officers, except that in a village of the first or second class the treasurer may be appointed, upon the adoption of a proposition therefor at a village election. All other village officers shall be appointed by the board of trustees, except as otherwise provided herein.

An "official year" begins at noon on the first Monday after the third Tuesday of March, and ends at noon on the same Monday in the next calendar year.

The term of office of the president, treasurer, collector, clerk, street commissioner and inspectors of election shall be one official year; of each trustee elected for a full term, two official years, and of a police justice, four calendar years.

The term of each village officer, except police justice, begins at noon on the first Monday after the annual election. A full term of the police justice begins on the first day of January succeeding the annual election at which he was elected.

After the first election in a village subject to the provisions of this chapter one-half of the trustees shall be elected each year for a full term.

§ 44. Number of trustees.-Villages in the several classes shall elect trustees as follows:

I. In the first class, not less than two nor more than eight. 2. In the second class, not less than two nor more than six. 3. In the third class, two or four. 4. In the fourth-class, twe.

am'd

1901

Each village shall always have an even number of trustees. 845. Changing number of trustees. Within the limitations herein prescribed, the number of trustees may be changed by adopting a proposition therefor at a special election. If the number be increased, the additional trustees shall be elected at the next annual election. One-half of the additional trustees shall be elected for one year and one-half for two years. If the number of trustees be reduced, such reduction shall not take effect until the expiration of the terms of the trustees then in office.

§ 46. Readjustment of terms of trustees.-The terms of the trustees in office at noon on the Monday next following the date of the annual election in the year eighteen hundred and ninetyeight shall then expire. At such election the whole number of trustees which the village is authorized to choose shall be elected, one-half for one year and one-half for two years. This section does not apply to villages hereafter incorporated, and in which

an election of officers is held subsequent to September thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and prior to the third Tuesday of March, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

§ 47. Determination of future number of trustees.-If when this chapter takes effect a village not in the fourth class has a greater or a less number of trustees than the number to which it is or may be entitled, a special election may be held therein prior to March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, to determine the number of trustees to be thereafter elected, within the limi tations herein prescribed.

Such special election shall only be held upon the petition of twenty-five electors qualified to vote upon a proposition; and if it be not held, such village shall only elect two trustees at the annual election in eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, one of whom shall be elected for a term of one year and one for two years.

§ 48. Abolition of existing wards or districts.-All divisions of villages into districts, subdivisions or wards, for the purpose of electing trustees, made under a general law and in force when this chapter takes effect, are abolished.

§ 49. Election of trustees by wards.-A village of the first class may elect trustees by wards upon the adoption of a proposition therefor at a special election. If such a proposition be adopted, the board of trustees shall meet within twenty days thereafter and divide the village into wards of a number equal to one-half of the number of the trustees which the village has a right to elect. Such wards shall contain a population as nearly equal as may be, and be of convenient and contiguous territory, in as compact form as practicable. The board of trustees shall make a certificate of such division, which shall contain a description of each ward, and shall file the same in the office of the village clerk, and publish it in each newspaper published in the village, at least twenty days before the next annual election. One trustee shall thereafter be elected annually in each ward, for a full term.

If after such a division into wards, the number of trustees in the village be changed, the board of trustees shall, in like manner, make a new division into wards.

§ 50. Election of police justice.-The office of police justice is continued in every village in which it is now established. A village may establish the office of police justice by adopting a

proposition therefor. A village, in which the office of police justice has been established, may abolish such office at an annual election, to take effect upon the expiration of the term of the police justice then in office.

§ 51. Election of assessors.-The board of trustees shall act as assessors of the village, or may appoint of their number a committee for that purpose, unless separate assessors are appointed or elected as provided by this section. If twenty-five electors qualified to vote upon a proposition shall present a petition to the board of trustees for the election of separate assessors, it shall submit to the next annual election a proposition therefor, and if such proposition be adopted, shall appoint three persons to be assessors of such village for the terms of one, two and three years, respectively, and thereafter at each annual election, one assessor shall be elected for a full term of three years. In a village of the first or second class, which now has no separate assessors, the board of trustees may, by resolution, direct that three assessors be elected at the next annual election, and they shall be elected accordingly for the terms of one, two and three years, respectively. At each annual election thereafter one assessor shall be elected for a full term of three years. A village having separate assessors, when this act took effect, either elective or appointive, may continue to elect or appoint assessors until such village shall decide by a proposition submitted at an annual election to have the board of trustees, or a committee thereof, act as assessors. If twenty-five electors. qualified to vote upon a proposition, shall present a petition to the board of trustees to abolish separate assessors, it shall submit such proposition to the next annual election, to which it is entitled to be submitted under this act, and if adopted no assessors shall be elected or appointed, except that such village shall continue to elect or appoint assessors whose terms of office shall expire with the term of the assessor then in office having the longest term to serve, after which time, the trustees or committee therefrom, shall act as assessors. (As amended by chap. 195 of 1898, 1.)

