1897. Repeal. Levy of special tax. Issuing bonds. CHAPTER 4634-[No. 120.] AN ACT to Repeal Section 6 of Chapter 3966, Laws of Florida, Entitled an Act to Establish the Municipality of Key West, Provide for its Government and Prescribe its Jurisdiction and Powers; All Amendments to Said Section; Provide for the Payment of Bonds issued Under the Provisions of Said Section, and to Prescribe the Manner in Which Other Bonds May be Issued. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: SECTION 1. That Section 6 of Chapter 3966, Laws of Florida, entitled an act to establish the municipality of Key West, provide for its government and prescribe its jurisdiction and powers, and all amendments thereto be and the same are hereby repealed. SEC. 2. That for the purpose of meeting the interest on the bonds issued under the provisions of said Section 6, Chapter 3966, Laws of Florida, and amendments, thereto, and to create a sinking fund for their ultimate redemption, the City Council or Board of City Commissioners as the case may be of the said city of Key West shall have power and are hereby required to levy a special tax not to exceed seven (7) mills upon the dollar, upon all property in said city, which special tax shall be exclusively used for the purpose of paying the interest upon the bonds aforesaid, and in creating a sinking fund for their redemption. SEC. 3. That in no case shall the City Council or City Commissioners of said city of Key West issue any bonds for any purpose whatsoever, except that the matter be first submitted to the qualified e'ectors of said city at a regular city election and receive a favorable vote by a majority of the whole number of electors of said city who are qualified to vote at said election. SEC. 4. All laws or parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act be and the same are hereby repealed. SEC. 5. That this act shall take effect immediately upon its passage and approval by the Governor. Approved May 4, 1897. CHAPTER 4635-[No. 121.] AN ACT to Provide for the Municipal Officers of the City of Key West, a Municipal Corporation Existing in the County of Monroe, Florida; to Prescribe Their Terms of Office, Provide for Their Election and Appointment and Regulate Their Compensation, and to Repeal Sections Two and Three of Chapter 3966, Laws of Florida, and Amendments Thereto. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 1897. Municipal West. SECTION 1. That the municipal officers of the City of Key West shall be a Mayor, who shall be President of the Board of Aldermen, and be vested with all the powers, and charged with all the duties belonging to the Mayor under the act of February 4, A. D. 1869, Chapter 1688, and amendments officers of Key thereto, except those which have been previously delegated to the Judge of the Municipal Court; a City Council, composed of two members each from first and second wards, and three members from the third ward in said city, as now defined, and two members from the city at large; a Treasurer; a City Clerk; a Tax Collector; a Tax Assessor; a Marshal; a Board of Election Commissioners, composed of one member from each ward; a Judge of the Municipal Court, to be known as the Police Justice; and such other officers as may be provided by ordinance. Election of cilmen, etc. SEC. 2. That the Mayor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the city at large; two councilmen each from the first and second wards, and three from the third ward shall be elected by the qualified electors of their respective wards, and two councilmen from the city at large. The Treasurer, City Clerk, Tax Collector, Tax Assessor and Marshal shall be elected by the qualified electors of the said city. The Board of Election Commissioners shall be elected by the qualified electors of their respective wards. The first Board of Election Commissioners how elected. shall be constituted as hereinafter named. The Judge of the Municipal Court shall be a regular practicing attorney- Judge of the at-law, with at least one year of active practice previous to Court. his appoinment, and a qualified elector of the city of Key West. He shall be elected by a majority vote of the members of the City Council. All of said officers shall hold office Election Commissioners, Municipal for a term of one year, and until their successors are elected Term of office. and qualified, but no person who is not a free holder shall be eligible for any elective officer. All other officers provided other officers. for by ordinance, shall be elected by a majority vote of the Election of City Council, and shall hold office for the term of one year, unless sooner removed from office for cause by a vote of two 1897. When term of officers begin. Who a qualified elector. Proviso. Proviso. General election of city officers. Election district of city. Election Commissioners. Vacancies, how filled. tion Commis sioners. thirds of all members of the City Council. The terms of all officers shall begin at noon of the third day of their election, and the term of all officers elected by the City Council shall begin at noon of the first day after the organization of each newly elected City Council. SEC. 3. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years residing in said city at the time of holding a city election and who shall have resided and had his habitation, domicile, home and permanent place of abode therein for six months, and possesses all the qualifications of an elector prescribed by the Constitution and Laws of Florida, and was a duly qualified elector of the county of Monroe at the time of the general State election held next preceeding, shall be deemed a qualified elector authorized to vote at such city election; Provided, That those persons who by reason of infancy were not qualified electors at such general State election, but have since come of age, and possess the other qualifications, and shall be registered as hereinafter provided, shall also be qualified electors at such city election; Provided further, That payment of a State poll tax shall be a prerequisite for voting at a city election as long as it is a prerequisite for voting at a State election, and under like conditions, and the same shall be for the years prescribed for the payment thereof, to qualify an elector to vote at such preceding general State election. SEC. 4. A general election for the election of all officers provided to be elected by the electors of said city shall be held therein, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in September, A. D. 1897, and annually on the same day thereafter. Each ward shall constitute an election district of said city. SEC. 