Supplies for marking ballot. Return of rails, etc. vided, shall be permitted within said rail, except by authority of the election officers, for the purpose of keeping order and enforcing the law. Each voting shelf shall be kept provided with proper supplies and conveniences for marking the ballots. After each election the judges of election shall see booths, guard that the booths, guard-rails and other equipments are returned to the clerk of the township or corporation in which the precinct is situated, for sate keeping, and it shall be the duty of such clerk to have such booths and equipments on hand and in place at the polling place in each precinc be:ore the time for opening the polls on election day, and for this service the clerk of the court may allow the necessary expense incurred; provided, that where a board of election is established by law, this duty shall devolve on such board. Placing of such Appointment and privileges of party challengers. Oath of challengers. Challenges Entry of name, residence and registered number of elector upon stubs of ballot. Delivery of ballot to elector. CHALLENGERS - OATH. SECTION 20. Two challeng-rs may be appointed by the precinct committeeman of each political party having candidates to be voted for at such election, who shall be admitted to the polling place for the purpose of challenging electors in such precincts where the voters are not registered, and they may keep tally of the electors voting; the challengers shall serve without compensation from the county, city, village or township, and s a l take the following oath, to be administered by one of the judges of election: You do soleninly swear (or affirm) that you will support the constitution of the United States and of this state; that you will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties as official challenger, assigned by law; that you will not cause any delay to persous offering to vote further than is necessary to procure satisfactory information of the qualification of such person as elector, and that you will not disclose or communicate to any person how any elector has voted at such election. Any voter may be challenged by any challenger, judge or clerk of the election, and, if challenged, shall establish his right to vote as now provided by law. Any elector of the precinct may notify the judges of election, in writing, that he challenges the right of any person or persons to vote, giving the reasons, and such person or persons shall be deemed challenged as above. BALLOT HOW PREPARED. SECTION 21. Any person desiring to vote and legally entitled to vote at such election shall give his name, and in precincts where the registration law is in force his residence to the election officer holding the ballots, who shall write the same upon the main stub of the ticket in the blank space provided therefor. Such officer hall then mark upon the secondary stub the elector's registered number, in all precincts in which a registration law is in force, and in all other precincts the elector's full name. One of the election officers shall then detach the ballot, with the secondary stub attached, from the main stub, fold the same, and shall hand it to the elector, and the elector shall be allowed to enter the place inclosed by the guard-rail. The officer shall give him one, and only one ballot. ing to prepara On receipt of his ballot, the elector shall forthwith, General proand without leaving the enclosed space, retire alone to visions relatone of the voting shelves, and without undue delay unfold tion of ballot. and mark his ballot as hereafter described. No elector shall be allowed to occupy a voting shelf already occupied by another, or to occupy a voting shelf for more than five minutes, in case all the shelves are in use and electors waiting to occupy the same, or to speak to or converse with any one, except as herein provided while within the guard-rail. All marks upon the ballot must be made by black lead pencil. If an elector soil or deface a ballot so that it can not be used, he may successively obtain others, one at a time, not exceeding in all three, upon returning each ballot so soiled or defaced, which shall be immediately destroyed; provided, if an elector who has defaced three ballots, shall satisfy the judges that the same were defaced by accident or honest mistake, and not for any fraudulent purpose, the judges shall deliver him another ballot and help him mark the same. The elector shall observe the following rules in marking his ballot: 1. If the elector desire to vote a straight ticket, or in other words for each and every candidate of one party for whatever office nominated, he shall, either, (a) Make a cross mark in the circular space below the device and above the name of the party at the head of the ticket; or. (6) Make a cross mark on the left of and opposite the name of each and every candidate of such party in the blank space provided therefor. Rules for marking: For a straight ticket. ticket. 