CHAP. 619.—An ACT to regu ok ioe sania a elections in the city
nchester

Approved March 6, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That the municipal election appointed by law to be held
the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety,
and every municipal election held thereafter, shall be con-
ducted and held in accordance with the requirements of
the following sections:

2. Every person who intends to be a candidate for any
municipal office to be filled at any municipal election shall
at least five days before such election, notify the secretary
of the electoral board of the city of Winchester, in writ-
ing, of such intention, designating the office for which he
is a candidate. Such written notice shall be signed br
the said candidate and shall be filed away and preserved
by the said secretary of the electoral board of the city of
Winchester. No person not announcing his candidacy as
provided above shall be eligible for any municipal offic
unless he be appointed to fill a vacancy in accordance with
the laws now in force.

3. It shall be the duty of the electoral board of the city
of Winchester, within the five days preceding every niu-
nicipal election, to cause.to be printed on white paper a
number of ballots equal to twice the entire registered vot
of the city of Winchester. These ballots shall contain the
names of all candidates complying with the provisions of
the preceding section, printed in black ink immediately
beneath the office for which they have so announced their
candidacy.

4, The printer with whom the board shall contract for
the printing of said ballots shall, before the work is com-
menced, take an oath before the secretary of said board,
who is hereby empowered to administer said oath, in the
following words, to wit: “TI, , solemnly swear that
I will print (insert number) ballots according to the in-
struction of the electoral board of the city of Winchester:
that I will print no more than the above number; that I
will at once destroy all imperfect impressions; that as
soon as said number of ballots is printed I will distribute
the type used for said. work, and finally that I will not
communicate to any person whatever, in anv manner
whatsoever, the size, style, or contents of said ballots.”
This oath shall be reduced to writing and signed by the
person taking if, and any intentional violation of said
oath shall constitute the crime of perjury. It shall be
the duty of the said board to cause at least one of their
number to be continually present in the room in which
said ballots are printed from the commencement until the
end of said work, and see that the undertakings of said
oath are strictly complied with. As soon as the said bal-
lots are printed such member of said board shall take the
said ballots into his exclusive possession, allowing no one
to examine said ballots, nor shall he communicate to anv
one any information as to the size, style, or contents of said
ballots. Heshall continue such exclusive possession unt!
he delivers them to the electoral board as hereinafter pro-
vided. Any violation of any of the provisions of this
section, for which no punishment has otherwise been pro-
vided, shall be deemed a misdemeanor and punished by a
fine of two hundred dollars and imprisonment for one
month in jail.

5. It shall be the duty of the electoral board of the city
of Winchester, as seon as possible after the passage of thiz

act, to adopt and procure a seal, which may be changed
from time to time at the discretion of the said board;
which said seal shall not be less than two inches in breadth
and four inches in length. The said board shall meet as
soon as possible after the printing of the ballots, as pro-
vided for in the preceding section, at which meeting no
person shall be present except the members of the said
board. At this meeting the member of the board who
shall have secured from the printer the ballots as required
by the preceding section, shall deliver the said ballots to
the said board. The ballots shall then be carefully enu-
merated by the said board, and the number entered by the
secretary of the board in a book provided by him and kept
for such purpose. The said board shall affix its seal to
every ballot printed, as above provided, upon the side
reverse from that upon which the names of the candidates
appear. Of the said ballots they shall make as many
packages as there are voting precincts in the city of Win-
chester, one for each precinct, and each package shall con-
tain as many Official ballots as there are voters registered
at the precinct for which it is intended. Each of these
packages shall be securely wrapped, so. that the ballots
shall be invisible, and the said packages shall be then
sealed, so that they could not be readily opened without
detection. Upon each of the said packages shall be en-
dorsed the name of the precinct for which it is intended,
and the number of ballots therein contained. The
remainder of the ballots shall then be securely wrapped’
and sealed and kept carefully by the said board, and the
package containing the said remaining ballots shall not be
disturbed save as provided in the succeeding section. The
four sealed packages, as above provided for, shall remain
in the exclusive possession of the secretary of said board
until delivered by him to the judges of election, as here-
inafter provided.

