this Act, to be prepared and filled up, and shall insert therein the names and residence and the calling or quality of each of the persons nominated and not withdrawn, in the alphabetical order of the surnames of such persons, but it shall not be necessary to insert more than once the name of any person nominated. See the Introduction, ante, p. lxx; and see the form of Voting Paper, post, p. 339. The provision in 11 & 12 Vict. c. 63, s. 24, and schedule A., requiring the voting-papers to be filled by the returning officer with the number of votes to which each voter was entitled, was held to be directory only, and not compulsory. Reg. v. Lockhouse and Wilson, 14 L. T. 359; 7 B. & S. 447; S. C. Reg. v. Lofthouse, 35 L. J. Q. B. 145; L. R. 1 Q. B. 433; 12 Jur. (N.s) 619. Therefore if there should be any mistake in the number of votes assigned in the voting-papers, or if none be assigned, the returning officer, when he reckons up the votes, will have to assign to each voter the proper number to which he is entitled. But, semble, per Blackburn and Mellor, JJ., the chairman might be liable to a penalty, under 11 & 12 Vict. c. 63, s. 28, for omitting to fill up the voting-papers in the form provided by the Act. 44. The returning officer shall, three days at least before the day of collection of the voting papers, cause one of such voting papers to be delivered, by persons appointed by him for that purpose, at the address stated in the register or claim of each owner and proxy, and at the residence within the district of each ratepayer entitled to vote therein. A.D. 1875. 45. Each voter shall write his initials in the voting paper P.H., s. 25. delivered to him against the name or names of the person or persons (not exceeding the number of persons to be elected) for whom he intends to vote, and shall sign such voting paper. If the signature be omitted, the voting-paper will be bad. Reg. v. Tart, 28 L. J. Q. B., 173; 5 Jur. (N.s.) 675; 32 L. J. 314. should be the voter's usual signature, and it would be no valid objection The signature that the Christian name is denoted by an initial letter. Reg. v. Avery, 18 Q. B. 576; 21 L. J. Q. B. 429; 17 Jur. 272. Where certain persons went to the houses of voters who were marksmen, to assist in filling up the voting-papers, and having obtained the express or implied consent of voters or members of their families, filled up the papers with the proper names and marks of the voters, and put their own names as attesting witnesses, without obtaining the actual signatures or marks of the parties themselves, it was held, that this did not constitute the offence of forgery at common law: sed quære, whether it amounted to an indictable misdemeanor. The defendants having been indicted separately, Crompton, J., on the application of their counsel, and with the consent of the counsel for the prosecution, permitted all the cases to be tried. Reg. v. Hartshorn, 6 Cox, Crim. Cas. 395. See post, p. 320. 46. Any person voting as a proxy shall in like manner write his own initials and sign his own name, and state also in writing the name of the person or body of persons for whom he is proxy. 47. Any voter unable to write shall affix his mark at the foot of the voting paper in the presence of a witness, who shall attest and write the name of the voter against the mark, as well as the initials of such voter against the name of every candidate for whom the voter intends to vote. A.D. 1875. L.G., s. 24 (6). P.H., s. 27. 48. The returning officer shall cause the voting papers to be collected on the day of the collection (which shall not be later than the seventh of April) by such persons as he may appoint. 49. No voting paper shall be received or admitted unless the same has been delivered at the address or residence as aforesaid of the voter, nor unless the same is collected by the persons appointed for that purpose: Provided(a.) That if any person entitled to receive a voting paper has not received a voting paper as aforesaid, he shall, on personal application before the day of collection to the returning officer, be entitled to receive a voting paper from him, and to fill up the same in his presence, and then and there to deliver the same to him: (b.) That if any voting paper duly delivered has not been collected, through the default of the returning officer or the persons appointed to collect the same, the voter in person may deliver the same to the returning officer before twelve o'clock at noon on the day or on the first day (as the case may be) appointed for the examination and casting up of the votes. 50. If any person nominated, or any person on his behalf, gives at least one clear day's notice in writing to the returning officer, before the delivery or collection of the voting papers, of an intention to send some agent to accompany the deliverer or collector of the papers, the returning officer shall make his arrangements so as to enable the person appointed by him to be so accompanied, but no such agent shall interfere in any respect in the delivery or collection of the voting papers. Counting of Votes. 