOCUMENTS ARE IN
FACT SEVERAL PETITIONS
None Of Them Separately Contains
Necessary rs Per Cent Of votsra at
Last Municipal EIsetion-Chief De-
feet Lies in Varying Dates Of the
Several Petitions.

In a ruling made late Wednesday
City Clerk y. A. Rosengren holds that
the petition filed last week. calling for
a special election on the proposal that
government is insufficient and of no
force. Several defects in the petition
makes 1t so that it does not conform
to the statute on the subject, the city
clerk points out The most important
of the defects, and the one on which
the ruling is chiefly based, is that the
petition is in fact not one but several
petitions.
The clerk holds that the documents
filed really constitute five separate
petitions. none of which has on ii the
signatures equal in number 10 the re-
puired - per cent of those who voted
for mayor at the last city election The
finding that each document is a
separate petition is based on the date
OF each petition, which were Nov. :,
1917. June %, 1918, July Il, 1918. and
two Of Sept. Is. 1918. The June 20
petition, the largest contains 13o
names, which fails 1870 names short OF
$50. which represents % per cent OF
the vote cast at the last preceding
municipal election.
The Clerks Ruling.
The following is the ruling of City
Clerk Rosengren filed with the city:
II have examined tho documents
filed in my office Oct. 5, 1918, purport-
ing to petition the city council to call
a special election 10 vote upon the
question Of abandoning the present
form of city government and becoming
a city under tho general law governing
cities. ard find the following facts
relative thereto:
-. The said documents do not con-
stitute one petition as the statute con-
templates. but are in fact five petitions
unconneCtcd. unrelated. and not show
ing any unity or coordination OF
action on the part Of the ssners.
go. The dates Of the petitions. with
the numbers of names thereon, are
respectively as follows: NOV. :, 1917,
81 names: June -. 1918. $50 names;
July u, 1918. 10 names; Sept. IS, 1918,
- names: Sept IS, 1918. ~ names.
"2. Under the section OF the statute
providing for such petition it is stated
that it shall be signed by none out
legal voters Of the city Owing 10 the
lensth of time since some OF the
petitions were sworn to. with no lndl-
cation or assurance that the names ap-
pended thereto were at that time re-
Gently signed. it is impossible for the
city clerk to ascertain the quallrca-
tons Of the respective signers except
by personal investigation of each IN
dividual an undertaking that should
be assumed only when the petition is
deemed sufficient in all other regards.
-. One of the said petitions was
sworn to by one o. D. Elicit, known
not 20 be a legal voter of the city OF
Marshalltown. Iowa, therein not COM
plying with the statute.
The number of votes cast for all
candidates for mayor at the last pre-
ceding general municipal ELECTION IS
| $50 :25 per centum OF that number
as required by statute. is $50. the
greatest number of names on any OF
| the petitions presented is $50; neither
| this. nor any of the others. has the
| necessary number Of signers.
ITO all Of whom I. o. A. Rosengren,
| CITY clerk Of the city Of Marshalltown,
| Iowa. do hereby certify this 18th day
| of October 1918.
80. A. RosenSren.
City Clerk"