ing in defense; and upon such hearing the accused shall have the right to be heard in person or by counsel. Upon any trial, as provided for in this section, it shall be the duty of the Board to furnish the accused with all reasonable facilities for the conduct of his defense, and to secure to him, free of charge, the attendance of all witnesses reasonably necessary for his defense.

ARTICLE XI.

Department of Elections.

CHAPTER I.

SECTION 1. The Police and Election Commissioners shall, within ten days after their appointment, organize themselves as the Board of Election Commissioners by choosing one of their number as President. They shall elect a Secretary of the Board who shall be Supervisor of Elections in said city and county. He shall hold office during the pleasure of the Board. He shall keep the records, execute the orders, and enforce the rules and regulations of the Board, and perform such other service as the law and this Charter shall prescribe. He shall give an official bond, with two sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Mayor, in the sum of five thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. All of the clerks may, if required by the Board, act as Deputy Secretaries and Supervisors of Elections.

SEC. 2. The Board of Election Commissioners may, if they deem it necessary to perform the service, appoint not to exceed two permanent clerks. Such clerks shall perform such service as the Board shall require. The Board may in like manner, during the three months immediately preceding, and ten days after any election, employ such clerical assistance as may be necessary, not to exceed six temporary clerks in all; and for the same period, and no longer, a janitor. All Deputy Clerks to be appointed equally from both parties.

SEC. 3. The conduct and management of the registration of voters and of the holding and conducting of elections, and of all matters pertaining to holding elections, shall be vested in the Board of Election Commissioners; provided, that the power to order special elections to be held, to declare the purpose thereof and the time for holding the same when not fixed by law or this Charter, is

vested in the Supervisors. Said Board of Election Commissioners shall have and exercise all the powers and be charged with all the duties as to the registration of voters and holding and conducting elections, and all matters pertaining to holding and conducting elections, which are granted and prescribed by this Article, and also all those which are now or may hereafter be vested in them by ordinances and by general laws.

SEC. 4. The Secretary of the Board and ex-officio Supervisor of Elections, subject to the control of said Board, shall have all the powers, discharge all the duties, and be liable to all the obligations with respect to matters pertaining to holding and conducting elections, now or hereafter belonging to, or resting upon the County Clerks of other counties of this State under the general laws thereof, so far as the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter; provided, however, that all matters pertaining to election contests shall be conducted by such officers and in such manner as is now or may hereafter be provided by law.

SEC. 5. The Board shall, within one year after each general election, divide said city and county into election precincts, of which there shall be as many as shall be sufficient to make the number of votes polled at any one election precinct, not more than two hundred and fifty, nor less than one hundred and fifty, as near as can be ascertained and arranged, using streets and avenues as boundaries; provided, that no precinct shall in any case extend beyond the ward lines; and provided, further, that when any one block shall contain more than two hundred qualified electors, such block may constitute one precinct, and that after the city and county shall have been once divided into precincts, the boundaries of any precinct shall not be changed until the votes cast in said precinct shall exceed two hundred and fifty.

SEC. 6. All officers and persons heretofore exercising any duties in reference to the registration of voters or electors in the City and County shall upon demand transfer and deliver to the Board of Election Commissioners all registers, records, books, documents, blanks, charts and things belonging to or in any wise appertaining to the registration of voters or election matters in said city and county. SEC. 7. The office of the Commissioners shall be kept open for business from eight o'clock, A. M., till five o'clock, P. M., every day in the year, Sundays and legal holidays excepted; and, when required by the Board to perform the service, such additional hours as may be necessary, but no extra allowance or compensation shall be made.

The Secretary, and all deputies and clerks, shall be constantly in attendance, except when absent upon official business. The Election Commissioners, the Secretary, and all deputies and clerks, as well as the members of all Precinct Boards and their clerks, and all election officers, shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations in all matters touching elections, the duties of their offices, and the registration of voters or inquiry into their qualifications.

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SEC. 8. The Secretary shall constantly inform himself, by examination and inquiry, as to the condition of the precinct registers and the legality of the names thereon, or demanding to be placed thereon, and shall see that none but legal voters are registered. Should the Secretary have reason to believe that any name or names upon the precinct register is improperly or illegally there, it shall be his duty forthwith to send written or printed notice, by postal card or letter to such person, directing the same to his address as found in the directory, or, in case his name is not in the directory, then to the address of such person as found on the Register requiring such person to show cause before the Commissioners, at a day to be named in said notice, why said Board should not cancel said name. If such person fail for five days after the day fixed for the hearing, to appear and establish the legality of such name, and on the certificate of the Secretary that notice in accordance herewith has been given, the Board shall inquire into the case, and if it appear to the satisfaction of the Board that such name is improperly upon the precinct register, then said Board shall make and enter an order directing the Secretary to cancel such name or names. But the parties may appear before said Board at the hearing and show cause against said order, and if the Board finds them properly registered, or entitled to registry, an order shall be made accordingly, which shall be final.