51. The returning officer shall on the day immediately following the day of collection of the voting papers, and on as many days immediately succeeding as may be necessary, attend at the place appointed for the examination and casting up of the votes, and ascertain the validity of the votes, by an examination of the rate books and such other books and documents as he may think necessary, and by examining such persons as he may see fit; he shall cast up such of the votes as he finds to be valid, and to have been duly given collected or received, and shall ascertain the number of such votes for each candidate. Any candidate may himself attend or may appoint any agent to attend the examination and casting up of the votes; any candidate or agent so attending who obstructs or in any way interferes with the examination and casting up of the votes may, by order of the returning officer, be forthwith removed from the place appointed for that purpose, and if so removed shall not be permitted to return. It will be seen that the examination of votes need not take place at the office of the Local Board. The latter clause is new. Duties of returning officers.—The duties of the chairman or returning officer at the election are not merely ministerial, but judicial, and therefore his certificate of the return of the candidates elected is conclusive as far as the validity of the votes is concerned, and no scrutiny of the votes can be held under a quo warranto. Rey. v. Cross (on the Norfolk Circuit), 16 J. P. 214. The duties of the chairman not being merely ministerial, he should ascertain what candidates are duly qualified, and return the duly qualified candidates who have the majority of votes at the election. Reg. v. St. Pancras, 7 E. & B. 954; 26 L. J. Q. B. 312. A returning officer at an election cannot return himself, for it is a maxim of law that no one is permitted to be a judge in his own cause; per Lord Campbell, C.J., "that maxim has been acted upon from time immemorial, and contains the principle within it, that a returning officer cannot, at the election at which he presides, return himself; therefore it has been held that the mayor of a municipal corporation who presides at an election of town councillors cannot return himself, and his election is void." Reg. v. Owens, 33 L. T. 257. But the mayor is only disqualified from being returning officer, and not from being a candidate. Reg. v. White, 2 W. N. 209; 36 L. J. Q. B. 267; 8 B. & S. 587. 52. The candidates to the number to be elected who, being duly qualified, have obtained the greatest number of votes, shall be deemed and shall be certified by the returning officer under his hand to be elected, and to each person so elected the returning officer shall forthwith send or deliver notice of his election. Quo warranto.-In the case of the election of a coroner for the district of a county, the Court of Queen's Bench held that the sheriff exercises judicial functions in holding a court for the election; and his declaration, therefore, of the election is final, and the validity of the votes cannot be inquired into on quo warranto. Reg. v. Diplock, L. R. 4 Q. B. 549. A rule nisi was granted calling on a Mr. Frost to show cause why an information in the nature of a quo warranto should not be exhibited against him requiring him to show by what authority he assumed to exercise the office of Commissioner under the Public Health Act, 1848, for the city of Ely; it was there contended that the office being a public office, the quo warranto was the proper remedy, and Darley v. The Queen, 12 Cl. & F. 349, and Reg. v. St. Martin in the Fields, 15 J. P. 371, were cited. Ex parte Haydock, 15 J. P. 384. In Reg. v. Robinson, 19 J. P. 724, such an information was granted. But a quo warranto information will not be granted at the instance of an individual against persons acting as a Local Board of Health, constituted under 11 & 12 Vict. c. 63, and 21 & 22 Vict. c. 98. Reg. v. Staples, 9 B. & S. 928. In such a case the Court would require the intervention of the Attorney-General. At the election of a Local Board, the chairman being about to go out of office, another person was appointed as returning officer under 11 & 12 Vict. c 63, s. 21, in case of the chairman being nominated for re-election. Nomination papers were sent in due course to the chairman, and amongst them one nominating him as a candidate. He nevertheless continued to receive the nomination-papers, and, when all had been delivered, prepared the voting-papers, inserting therein the names of the persons nominated as required by sect. 24. He did not further act as returning officer, and was returned as re-elected. There was nothing to show that the names were inserted in the voting-papers otherwise than in their proper order, or that the result of the election had been in any way affected by the voting-papers having been prepared by the chairman instead of by the A.D. 1875. A.D. 1875. person appointed to act as returning officer. Assuming the chairman's conduct to have been an irregularity, the Court in its discretion ought not to allow an information to be filed against his election, no mischief having been done. If, however, a chairman were wilfully and continuously to act in his own election, the Court might allow an information to go. Reg. v. Ward, L. R. 8 Q. B. 210; 28 L. T. (N.S.) 118; 42 L. J. Q. B. 126; 37 J. P. 453. The writ of quo warranto is applicable only to a person in the exercise of an office or franchise, and the Court will not grant it where there is not a sufficient user of the office to found an application for the writ. Reg. v. Jones, 28 L. T. (N.s.) 270; 36 J. P. 136. The mere knowledge on the part of the voters that a candidate is disqualified will not cause the votes given for him to be thrown away, so