6. On the night before every municipal election the sec-
retary of the electoral board shall deliver to a judge of
election of each precinct in the city of Winchester a
package of official ballots, as provided by the preceding
section, on which is endorsed the name of said judge’s
precinct and a number corresponding to the number of
voters there registered. The said sealed package shall not
be opened by said judge until the polls are opened on the
morning of election and the clerks of election are chosen
as required by law. The said judge, or any of the judges,
shall then open the said package, in the presence of the
clerks, and carefully count the number of ballots therein
contained. The said number of ballots so counted shall
be contained in and returned with the certificate required
by section twelve. Should by accident, or otherwise, no
one of the judges at any precinct receive the said sealed
package of official ballots, or for any reason the ballots
be not on hand at the opening of the polls, the judges
present shall make a written requisition upon the electoral
board, which shall be served upon the secretary of said
board by one of the clerks of election, for a number of
ballots corresponding to the number of voters registered
in said ward. Upon such requisition it shall be the duty
of said board to supply the judges of election of such
precinct with the number of ballots required. ‘Though
the judges of election of any precinct receive the sealed
package of official ballots, as required in preceding sec-
tions, yet if for any reason the judges of electjon believe
that there will not be enough ballots for the use of elec-
tors registered at their precinct, they shall make a written
requisition upon said board, served as aforesaid, for as
many official ballots as seem necessary, and it shall be the
duty of said board to furnish the required number. The
official ballots so required by the judges of election shall
be furnished from those official ballots which are left
after the sealed packages of official ballots have been sent
to the judges of election of each precinct, as above re-
quired. Any person opening any sealed package of offi-
cial ballots, except as especially provided in this act, shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished with a
fine of two hundred dollars and one month in jail.

7. It shall be the duty of the electoral board of the city
of Winchester to provide at each of the voting-places in
‘the city of Winchester as now established by law, a smal}
compartment or booth large enough to contain comfort-
ably a full-grown man as well as a desk of convenient
size. Inthe said booth or compartment there shall he
placed a desk as aforesaid, with pens and ink. The said
compartments or booths shall be so erected that a person
standing at said desk in said booth or compartment shall
be wholly excluded from the observation of the clerks,
judges of election, or other persons. There shall also be
provided suitable ballot-boxes at each voting place in said
city large enough to contain a number of ballots equal to
the whole registered vote of the voting precinct for which
the said ballot-box is designed. If it be not possible for
said booths or compartments to be so erected at the voting
places of the city of Winchester now -established by law
so as to conveniently carry out the provisions of the sub-
sequent sections of this act, the said electoral board shall
have power, after ten days’ notice to citizens and voters of
the change, which said notice shall be published at least
once in every newspaper published in the city of Win-
chester, and posted at least at twenty conspicuous places
in said city, to establish at some fitting place in each ward
of said city one voting precinct.

8. Except as hereinafter provided, save the judges of
elections and the clerks allowed by law, no person other
than the elector offering to vote shall be within forty feet
of the ballot-box or the compartments or booths. If there
is any dispute as to the precedence of the electors the same
shall be decided by the judges of election, and they shall
give the precedence to the voter first offering, or, if one or
more apply at the same time, to the one whose surname be-
gine with the letter of the alphabet nearest the letter A ; or,
if the name of more than one elector begins with the same
letter of the alphabet, the same principal of choice shall be
applied to the succeeding letters of the surname. But in
case of a challenge the challengers and witness may appear
before the judges, and when such challenge is decided only
one elector having the right to vote shall remain within
the prescribed limits.

9. Every elector qualified to vote at a precinct shall,
when he so demands, he furnished with an official ballot
by one of the judges of election selected for that duty by
a majority of the judges present. The said elector shall
then take the said official ballot and retire to the compart-
ment provided for by section seven. He shall then draw
a line with pen or pencil through the names of the candi-
dates he does not wish to Vote for, leaving the names of
candidates he does wish to vote for unscratched. He shall
fold the said bajlot with the namesof the candidates upon
the inside, and hand the same to a judge of election, who
shall place the same in the ballot-box without any inspec-
tion further than to assure himself that the said ballot isa
genuine official ballot, for which purpose he may without
looking at the printed side of said ballot inspect the seal
placed upon the back thereof as provided by section five.