5. James R. Curry, Sr., George W. Reynolds and Alfred Lowe, shall be and they are hereby constituted a board of Election Commissioners for the said city,to hold office from the date of the passage of of this act until their successors are elected and qualified. Said Board of Election Commissioners shall then and thereafter be elected by qualified electors of said city of Key West as aforesaid; and the City Council of the city of Key West shall fill all vacancies occuring on said board. The Board of Election Commissioners shall organize by the election of a chairman of its own members. SEC. 6. The Board of Election Commissioners shall make Duties of Elec- all necessary preparations and arrangements for holding all city elections, and shall declare the result thereof. They shall appoint a Registration Officer prior to each city election who shall register all persons applying to him for that purpose who shall have become of age since the last general State 1897. Duty of Regis election and are otherwise qualified as electors under the provisions of this act. Such Registration Officer shall open his office at some convenient place in said city twenty days be- tration officer. fore such city election, and shall keep such office open every day from 9 o'clock a. m., and from 2 p. 5 o'clock p. m. for the purpose of registration. Each person applying to register shall take the following oath to be administered by the Registration Officer: m. to Said Oath. swear falsely. Books to be turned over to Election Com missioners. List of qualified "I do solemnly swear that I am a bona fide resident of the city of Key West and possess all the qualifications of an elector of said city, and I reached the age of twenty-one years since the last general State election." Any person taking such oath who shall swear falsely, shall be guilty of per- Perjury to jury. The name of each person so registered shall be entered, in a book prepared for that purpose, giving also under proper headings, his age, color, occupation and the location of his residence, the list for each election district being kept separate. Immediately upon closing the registration, such books shall be turned over to the Election Commissioners. Election Commissioners shall have free access to the regis tration lists of the county of Monroe, with authority to make or to have made, copies of the same, so far as theyinclude the election districts within said city, and from the same together with the registration of the City Registration Officers, shall prepare a list in alphabetical order by election wards, of the qualified electors authorized to vote at such city election, omitting therefrom the names of all persons who have died, or removed from said city or are otherwise disqualified to vote, and shall publish said list one day in one of the newspapers of said city at least six days before the day of the city election, and with said publication give notice of a certain place within said city four days before such election where they will meet to restore any name or names to such registration lists which may have been improperly stricken therefrom, and at such time and place shall meet for that purpose, and shall restore to such list any name or names shown to have been improperly stricken or omitted from such registration list. In case the name of an elector appears in an election district in which he does not reside, the said Eiection Commissioners shall upon application tran-fer the same to the proper election district. The registration so revised and completed shall constitute the list of registered voters entitled to vote at such city election. electors to be prepared. Clerk of SEC. 7. For the purpose of carrying on and conducting each city election, it shall be the duty of the Election Com- Inspectors and missioners at least six days prior to the holding of any city Eection. election, to appoint three intelligent, discreet and fair-minded 1897. Polling place. persons to be the Inspectors of Election, and a Clerk of Election for each election district of said city, all of whom shall be qualified electors of the election district for which they are appointed. In making such appointments representation shall be given to the supporters of each full and bona fide ticket in nomination, so far as the same may be done within the limits of the number of said inspectors and clerk, and if the chairman of the committee representing any ticket so put in nomination by any political organization shall, more than six days before such election, nominate in writing to the commissioners for inspectors an elector of each ward, supporters of the ticket he represents, the commissioners shall appoint such electors as inspectors, and any political organization as aforesaid shall be entitled to have one watcher within the polling place to observe the election, including the counting of the votes, but they shall not interfere with the voters or inspectors excepting in the counting of ballots; they may have the privilege of inspecting the same after it has been read by the inspector. In the absence or refusal to act of any of the Inspectors or Clerks of Election, the inspector or inspectors present at the polling place at the time appointed for opening the polls, shall choose from the qualified electos present such a number as together with the inspector or inspectors present is necessary to constitute a board of three inspectors and a clerk. Said inspectors and clerk shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, which shall be written or printed, that they will well and truly perform the duties of inspector (or cleik as the case may be) of election, and will endeavor to prevent all fraud, deceit or abuse in conducting the said election. Such oath may be taken before any officer authorized to administer an oath, or before any one of the inspectors, and the same shall be returned with the poll list and the r turns to the Election Commissioners. Said Board of Inspectors shall choose a chairman and all questions shall be decided by a majority. SEC. 8. There shall be in each and every ward a polling place, presided over and managed by the Board of Inspectors, and Clerk of Election of said ward, which shall be the polling place for the election of the elective officers of said city and for said ward; at each of such polling places a space or enclosure, such as the Board of Election Commissioners shall deem fit and sufficient, shall be railed off, boarded up or otherwise constructed, with an opening at one end or side for the entrance of the voter and an opening at the other for his exit, as a polling place in which to hold the election. But one |