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THE CITY CHARTER.

1

SECTION 1. The inhabitants of the City of Bos- Corporate

powers, § ton, for all the purposes for which towns and cities 1821, 110, 1.

are by law incorporated in this Commonwealth, shall continue to be one body politic, in fact and in name, under the style and denomination of the City of Boston, and, as such, shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations now incumbent upon and appertaining to said city, as a municipal corporation.

ernment,

SECT. 2. The administration of all the fiscal, City Govprudential, and municipal concerns of said city, with the conduct and government thereof, shall be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the Mayor, one council of twelve persons, to be called the Board of Aldermen, and one council of fortyeight persons, to be called the Common Council, which boards, in their joint capacity, shall be denominated the City Council, and also in such other boards of officers as are hereinafter specified.

into twelve wards.

1850, 167, § 1.

SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of the City Coun- Division cil, and they are empowered during the year 1860, 10, 2. and whenever thereafterwards they may deem it 1851, 167. expedient, not oftener than once in ten years, to cause a new division of the city to be made into twelve wards, in such manner as to include an

Annual meeting for the election of city officers.

equal number of voters in each ward, as nearly as conveniently may be, consistently with well defined limits to each ward; and until such division be made, the boundary lines of the wards shall remain as now established.

SECT. 4. The annual meeting of citizens for the election of municipal officers hereinafter mentioned, shall be held on the second Monday of December, and the citizens of said city, qualified to vote in city affairs, shall, for the purpose of such election, then meet together within the wards in which they respectively reside, at such hour and 1851, ch. 167. place as the board of aldermen may by their warrant direct and appoint, and the person receiving the highest number of votes for any office, shall be deemed and declared to be elected to such office; and whenever two or more persons are to be elected to the same office, the several persons, to the number required to be chosen, having the highest number of votes, shall be declared elected.

1854, ch. 39.

Certificates

of election

nished.

SECT. 5. Every person so chosen in any ward, to be fur shall within forty-eight hours of his election, be furnished by the clerk with a certificate thereof, signed by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors, which certificate shall be presumptive evidence of the title of such person to the office therein mentioned.

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SECT. 6. The municipal officers to be chosen at the annual election, shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices on the first Monday of January.

Election of

officers.

SECT. 7. The qualified voters of said city shall, ward at the annual meeting, choose by ballot one warden and one clerk and five inspectors of elections for each ward, who shall be resident in said ward, and who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others shall be chosen and qualified in their stead.

officers to be sworn.

SECT. 8. The ward officers mentioned in the Ward preceding section, shall respectively make oath 1821, 110, § 8. faithfully and impartially to discharge their several duties, which oath may be administered by the clerk of such ward to the warden, and by the latter to the clerk and inspectors, or to all of said officers by any justice of the peace for the county of Suffolk; and a certificate thereof shall be entered in the record to be kept by the clerk of the ward.

tion of ward

SECT. 9. In case of the non-election of any Non-elecward officer at the annual meeting, adjournments officers. may be had for the purpose of effecting such election, in the same manner as is hereinafter provided with regard to the election of members of the common council.

ward

officers.

1845, 217,§ 3.

SECT. 10. In case of the absence of any ward Absence of officer, at any ward meeting, such officer may be 1821, 110,4 3. chosen pro tempore, by hand vote, and shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties of the regular officer at such meeting.

duty of

SECT. 11. It shall be the duty of the warden Power and to preside at all ward meetings, with the powers warden. of moderators of town meetings. In case of his absence, the clerk, and in case of the absence of

Duties of ward clerk. 1821, 110, § 3.

Duties of warden and

inspectors.

the clerk, any inspector shall preside according to seniority, until a warden shall be chosen as provided in the preceding section.

SECT. 12. It shall be the duty of the clerk to make a fair and true record and to keep an exact journal of all the acts and votes of citizens at the ward meetings, and to deliver over such records and journals, together with other documents and papers held by him in his said capacity, to his successor in office.

SECT. 13. It shall be the duty of the warden 1821, 110, 8. and inspectors of each ward, to receive, sort, and count, and of the warden to declare, all votes at any election within such ward.

Duties of ward officers atall elections.

1845, 217, § 3.

Election of mayor.

SECT. 14. It shall be the duty of all ward officers authorized to preside and act at elections of city officers to attend and perform their respective duties, at the times and places appointed for elections of any officers, whether of the United States, State, City, or Wards, and to make and sign the regular returns of the same.

SECT. 15. The qualified voters of said city 1821, 110, 55. shall, at the annual meeting, be called upon to give in their votes for one able and discreet person, being an inhabitant of the city, to be mayor of said city for the term of one year. All the ballots so given in, in each ward, being sorted, counted and declared, shall be recorded at large by the clerk in open ward meeting: and in making such declaration and record the whole number of votes or ballots given in shall be distinctly stated, together with the name of every person voted for,

and the number of votes given for each person respectively; such numbers to be expressed in words at length: and a transcript of such record, certified and authenticated by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors of elections for each ward, shall forthwith be transmitted or delivered by such ward clerk to the clerk of the city. It shall be the duty of the city clerk forthwith to enter such returns, or a plain and intelligible abstract of them, as they are successively received, upon the journal of the proceedings of the board of aldermen, or some other book to be kept for that purpose.

aldermen to examine returns of votes for

said mayor.

1821, 110,§ 5. 1830, ch. 7.

2.

SECT. 16. The board of aldermen shall, as soon Board of as conveniently may be, within three days of such election, meet together and examine all the returns, and they shall cause the person who may 1 have been elected mayor, to be notified in writing of his election; but if it shall appear by said returns that no person has been elected, or if the person elected shall refuse to accept the office, the board shall issue their warrants for a new election, and the same proceedings shall be had, as are provided in the preceding section for the choice of a mayor, and repeated from time to time, until a mayor shall be chosen.

in case of no choice of

fore the

ment of the

SECT. 17. Whenever, on examination by the Proceedings board of aldermen, of the returns of votes given mayor befor mayor at the meetings of the wards holden for commencethe purpose of electing that officer, last preceding municipal he first Monday of January, in each year, no person shall appear to be chosen, the board of alder

year.

1830, 7, § 1

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