10. It shall be unlawful for any elector to carry the
official ballot furnished him by a judge of election fur-
ther than the compartment provided for by section seven ;
and should he, after inspecting the said ballot, conclude
not to vote, he must immediately return said ballot to the
judges of election. No person shall devise, counsel, or
assist any elector, by writing, word or gesture, as to how
he shall vote or mark his ballot after the same has been
delivered to him by the judge of elections, except when
said elector shall produce the sworn written certificate of a
physician that he is blind, in which case he may take one
of the judges of election into the compartment, who shall
mark his ticket under his direction. But any voter may
call upon the special constable, as provided for in this act,
to read to him while in the said booth, preparing to
vote, apart from all other persons, the official ballot, and
it shall be the duty of said constable to designate to said
voter the names upon said ballot. Any person violating
the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined
not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thov-
sand dollars, and confined in jail six months. Any
attempt to carry any official ballot beyond the compart-
ment provided for, or away from said compartment except
to the judges of election, shall be a misdemeanor punisha-
ble with a fine of one hundred dollars; and it shall be the
duty of the judges of election to cause, by verbal order.
the instant arrest of any one making such attempt, and
he shall be required either to vote or give up the said
ballot.

11. No person shall be allowed by the judges of elec-
tion to remain in any such compartment provided in this
act more than two and a-half minutes; it shall be the duty
of said judges of election to cause any elector attempting
to occupy the said compartment for a longer time than
two and a-half minutes to retire, and he shall not again
be allowed to receive an official ballot unless in the die-
cretion of the judges, another opportunity to vote will not
delay or hinder other electors. Every elector shall be
required either to deliver his ballot to be placed in the
box, or, if the said elector does not. desire to vote said bal-
lot, a8 made, at the expiration of said time, to deliver the
said ballot to the judges of election. Should any ballot be
unintentionally defaced or in any way rendered unfit for
voting by any elector when in the compartment provided for
by this act, he shall, after delivering the said defaced bal-
lot to the judges of election, receive another upon taking
oath before one of the judges of election that the deface-

ment of the ballot first delivered him was unintentional.
Any person swearing falsely to such lack of intention
shall be deemed guilty of the crime of perjury, as defined
and punished in the code of eighteen hundred and seventy-
seven, section thirty-seven hundred and eighty-one.

12. It shall be the duty of the judges of election to keep
an accurate account of all ballots defaced and returned to
them, and they shall certify to the electoral board, within
three days after every municipal election, the number of
ballots voted, the number of ballots defaced, and by whom,
and the number of ballots unused, and they shall return,
with such certificate to the said board, all the ballots de-
faced and unused. The said board shall! enter in the book
provided for in section five the number of ballots used
and defaced, and the number of ballots voted; and if the
sum of said ballots voted, defaced, and unused is not the
same as the number furnished the judges of election of
any precinct, it shall be the duty of the said board to
investigate such discrepancy.

13. The judges of election sha!] not receive or allow any
ballot to be voted except an official ballot sealed with the
seal of the board, as provided by section five, and should
more than one candidate for any municipal office be left
unscratched, there shall be no vote counted for any person
for such office, and no name shall be considered scratched
unless the pen or pencil mark extends through three-
fourths of the length of said name, and no ballot save the
official ballot above provided shall be counted for any
person.

14. The electoral board of the city of Winchester shall
appoint one special constable for each voting precinct in
said city, whose duty it shall be to see that the provisions
of sections eight, nine, ten, eleven, and fifteen are faith-
fully performed and executed. He shall arrest by the
verbal order or warrant of the judges of election of the
precinct to which he is assigned, and the said person shall
be at once taken before a magistrate of the city of Win-
chester, where the proceedings shall be in accordance with
the general law of the state; but an opportunity shall be
given every such person to cast his ballot in accordance
with the provisions of the preceding sections. The pay of
such special constable shall be two dollars and fifty cents
for services upon such election day, payable as hereinafter
provided.

