and shall also issue a proclamation declaring the election of such person. In case there shall be no choice, by reason of any two or more persons having an equal and the highest number of votes for either of such offices, the Governor shall by proclamation order a new election to fill said offices. [Laws 1913, Chap. 205, p. 394.]

§ 3423. Secretary, When to Send for Returns.

If the returns of the election of any county in this State shall not be received at the office of Secretary of State within thirty days after the election, the Secretary shall forthwith send a messenger to the county court of such county, whose duty it shall be to furnish said messenger with a copy of such returns, and the said messenger shall be paid out of the county treasury of the said county the sum of twenty cents for each mile he shall necessarily travel in going to and returning from said county.

§ 3424. Votes for Assemblymen, When Returned.

When two or more counties are united in the same senatorial or representative district, the return of votes cast for joint senator or representatives to the legislative assembly shall be forwarded by the county clerk of each county to the Secretary of State in like manner as votes cast for judges of the Supreme Court and district attorneys are now required by law to be returned.

If any judge or clerk of election, or any other person in any manner concerned in conducting the election, shall corruptly violate any of the provisions of this chapter, he shall forfeit and pay to the county a sum not less than $50 nor more than $500, to be recovered by a civil action in the name of the county court of the proper county. In all elections in this State, the person having the highest number of votes for any office shall be deemed to have been elected.

ELECTION CONTESTS.

§ 3426. Notice of Contest.

Any person wishing to contest the election of any person to any county, district, township, or precinct office, may give notice in writing to the person whose election he intends to contest that his election will be contested, stating the cause of such contest briefly, within thirty days from the time said. person shall claim to have been elected.

§ 3427. Service of Notice Contest, How Heard.

Said notice shall be served in the same manner as a summons issued out of the circuit court, ten days before any hearing upon such contest as herein provided shall take place, and shall state the time and place that such hearing shall be had. Upon the return of said notice served to the clerk of the county, he shall thereupon enter the same upon his issue docket as an appeal case, and the same shall be heard in its order by the circuit court; provided, that if the case cannot be determined by the circuit court in term time within one month after the termination of said election, the judge of the circuit court may hear and determine the same at chambers as soon thereafter as may be practicable, and shall make all necessary orders for the trial of the case, and carrying his judgment into effect; provided, that this section shall not apply to township or precinct officers. In cast of contest between any persons claiming to be elected to any township or precinct office, said notice shall be served in the manner aforesaid, and shall be returned to the county court of the county.

Upon the return of said notice to the said county court, and on the day and at the place therein named, the county judge shall hear and determine such contest, and make all necessary orders for trial of the cause and carrying his judgment into effect.

§ 3429. Trial-Election Certificate and Appeal.

Each party shall be entitled to subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum, as in ordinary cases of law; and the court shall hear and determine, without the intervention of jury, the same, in such manner as shall carry into effect the expressed will of a majority of the legal voters, as indicated by their votes for such office, not regarding technicalities or errors in spelling the name of any candidate for such office; and the county clerk shall issue a certificate to the person declared to be duly elected by said court, which shall be conclusive evidence of the right of said person to hold said office; provided, that the judgment or decision of the circuit court in term time, or a decision of a judge thereof in vacation, as the case may be, may be removed to the Supreme Court, in such other manner as is provided for removing causes from the circuit court to the Supreme Court; and provided further, that appeals may be taken from the decision of the county court to the circuit court, as in other cases-in all of which cases the party removing any such judgment or decision by appeal

shall file in the proper court a bond to the opposite party, in such sum and with such sureties as shall be prescribed by a judge thereof, conditioned for the payment of all costs that may be properly taxed against him.

§ 3430. Chapter, How Construed.

This chapter shall not be construed so as to impair in any way the right of any person to contest any election in the manner otherwise provided by law.

§ 3431.

RESIGNATIONS, VACANCIES, ETC.

Resignations-Elections to Fill Vacancies.

Any person who shall receive a certificate of his election as a member of the legislative assembly, coroner, or commissioner of the county court, shall be at liberty to resign such office, though he may not have entered upon the execution of its duties or taken the requisite oath of office; and when any vacancy shall happen in the office of member of the senate or house of representatives, by death, resignation, or otherwise, and a session of the legislature is to take place before the next biennial election, the Governor shall issue a writ of election, directed to the sheriff of the county, or sheriffs of the counties composing the district in which such vacancy shall occur, commanding him or them to notify the several judges of election in his county or their district to hold a special election to fill such vacancy or vacancies, at a time appointed by the Gov

ernor.

