Chap. 88.—An ACT to authorize the qualified voters of the county of Ches-
terfield to vote on the question of Removing the County Courthouse to
the town of Manchester or to the town of Chester, .

Approved May 18, 1870.

Whereas, the county court of Chesterfield county, at itg
February term, eighteen hundred and seventy,.acting upon
petitions presented to said court, have memorialized the gene-
ral assembly that the sense of the people of the county should
be taken upon the change of the location of the courthouse‘ of
said county; therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
it shall be the duty of the officers conducting elections in the
county of Chesterfield, at the time and places for holding the
first election hereafter held for township officers in said county,
to prepare a separate ballot box, in which shall be deposited
the ballots of the qualified voters who shall desire to vote
upon the question of said removal. The said ballots shall be
respectively as follows: :

“For the town of Manchester,”
“ For the town of Chester,” or
“ For the present location.” ,

Each ballot cast which ‘shall have written or printed there-
on, “ For the town of Manchester,” shall be deemed and taken
as a vote for the removal of the seat of justice of the county
of Chesterfield to the town of Manchester. Each ballot which
shall have written or printed thereon, “ For the town of Ches-
ter,” shall be taken as a vote for the removal of thé court-
house to the town of Chester. And each ballot having writ-
ten or printed thereon, “ For the present location,” shall be
taken as a vote against the removal of the courthouse. The
officers conducting said elections shall receive the ballots of
every person applying to vote who shall be qualified, accord-
ing to the constitution and laws of this commonwealth, to vote
for the township officers then to be elected, and shall keep
said polls open as long as the pollg for the election of sai
township officers shall be kept open, and shall proceed with,
certify, and return the same to the clerk of the county court
of said county, and shall be liable to the same penalties for
neglect or failure therein as are prescribed by law in relation.
to other officers then to be elected.

2. It shall be the duty of the officers conducting said elec-
tion to meét at the clerk’s office of the county court of said
county; on the Tuesday next succeeding said election, and
then and there proceed, in the presence of each other, to scru-
tinize, purge, and correct the ballots taken on the subject of
the removal of the said seat of justice, and decide upon the
legality or illegality of the ballots so taken; and they shall
have power to sit from day to day until their duties shall have
been discharged; and having stricken therefrom such ballots
as in the opinion of a majority of said officers may have been
illegally voted, said officers shall count the ballots which re-
main unstricken, and shall verify the same by taking and sub-
scribing, before some officer authorized to administer oaths in
the county of Chesterfield, an affidavit to the following effect:

“ We do hereby make oath that we have carefully examined
the balfots in the boxes cast upon the question of the removal
of the seat of justicé of Chesterfield county, and that we have
stricken therefrom no ballots which, in the opinion of the ma-
jority of us, were propery cast, and that no ballots remain

hi¢h a majority of us concur in believing are not entitled so
to be, according to the provisions of this act. Sworn to be-
fore me, , this day of , eighteen hundred
and seventy.”

And it shall be the duty of said officers to return the said
counted ballots, so verified, to the clerk of the county court
of Chesterfield, to be preserved by him in his office; and the
said officers shall at the same time certify to the county court
which of the locations aforesaid received the largest number
of ballots. Ifthe town of Manchester or the town of Chester
shall have received the largest number of votes, the said town
of Manchester or town of Chester, as the case may be, shall
be, to all intents and purposes, the place of holding court in
the county of Chestertield, and for conducting the business
incident thereto, from and after the first day of October, eigh-
teen hundred and seventy. And the said county court shall
proceed immediately to cause a courthouse, and other neces-
sary public buildings and fixtures for the said county of Ches-
terfield, to be erected at such place in the said town of Man-
chester or town of Chester, as the case may ‘be, as the said
court may select. °

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