2. If the elector desire to vote a mixed ticket, or in other For a mixed words, for candidates of different parties, he shall, either, (a) Omit making a cross mark in the circular space above the name of any party, and make a cross mark in the blank space before the name of each candidate for whom he desires to vote on whatever ticket he may be; or, (b) Make a cross mark in the circular space above the name of a party, some of whose candidates he desires to vote for, and then make a cross mark before the name of any candidate of any other party for whom he may desire to vote; in which case, the cross mark in the circular space above the name of a party will cast the elector's vote for every candidate on the ticket of such party, except for offices for which candidates are marked on other party tickets, and the cross marks before the names of such candidates will cast the elector's vote for them; provided, that where two or more persons for the same office are to be voted for in any precinct, as two or more representatives or other officers, and the names of several candidates therefor appear on each party ticket grouped under the office for which all are running, the elector who has marked a ticket in the circular space at its head, and marked one or more of a group • of candidates for such office on another ticket or tickets, When two or more persons are to be elected to same office. Surplus marks. Submission of question. Substitution of name of person not on ticket. When ballot not to be counted for certain office. Disregard of technicalities. Folding of ballot. must in addition to marking the ticket in the circular space at its head, also make a cross mark before each one of the group of candidates for such office for whom he desires to vote on the ticket thus marked; or instead of marking the candidates for such office he desires to vote for on the ticket marked by him, he may erase the names of candidates for such office whom he does not desire to vote for on the ticket thus marked by him to the number of candidates for such office marked by him on other party tickets, in which case his vote shall be counted for the candidates for such office not erased; and provided further, if an elector who has thus marked a party ticket in the circular space at the head thereof and marked one or more candidates on another ticket or tickets for an office for which there are more than one candidate on his own party ticket, fail or neglect to indicate either by individual marks or by erasures, as aforesaid, which of the several candidates for the same office on his own party ticket he desires to vote for, then and in such event, the vote shall be counted only for the candidate or candidates for that office that have the distinguishing mark before his or their names. If, in marking either a straight or mixed ticket as above defined, a cross mark is made in the circular space above the name of a party at the head of the ticket, and also one or more cross marks made before the name or names of candidates on the same ticket for offices for which candidates on other party tickets are not individually marked, such marks before the names of candidates on the ticket so marked, shall be treated as surplusage and ignored, and the ballot be counted for all the candidates on the ticket thus marked for offices for which no candidates on other tickets are marked; but this provision is subject to the exception in the proviso in the last paragraph, where two or more persons for the same office are grouped on party tickets. In the case of a question submitted, the elector shall make a cross mark in the blank space on the left of and before the answer which he desires to give. If the elector desires to vote for any person whose name does not appear on the ticket, he can substitute the name by writing it in black lead pencil or black ink in the proper place, and making a cross mark in the blank space at the left of the name so written. If the elector mark more names than there are persons to be elected to an office, or if, for any reason, it is impossible to determine the voter's choice for an office to be filled, his ballot shall not be counted for such office. No ballot shall be rejected for any technical error which does not make it impossible to determine the voter's choice. BALLOT-HOW CAST. SECTION 22. Before leaving the voting shelf the elector shall fold his ballot without displaying the marks thereon, and so as to conceal the same, but show the indorsements and facsimile of the signatures of the proper clerk or board, and keep the same so folded until he has delivered the ballot to the presiding officer. Receipt of ondary stubs; One of the election officers shall receive the ballot, detach the secondary stub bearing the elector's registered number ballot; dispoor name, and examine such stub for the purpose of identifi- sion of seccation, and deposit the ballot in the ballot-box; the secondary regulation as stube shall be preserved until the polls are closed and shall and voting. then be destroyed before the ballot-box is opened; the elector shall mark and vote his ballot without undue delay, and shall leave said inclosed place as soon as he has voted. to marking closed place; No elector, not an election officer, shall be allowed who permitted to reënter said inclosed place during said election except to reenter in for the purpose of voting. No more electors shall be allowed number of to enter within said rail at any one time than there are electors pervoting shelves provided. It shall be the duty of the judges rail at one of election to secure the observance of the provisions of this time. section. mitted within voted ballots. Every elector