§ 3432.

To Whom Resignations Are Made.

Resignations shall be made as follows:

1. By the Secretary of State and State Treasurer, and by all officers elected by the legislature, to the Governor;

2. By all officers who hold their offices by election to the officer or officers respectively authorized by law to order a special election to fill such offices, respectively;

3. By all other officers holding their offices by appointment, to the body, board, or officer that appointed them.

Every office shall become vacant on the occurring of either of the following events before the expiration of the term of such office:

1. The death of the incumbent;

2. His resignation;

3. His removal;

4. His ceasing to be an inhabitant of the district, county, town, or village for which he shall have been elected or appointed, or within which the duties of his office are required to be discharged;

5. His conviction of any infamous crime, or of any offense involving a violation of his oath;

6. His refusal or neglect to take his oath of office, or to give or renew his official bond, or to deposit such oath or bond within the time prescribed by law;

7. The decision of a competent tribunal declaring void his election or appointment.

§ 3434. Office, When Governor to Declare Vacant.

The Governor shall also declare vacant the office of every officer required by law to execute an official bond whenever a judgment shall be obtained against such officer for a breach of the conditions of such bond.

§ 3435. Vacancy During Recess of Assembly.

Whenever a vacancy shall occur during the recess of the legislature in any office which the legislature is authorized to fill by election, the Governor, unless it is otherwise specially provided, may appoint some suitable person to perform the duties of such office.

§ 3436. Vacancies, When Filled by County Court.

When at any time there shall be in either of the offices of county clerk, sheriff, coroner, or any county or precinct office, no officer duly authorized to execute the duties thereof, some suitable person may be appointed by the county court to perform the duties of either of said offices.

§ 3437. Terms of Appointees-Must Qualify.

Every such person so appointed in pursuance of either of the two last preceding sections shall, before proceeding to execute the duties assigned him, qualify in the same manner as required by law of the officer in whose place he shall be appointed, and he shall continue to exercise and perform the duties of the office to which he shall be appointed until such vacancy shall be regularly supplied as provided by law.

§ 3438. Congressional Vacancy.

Whenever a vacancy may occur in the office of Representative in Congress from this State from any cause whatever, the Governor shall issue his writ of election to fill such vacancy in the same manner and under the same regulations as are prescribed by law to fill vacancies in the legislative assembly.

§ 3439. Commencement of Terms of Office.

The term of office of all officers elected shall begin to run from the time of their election, unless some other express provision is made by law.

§ 1.

Office of Governor, When Term of Begins.

The official term of the Governor of this State shall commence upon the publication of the returns by the speaker of the house of representatives, as provided in Section 4, Article V, of the Constitution; or in case of an election of the Governor by the legislative assembly, as provided in Section 5 of Article V of the Constitution of Oregon, his official term shall commence immediately upon such election; and he shall be inaugurated by taking the oath of office. 1913, Chap. 84, p. 137.]

§ 3443. Election of Presidential Electors.

[Laws

On the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, 1864, and every four years thereafter, there shall be elected by the qualified electors of this State as many electors of President and Vice-President as this State may be entitled to elect of Senators and Representatives in Congress.

§ 3444. When to Convene-Vacancies; Duty of Electors.

The electors of President and Vice-President shall convene at the seat of government on the second Monday in January next after their election, at the hour of twelve of the clock at noon of that day, and if there shall be any vacancy in the office of an elector, occasioned by death, refusal to act, neglect to attend, or otherwise, the electors present shall immediately proceed to fill by viva voce and plurality of votes, such vacancy in the electoral college, and when all the electors shall appear, or the vacancies, if any, shall have been filled as above provided, such electors shall proceed to perform the duties required of them by the Constitution and laws of the United States. [Laws 1913, Chap. 53, p. 84.]

Every such elector who shall attend at the time and place appointed, and give his vote for President and Vice-President shall be entitled to receive from this State $3.00 for each day's attendance at such election and $3.00 for every twenty miles' travel in going to and returning from the place where the electors shall meet, on the usually traveled route.