$52. Election districts.-A village, containing not more than eight hundred qualified electors, shall constitute a single election district for village elections. If at an annual election, the num ber of votes cast for village officers shall exceed eight hundred, the board of trustees may by resolution, adopted at least thirty

days before the next annual election, divide such village into election districts, containing not more than eight hundred voters. Such resolution shall specify the boundaries of each district, but a ward shall not be divided in the formation thereof, except to make two or more election districts wholly within such ward. Such resolution shall be published and posted with a notice of such election.

$53. Officers to be elected at annual election.- Elective offices shall be filled at the annual election next preceding the expiration of the terms thereof. If a vacancy in an elective office occurs more than ten days prior to an annual election, at which a successor for a full term is not to be chosen, it shall be filled at such election for the remainder of the unexpired term.

54. Inspectors of election.-If a village constitutes but one election district, the trustees and clerk of the village, after the first election of village officers, shall be inspectors of election for the village, and one or more of them shall preside at all elections. If a trustee or the clerk shall not be present, the electors may appoint a chairman to preside, who shall have all the powers of an inspector.

If a village is divided into election districts, the board of trustees shall, annually, at least thirty days before the annual election, appoint two inspectors of election for each district to preside at all village elections therein, until their successors are appointed. Such inspectors shall not both be chosen from the same political party. The board may also appoint for each district a poll clerk and a ballot clerk.

$55. Annual elections.-An annual election shall be held in each village on the third Tuesday in March, unless a town meeting of a town in which any part of the village is situated, or a general election, shall be held on such day, in which case the annual election shall be held upon the next day thereafter. All other village elections are special elections. The board of trustees shall, by resolution, adopted at least ten days before every village election, designate the hours of opening and closing the polls thereof, which shall include at least four consecutive hours between sunrise and sunset. The resolution shall also designate the place of holding the election, or if there is more than one election district in the village, the place of holding the election in each district. The board also shall, at least ten days before the election, cause notice thereof to be published at least once

in the official paper, if such paper is published in the village, and a printed copy thereof conspicuously posted in at least six public places in the village, specifying the time and place, or places, of holding the election, the hours of opening and closing the polls thereof, the offices, if any, and the term to be filled, and setting forth in full all propositions to be voted upon. If the board neglects to appoint the place or places for the annual election, the election shall be held at the place or places of the last preceding annual election, and if it neglects to appoint the hours of opening and closing the polls thereof, such hours shall be the same as at the last preceding annual election. An annual election of the village officers shall not be invalid because of a failure to give such notice. A vote upon a proposition shall be void unless due notice of the election has been given.

If a village, constituting a single election district, is divided into wards and elects trustees by wards, separate ballot boxes shall be provided for each ward, and the ballots of the electors residing therein shall be deposited in the ballot box designated for such ward.

§ 56. Canvass of annual election.-The inspectors of election of each election district shall, immediately upon the closing of the polls of each annual election, proceed to canvass the votes cast thereat, and shall complete such canvass without adjournment. They shall, before nine o'clock in the forenoon of the following day, file with the village clerk their certificate setting forth the holding of the election, the total number of votes cast for each office, the number of votes cast for each person for such office, the total number of votes cast upon each proposition voted upon, and the number cast for and against it. If the village contains more than one election district, the board of trustees of such village shall meet at its usual place of meeting, at nine o'clock in the forenoon of the next day after the election. The village clerk shall produce at such meeting the returns of the inspectors of election, and the board of trustees shall canvass such returns, and file in the office of the village clerk a certificate declaring the result. The person eligible and receiving the highest number of votes for an office shall be elected thereto. If two or more persons receive an equal and the greatest number of votes for the same office, the board of trustees shall determine by lot which of them shall be deemed elected.

§ 57. Failure to designate terms.-No election of village offi