officers.

See. 5. The qualified voters of such district, when as- Election of sembled pursuant to such previous notice, and all existing districts, at their annual meeting in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, shall elect from the residents of such districts, a moderator for three years, a director for two years, and an assessor for one year; and on the expiration of their respective terms of office, the several

under the notice, also incurs a like penalty of five dollars, for any neglect of the duty prescribed for him by section 4.

2. The omission to notify one or several persons not known to be residents of the district, will not invalidate the action of the majority of the legal voters in organizing the district.

3. The returns endorsed upon the notice, or attached to it, must show the names of all the persons notified, and the date of each one's notification.

4. The term "qualified voters," is defined by section 144, passed February, 1855, "to mean and include all taxable persons residing in the district, of the age of twenty-one years, and who have resided therein for the period of three months next preceding the time of voting." It therefore includes both males and females, citizens and foreigners, without distinction of color, who have the foregoing qualifications.

(Section 5.) This section reads as amended February, 15, 1859. The language is somewhat inaccurate and ob

scure.

1. The qualified voters, having assembled, should organize the meeting by choosing a Chairman and Clerk, and the person holding the notice and return for the meeting, should deliver the same to the Chairman.

2. The intention of the law, as amended, is that after the first instance, all district officers shall be elected for three years each, and that only one shall be elected each year, except in case of vacancies. Thus when the term of office

school districts shall severally elect the officer whose term of office is then about to expire, for the term of three years, or for the unexpired portion of his term. Within ten days after their election they shall severally file with the director a written acceptance of the offices to which they have been elected, which shall be recorded by the said director.

of the first Assessor, which is but one year, shall expire, his successor shall be elected for three years. The first Director's term of office will expire with the second year, when his successor must be elected for three years.

3. Should any district office become vacant before the expiration of the three years, a new officer must be elected to serve out the unexpired term.

4. As the law provides that the annual meeting of each School District shall be held the last Monday of September, the time intervening between the first meeting of a newly organized District, and the last Monday in the following September, must be counted as one year in the terms of office.

5. As the officers elect of a newly organized District, must file their acceptance with the Director, he must necessarily file and record his own acceptance. This case of an officer filing his acceptance with himself will also occur whenever the same Director is elected two terms in succession. In ordinary cases the new Director should file his acceptance with the old Director, he being in fact the Director of the District till superseded by his successor's acceptance. An informality in this respect will not, however, invalidate the election.

6. Section 145, passed in 1855, provides that in case the qualified voters of a newly formed District fail to elect district officers, the Township Board of School Inspectors shall appoint such officers.

7. A majority of the qualified voters voting is necessary to a valid election of any officer. The theory of our in

trict deem'd

Sec. 6. Every such School District shall be deemed duly When dis organized, when any two of the officers elected at the first organized. meeting shall have filed their acceptance as aforesaid.

in case of

Sec. 7. In case the inhabitants of any District shall fail New notice to organize the same in pursuance of such notice as afore-failure to orsaid, the said Clerk shall give a new notice in the manner ganize. hereinbefore provided, and the same proceedings shall be had thereon as if no previous notice had been delivered. Sec. 8. Every School District organized in pursuance of

stitutions is that the majority rule. An election by a plurality vote (a vote in which one candidate has more votes than any other one, but not a majority of all the votes cast) can only be made valid by a special provision of law, such as provides for our State, county and township elec tions. The reason for such a provision in the case of those elections, is obvious; it being better that a less number than a majority of all the votes should decide the question than that the whole town or county should be put to the trouble and expense of a new election. This reason does not exist in the case of a School District, since the voters can easily repeat the voting several times in the same meeting. The Attorney General and several other eminent lawyers of this State, concur in the opinion that a majority of all the votes are necessary to a valid election.

(Section 6.) Should the officers elected be present and file their acceptances, the District may be considered duly organized; but it has been held that, as the meeting was called for the sole purpose of organizing, no further business can be transacted. A special meeting should be called, as provided in Section 12, to transact whatever business may be necessary for the establishment of the School.

Persons elected to District offices, and neglecting or refusing, without sufficient cause, to file their acceptance or serve in office, forfeit the sum of ten dollars.

powers of

Districts.

Sorparate this chapter, or which has been organized and continued under any previous law of the State or Territory of Michigan, shall be a body corporate, and shall possess the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes, by the name and style of "School District Number (such number as shall be designated in the formation thereof by the Inspectors), of ," (the name of the township or townships in which the district is situated), and in that name shall be capable of suing and being sued, and of holding such real and personal estate as is authorized to be purchased by the provisions of this chapter, and of selling the same.

Director's

dence.

Sec. 9. The record made by the Director, as required in record evi- the fourth section of this chapter, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and of the legality of all proceedings in the organization of the District prior to the first District meeting; but nothing in this section contained shall be so construed as to impair the effect of the record kept by the School Inspectors, as evidence.

Presumpti'n

ganization.

Sec. 10. Every School District shall, in all cases, be preof legal or sumed to have been legally organized, when it shall have exercised the franchises and privileges of a District for the term of two years.

Annual
Eeeting.

DISTRICT MEETINGS.

Sec. 11. The annual meeting of each School District shall be held on the last Monday of September in each year, and the School year shall commence on that day.

(Section 11.) This was erroneously printed "first Monday," in the Compiled Laws.

If the business requires, the qualified voters present may adjourn the annual meeting to some subsequent day, and such adjourned meeting is still to be considered as the annual meeting, and authorized to do whatever is lawful to be done at any annual meeting. A notice of the time and place of the adjourned meeting should be posted by the Director as required for any other meeting; but a failure, without fraudulent intention, to post such notice, will not render the meeting illegal.

There are certain powers belonging to the annual meeting, which cannot be exercised by a special meeting. See Section 24.

Sec. 12. Special meetings may be called by the District Special Board, or by any one of them, on the written request of meeting. any five legal voters of the District, by giving the notice required in the next succeeding section, and in all notices of special meetings the object of the meeting shall be stated.

Sec. 13. All notices of annual or special District meet Notice of ings, after the first meeting has been held as aforesaid, meetings. shall specify the day and hour, and place of meeting, and shall be given at least six days previous to such meeting, by posting up copies thereof in three of the most public places in the District; and in case of any special meeting called for the purpose of establishing or changing the site of a School-house, such notice shall be given at least ten days previous thereto.

Sec. 14. No district meeting shall be deemed illegal for When meetwant of due notice, unless it shall appear that the omission gal for want to give such notice was willful and fraudulent.

of notice.

tled to vote.

Sec. 15. Every white male inhabitant of the age of twen Who enti. ty-one years, residing in the District and liable to pay a School District tax therein, shall be entitled to vote at any District meeting.

(Section 12.) No object can be properly brought before a special meeting for its action thereon, which was not mentioned in the notice. The notice of the meeting should embrace the objects mentioned in the written request of the legal voters.

(Sections 13 and 14.) This "want of due notice" must not be construed to legalize a special meeting held without any notice. As the law itself appoints the time of the annual meeting, the qualified voters may assemble at the usual place and time and transact the ordinary business of the annual meeting, even though no other notice has been given of such meeting; but it would be safer to adjourn the meeting to some subsequent time, and to transact no business of importance whenever it may be suspected that the omission to give notice was willful and fraudulent.

(Sections 15, 16 and 17.) This description of a qualified voter is materially changed by section 144. See note 4 on