who does not vote a ballot delivered to Return of unhim by the ballot officer shall, before leaving the polling place, return such ballot to such officer. Any elector who declares to the presiding judge of election Assistance of that for any reason he is unable to mark his ballot shall, upon judges in marking balrequest, receive the assistance in the marking thereof, of two of lot. the judges of election, belonging to differ-nt political parties, and they shall thereafter give no information in regard to the matter. The presiding judge may, in his discretion, require such declaration of disability to be made by the elector under oath before him. Ballots perdeposited and mitted to be No ballot without the official indorsement shall be allowed to be deposited in the ballot-box, and none but ballots provided in accordance with the provisions of this act shall be counted. counted. POLLS CLOSED-UNUSED BALLOTS DESTROYED. and privileges to polling SECTION 23. The county executive committee of each Appointment party having a ticket to be voted at an election may designate of party ina suitable person to be present as inspector and witness and spectors. inspect the counting of the votes in each precinct, and who shall be admitted to said voting place, and who shall be entitled to a copy of the certificates provided for in this act, but no other person except the election officers shall be ad- Who admitted mitted to said polling place before or after the count begins. place Immediately upon the close of the polls, the number of Certificate and electors entered and shown on the poll-books as having voted, of votes cast. shall be first certified therein and signed by the board of judges and the clerks; and before any other or further proceedings the president or chairman of the board shall make proclamation in a loud voice outside of the polling room, stating the number of voters so shown and certified on the poll-books. proclamation unvotea bal Thereupon, the judges shall, in the presence of the clerks and Destruction of the inspectors above provided for, destroy the ballots remain- lots. ing unvoted. Manner of can ing and enu. merating votes. CANVASS OF VOTES. SECTION 24. The ballot boxes shall then be opened and vassing, enter the ballots therein shall be taken out, one at a time, by one of the judges who shall read aloud distinctly, while the ticket remains in his hands, the name, or names voted for thereon, except that a straight ticket may be announced as such and be so counted, and then delivered to the second judge, who shall examine the same and pass it to the third judge, and so on to the fourth, who shall preserve it; and the same method shall be observed in respect to each of the tickets taken out of the ballot-box until the number taken out of the ballot-box is equal to the number of names in the poll-books. The clerks shall enter in separate columns by tallys under or opposite the names of the persons voted for, as provided in the form of tally-sheets, all the votes thus read by the judges. After the examination of the ballots has been completed the number of votes for each person shall be enumerated under the inspection of the judges, and set down as provided in the form of the tally-sheets; when the result of the ballot is ascertained it shall be immediately announced by one of the copies thereof. judges in front of the polling place, and a copy thereof, certified by the judges and clerks, posted on the front of the polling place, and a certified copy thereof given to the persons hereinafter designated as being entitled to be present at the Destruction of counting of the votes. When all these requirements are com Announce ment of result, and certified ballots counted and excess ballots. Preservation of disputed ballots. Making, trans- and poll- Cities of the first class. plied with, the judges shall, in the presence of the clerks and the inspectors, destroy by burning the ballots so read and counted, and also any ballots remaining in the box in excess of the number of names in the poll-books; provided, bowever, if there are any ballots cast and counted or left uncounted concerning the legality of which there is any doubt or difference of opinion in the minds of the judges of election, said ballots shall not be destroyed, but sealed up and returned to the clerk of the court with the returns of the election for such judicial or other investigation as may be necessary, with a true statement as to whether they have or have not been counted, and if counted what part and for whom. TRANSMISSION OF RETURNS. SECTION 25. After canvassing the votes, the judges and clerks shall make out the returns of the election and the tally-sheets thereof in duplicate, signed and certified as required by law; one copy thereof shall be immediately transmitted to the clerk of court by one of the judges; the other pollbook and tally-sheet shall be forthwith deposited with the clerk of the township or the clerk of the municipal corporation, as the case may require, by another judge, to be preserved for one year after the date of such election. Such returns shall be securely sealed up in an envelope and addressed transversely upon the upper end thereof to the proper officer with whom they are to be deposited, with the designation of the township, precinct and county; provided, that in cities of |