Powers and SECT. 56. The said committee shall have the duties of mittee. § 19. school com- care and management of the public schools, and 1821, c. 110, may elect all such instructors as they may deem proper, and remove the same whenever they consider it expedient. And generally they shall have all the powers, in relation to the care and management of the public schools, which the selectmen of towns or school committees are authorized by the laws of this commonwealth to exercise. Qualifications of voters at municipal elections, etc. 1821, c. 110, § 8. See xx. Amend. Const. SECT. 57. Every male citizen of twenty-one years of age and and upwards, excepting paupers and persons under guardianship, who shall have resided within the commonwealth one year, and . within the city six months next preceding any meeting of citizens, either in wards or in general meeting, for municipal purposes, and who shall have paid by himself or his parent, master or guardian, any state or county tax, which, within two years next preceding such meeting, shall have been assessed upon him in any town or district in this commonwealth, and also every citizen who shall be by law exempted from taxation, and who shall be, in all other respects, qualified as above mentioned, shall have a right to vote at such meeting; and no other person shall be entitled to vote at such meeting.1 1 By the twentieth amendment of the constitution of the State, no person shall have a right to vote "who shall not be able to read the constitution in the English language and write his name.” The amendment does not, however, apply to any person prevented by a physical disability from complying with its requisitions, nor to any person who in May, 1857, had the right to vote, or who was then sixty years of age or upwards. aldermen to of voters prior to tion. [SECT. 58. It shall be the duty of the board Board of of aldermen, prior to every election of city officers, make lists or of any officer or officers under the government of the United States or of this commonwealth, to every elec make out lists of all the citizens of each ward 1821, c. 110, $ 24. qualified to vote in such election, in the manner R. S. c. 3. in which selectmen and assessors of towns are required to make out similar lists of voters; and for that purpose they shall have free access to the assessors' books and lists, and shall be entitled to the aid and assistance of all assessors, assistant assessors, and other officers of said city.1] And it shall be the duty of said board of aldermen to deliver such list of the voters in each ward, so prepared and corrected, to the clerk of said ward, to be used by the warden and inspectors thereof at such election, and no person shall be entitled to vote at such election whose name is not borne Inspectors on such list. And to prevent all frauds and mistakes in such elections, it shall be the duty of the whose name inspectors in each ward to take care that no person list. shall vote at such election whose name is not so borne on the list of voters, and to cause a mark to be placed against the name of each voter on such list, at the time of giving in his vote. [And the city council shall have authority to establish such rules and regulations, as to making out, publishing and using such lists of qualified voters, as they 1 Modified by chap. 60 of statutes of 1874, which transfers these duties to a board of registrars. to allow no one to vote is not on the Election of national and state officers. § 2. R. S. c. 5, § 11. R. S. c. 9, § 18. R. 8. c. 4, § 12. § 11. R. S. c. 6, See xiv. shall deem proper, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the commonwealth.'] SECT. 59. All elections for governor, lieutenant-governor, senators, representatives, represent1821, c. 110, atives to congress, and all other officers, who are to be chosen and voted for by the people, shall be held at meetings of the citizens qualified to vote in such elections, in their respective wards, at the time fixed by law for those elections respecR. S. c. 5, tively. And at such meetings, all the votes given in being collected, sorted, counted, and declared by the inspectors of elections in each ward, it shall be the duty of the clerk of such ward to make a true record of the same, specifying therein [the whole number of ballots given in], the name of each person voted for, and the number of votes for each, expressed in words at length. And a transcript of such record, certified by the warden, clerk, and a majority of the inspectors of elections in such ward, shall forthwith be transmitted or delivered by each ward clerk to the clerk of the city. And 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, in the journals of the proceedings of the board of aldermen, or in some other book kept tion and re- for that purpose. And it shall be the duty of the G. S. c. 7, § 14. Examina turn of votes. board of aldermen to meet together within two days after every such election, and examine and compare all the said returns, and thereupon to 1 Modified by chap. 60 of acts of 1874. lists of votes be trans the secre tary or to sheriffs. R. S. c. 5, make out a certificate of the result of such election, Certificates. to be signed by a majority of the aldermen, and also by the city clerk, which shall be transmitted, delivered, or returned, in the same manner as similar returns are by law directed to be made by the selectmen of towns; and such certificates and returns shall have the same force and effect in all respects, as like returns of similar elections made by the selectmen of towns. At the election of Separate governor, lieutenant-governor, and senators, it for governshall be the duty of the board of aldermen to or, etc., to make and seal up separate lists of persons voted mitted to for as governor, lieutenant-governor, and senators of the commonwealth, with the number of votes for each person, written in words at length against § 1. his name, and to transmit said lists to the secretary of the commonwealth, or to the sheriff of the county. The board of aldermen shall, within three days next after the day of any election of electors of President and Vice-President of the Votes for United States, held by virtue of the laws of this president, commonwealth, or of the United States, deliver etc., how or cause to be delivered, the lists of votes therefor, be transsealed up, to the sheriff of the county; and the secretary. said sheriff shall, within four days after receiving said lists, transmit the same to the office of the secretary of the commonwealth; or the said aldermen may, and when the office of sheriff is vacant, they shall themselves transmit the said lists to the said office, within seven days after the election; and all votes not so transmitted shall be rejected. electors of and when to mitted to the 1844, c. 167, § 1. in case rep are not chosen. Proceedings In all elections for representatives to the general resentatives court, in case the whole number proposed to be elected shall not be chosen according to law, by the votes legally returned, the board of aldermen shall forthwith issue their warrants for a new election, agreeably to the constitution and laws of this commonwealth, and the same proceedings shall be had, in all respects, as are hereinbefore directed; and in case of no choice being made of Proceedings representatives to congress, in either district of which the city of Boston composes a part, or in representa case of any vacancy happening in said districts, or either of them, the governor shall cause precepts for new elections to be directed to the board of aldermen of said city as often as occasion shall require; and such new elections shall be held, and all proceedings thereon had, and returns made, in conformity with the foregoing provisions. in case of no election for tives to con gress. R. S. c. 4, § 13. General meeting of SECT. 60. General meetings of the citizens, the citizens. qualified to vote in city affairs, may from time to 1821, c. 110, time be held to consult upon the common good, § 25. to give instructions to their representatives, and to take all lawful measures to obtain a redress of any grievances, according to the right secured to the people by the constitution of this commonwealth. And such meetings shall and may be duly warned by the board of aldermen, upon the requisition of fifty qualified voters of said city. The mayor, if present, shall preside, and the city clerk shall act as the clerk of such meetings. |