15. It shall not be lawful upon the day of municipal
elections for. persons to congregate and crowd upon the
public streets and sidewalks within one hundred yards of
any of the voting precincts of the said city, and any person
violating the provisions of this section shall, upon convic-
tion thereof, pay a fine of twenty-five dollars, or be con-
fined in jail not exceeding days.

16. Any member of the electoral board, the printer who
shall print the official ballots provided for by this act, any
judge of election or any other person who shall give or
sell to any person whatsoever, except where it is distinctly
provided by this act, any official ballot or any copy or fac
simile of the same, or any information about the same, or
shall counterfeit or attempt to counterfeit the same, shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
thereof fined five hundred dollars and imprisoned in jail
for six months. It shall be the duty of the judges of elec-
tion to see that the provisions of. sections eight, nine, ten,
and eleven be strictly carried out, and in their discretion
they may, by verbal order or written warrant, order the
special constable provided for by section fourteen to ar-
rest persons violating said section.

17. Any expense rendered necessary by the provisions
of this act, including the pay of the special constables,
shall he paid by the treasurer of the city of Winchester
out of the treasury of said city, upon vouchers signed by
the president of the electoral board and countersigned by
the seeretary thereof, and such warrants, when so paid,

126

shall be vouchers for said treasurer in his settlement with
the common council.

18. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act, or
any section thereof, are hereby repealed.

19. This act shall be in force from its passage, and shall
be printed at least once before the first municipal election
held thereunder in every newspaper published in the citv
of Winchester, the cost of which shall be defrayed as pro-
vided in section : '

CHP. 620.—An ACT to authorize the board of supervisors of
Bedford county to exempt the Lynchburg Pulp and Paper mill,
of Big Island, from taxes for fifteen years.

Approved March 6, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That the supervisors of Bedford county be, and they are
hereby, authorized to exempt the Lynchburg pulp and
paper mill, of Big Island, in Bedford county, from taxes
to the county for the term of fifteen years, from January
first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 621 —An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an
act to amend and re-enact sections 1 and 4 of an act to incorpo-
rate the Salem and Southwestern Railroad company.

Approved March 6, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That sections one and four of an act approved February
twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, entitled an
act to incorporate the Salem and Southwestern railroad
company, and amended by an act approved February
twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That R. H. Catlett, Joel C. Green, James C. Langhorne, J.
W. F. Allemong, George M. Horner, S. F. Simons, T. J.
Shickel, John M. Evans, James Chalmers, R. H. Logan, <A.
M. Bowman, and D. B. Strouse, or such of them as may
accept the provisions of this act, and such other persons
and corporations as may become associated with them in
the manner hereinafter provided, shall be, and they are
hereby, constituted a body corporate by the name of the
Salem and Southwestern railroad company, and by that
name shal] have all the powers,’ rights, and franchises
necessary and proper to construct, equip, and maintain a
railroad to be known as the Salem and Southwestern rail-
road, and to run from Salem, in the county of Roanoke,
by such route as the said company may determine, up the
South Fork of Roanoke river, in Montgomery county, and
through the southern parts of Pulaski, Wythe, Smyth, and
Washington counties to the Tennessee or North Carolina
line, or through the county of Patrick to some suitable point
on the North Carolina line; and the said company shall
have the power to purchase and hold mineral lands for the
purpose of working the same in order to furnish tonnage
to its road, and to lease or sell the same. The said com-
pany, by deed to be recorded in the clerk’s office of Roa-
noke county, and in the clerk’s office of at least one other
county along the route selected, shall, within two years
after the passage of this act, select and determine which
of the three routes mentioned in this section it will adopt
for the construction of the road, and shall only construct
its road along the route so adopted.

$4. The said company is required to commence the con-
struction of its road within two years from the first day of
April, eighteen hundred and ninety, and to complete it
within eight years from that date. .

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.