as to entitle the next on the poll to be held duly elected; that knowledge on the part of the voters, in order to have that effect, must be not only of the fact constituting the disqualification, but also of the law that such fact does disqualify. This, however, was held with reference to the election of Town Councillors, and is not a decision upon the present Act. Per Blackburn, J.: I therefore think that the candidate in the minority cannot be considered as duly elected, but that the election must be held over again. Reg. v. Tewkesbury (Mayor, &c., of), 18 L. T. (N.S.) 851; L. R. 3 Q. B. 629; 9 B. & S. 683; 37 L. J. Q. B. 288. On a rule for a quo warranto against Commissioner, under a Local Improvement Act, it was held: 1. That a person who is owner of rateable property in the town is qualified to be a relator. 2. That it will not be presumed that the votes given for the candidate next highest on the poll were not legal votes, but the contrary must be shown. 3. That if the agent of a candidate agrees to pay the rates of voters, but they are not actually paid before voting, the votes are bad if the Act says voters must have paid their rates before voting. Reg. v. Briggs, 29 J. P. 423. A relator in a quo warranto rule, who has acquiesced in and has adopted the mode of voting, to which he afterwards objects, is disqualified for applying for such a rule. Reg. v. Lockhouse and Wilson, 14 L. T. 359; 7 B. & S. 447; S. C. Reg. v. Lofthouse, 35 L. J. Q. B. 145. When a person who is elected to a municipal office is disqualified, and another claims the office as having the only legal votes, the person so elected cannot, by merely resigning his office, deprive the other person of his right to the advantage which a judgment of ouster upon a quo warranto would give him. He is therefore entitled to file the information, for without a disclaimer on the part of the person returned as elected, he would not be entitled to a mandamus to be admitted to the office. Reg. v. Blizard, 15 L. T. 242; 36 L. J. Q. B. 18; L. R. 2 Q. B. 55; 5 B. & S. 922. On a quo warranto information against a member of a Local Board, the defendant not appearing, a verdict was given for the relator, but the relator was held not entitled to his costs, as the 9 Anne, c. 28, does not extend to such a case. Reg. v. Morgan, 37 J. P. 165; 26 L. T. (N.S.) 790. 53. The returning officer shall also cause to be made a list containing the names of the candidates, together with (in case of a contest) the number of votes given for each, and the names of the persons elected, and shall sign and certify such list, and shall deliver the same, together with the nomination and voting papers which he has received, to the local board at their first or next meeting (as the case may be), who shall cause the same to be deposited in their office. 54. Such list shall during office hours be open to public inspection, together with all other documents relating to the election, for six months after the election, without fee or reward; and the returning officer shall, as soon as may be after the completion of the election, cause such list to be printed, and copies thereof to be affixed at the usual places for affixing parochial notices within the parts for which the election has taken place. 55. The returning officer shall make all his arrangements for the conduct of the election so as to ensure its completion, and the ascertainment of the result, on or before the fifteenth of April in each year; and on that day the candidates elected shall come into office, and until that day the members in whose room they are elected shall continue to hold office. Provided that the first election of a local board for a district constituted after the passing of this Act may be held at any time mentioned in the order constituting the district, and the members shall come into office on the day appointed for their first meeting, but shall for the purposes of retirement be deemed to have come into office on the fifteenth of April next following the commencement of the order. Declaration to be made by Members. A.D. 1875. 56. A person shall not act as a member of a local board P.H., s. 17. (except in administering the following declaration) until he has made and signed before two or more other members of such board a declaration in writing to the effect following; (that is to say,) 'I A.B. do solemnly declare, that I am seised or possessed of a real or personal [or real and personal] estate to the ' value or amount of [or that I am rated on the annual to the relief of the poor of • Made before us, C.D. and E.F., members of the Local Board for the District of ' of A.B. this day 57. Such declaration shall be signed by the person making the same, and shall be filed and kept by the clerk of the local board; and any person who falsely or corruptly makes and subscribes such declaration, knowing the same to be untrue in any material particular, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour. 58. Any person who neglects to make and subscribe the declaration required by this Act for the space of three months next after he has become a member of the local board shall be deemed to have refused to act, and shall cease to be a member of such local board, and his office as such shall thereupon become vacant. Retirement of Members. 59. Subject, as hereinafter mentioned, one third of the P.H., ss. 13,14, number of members elected for the district, or if the district |