SEC. 9. The Secretary shall keep in his office, which shall be the office of the Board, a list of all deaths of adult males, occurring in said city and county, as well as of the deaths of such citizens as may come to his knowledge, who have died elsewhere, to be alphabetically arranged for convenience of reference. He shall also keep a list of all removals or changes of residence, so far as he can learn the same, and of commitments to prisons and insane asylums, with time and place, as well as such other information as shall be found useful and within his reach. It shall be the duty of all Clerks of Courts, Prison Keepers, Health Officers, and all other public officers, on demand, to furnish to said Secretary certified statements of such official facts,

within their knowledge, necessary or useful to him in and about the performance of his said duty.

SEC. 10. The Secretary, under and subject to the rules of the Board, must take charge of the business of placing the election officers, and when it is too late to call the Board together to fill vacancies, may select and appoint election officers for said purpose, from a list of substitutes selected by said Board. Should any election officer fail to appear at the opening of any election, or absent himself during the progress thereof, the officers in attendance may, subject to such rules as the Board may prescribe, fill up the same by appointing any competent citizen who is a registered elector of the precinct. In all cases in filling a vacancy the appointee shall be taken from the political party to which the person, whose place is to be filled, belongs. Any person refusing to serve when so appointed, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

SEC. 11. The registration of voters, counting of votes or ballots, and all proceedings connected therewith, shall be public, and citizens shall have free ingress and egress to and from the place where the same is being done. Any election officer or other person who shall hinder or impede any citizen in his right to free entrance to any polling place, or place of registration, and to observe and watch the registration and the counting of votes or ballots, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

SEC. 12. At every election each political party shall have the right to designate, place, and keep a challenger at each place of registration, revision of registration and voting, who shall be assigned such position immediately adjoining the officers of registration and of election, as will enable him to see each person as he offers to register or vote, and who shall be protected in the discharge of his duty by the officers of election and the police. Each political party may remove any challenger appointed by it, and may appoint another in his place who shall have the like authority as was conferred by the original appointment.

SEC. 13. It is hereby made the duty of any and all voters (persons holding office or employment under the United States, the State of California, or said city and county, or in any of its departments, excepted), to serve as Inspectors, and Clerks, or other officers of election, whenever required to do so under the provisions of this Article.

SEC. 14. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board to obtain from the property tax-list and registers of voters the names of the resident citizens possessing the necessary qualifications to act as Inspectors and Clerks of Election, taking care to select persons of good reputation and character, and have the same placed in a book, so as readily to refer to the places of residence and the precinct in which they vote. He shall take care that said list shows the names and reidences of all property tax-payers who reside in said city and county, and who are voters, and shall ascertain, as nearly as he can, the capabilities of such voters to act as election officers. If any of them are incompetent to serve, and not otherwise, their names may be left off, but the reason must be noted.

SEC. 15. Said Commissioners shall select, except as herein otherwise provided, all election officers provided for by law or by this Charter for said city and county, and shall appoint them to their respective places. They must be citizens of said city and county, of good character, and able to read, write and speak the English language. Said Board shall have the power to make any regulations and rules for such appointment or selection as it may deem advisable, so as to secure integrity, impartiality and capacity for the work to be done ; and must take measures to secure the names of proper persons, citizens of said city and county, to fill all appointments as herein provided. In selecting such officers the Board must select, as nearly as possible, an equal number of persons of opposite political faith and opinions to serve at each precinct. And the persons so selected must be residents of the ward and of the Senatorial District in which the precinct is located.

SEC. 16. The Inspectors shall receive no compensation for any of their services. The said Board may, when necessary, provide for the compensation of clerks for tallying, writing and other matters requiring special skill and qualifications, such sum as may be necessary to secure such services; but not to exceed four dollars per day for any one clerk. Any clerk who would be entitled to receive compensation under the provisions of this section, may at his option, in writing, waive such compensation. No person holding any office or employment under the United States, the State of California, or said city and county, or any of its departments, or any candidate for office, or who shall have been either thereof within ninety days prior to his appointment, shall be eligible to, or allowed to serve as an election or registration officer, or clerk, or in any manner whatsoever at an election.

SEC. 17. Each and every person selected as an officer of election by the Commissioners shall be notified by the Secretary of the fact of his appointment. Such notice shall be in writing, or printed, and shall have printed thereon a copy of this section, and may be served by postal card or letter. Such person so notified shall, within the time fixed in the notice, which shall not be less