such election in not less than five of the most public places in said township, which notices shall specify the time and place of election and the object thereof, and may be in the following form, viz:

tween the hours of..

day of be

Public notice is hereby given that on Saturday, the.......... April, A. D.... an election will be held at.... ......and............of said day, for the purpose of electing.......school trustees for township No..... range No....... By order of the bard of trustees of said township.

.......

Township Treasurer.

1. Elections for trustees should be held at the places fixed by the county board for holding general elections. Simons v. The People, 119-617.

§ 9. In townships where no election for school trustees has heretofore been held, or in townships where, from any cause, there are no trustees of schools, the election of trustees of schools may be holden on any Saturday, notice thereof being given as required by section 8 of this article. The first election in such township shall be ordered by the county clerk of the county, who shall cause notice to be given as aforesaid.

§ 10. In case of an election held, as required by the preceding section, the trustees elected, at their first meeting, shall draw lots for their respective terms of office for one, two and three years; and thereafter one trustee shall be elected annually, at the usual time for electing trustees to fill the vacancy occurring. At all elections after said first election, the said notice shall be given by the trustees of schools, through the township treasurer, as in other elections for trustee.

§ 11. The trustees of schools of incorporated townships present shall act as judges, and choose a person to act as clerk of said election. If the trustees (or any of them) shall fail to attend, or refuse to act when present, the legal voters present shall choose from their own number such additional judges as may be necessary. In any township lying within the limits of a city, village or incorporated town, which has adopted the provisions of "An act regulating the holding of elections, and declaring the result thereof in cities, villages and incorporated towns in this State," approved June 19, 1885, the said election shall be held under the provisions of said act. In unincorporated townships, the qualified voters present shall choose, from amongst themselves, the number of judges required to open and conduct said election.

§ 12. No person shall vote at any school election held under the provisions of this act, unless he possesses the qualifications of a voter at a general election.

1. While this provision occurs in the article more especially relating to school townships and the election, qualifications and duties of township trustees, it is plainly intended to apply to all elections held under this act, except so far as modified by subsequent provisions establishing different rules. Misch v. Russell, 136-22.

§ 13. The time and manner of opening, conducting and closing said election, and the several liabilities appertaining to the judges and clerks and to the voters, separately and collectively, and the

manner of contesting said election, shall be the same as prescribed by the general election laws of this State defining the manner of electing magistrates and constables, so far as applicable, subject to the provisions of this act: Provided, that said election may commence, if so specified in the notice, at any hour between the hours of eight (8) o'clock a. m., and one (1) p. m., and the judges may close such election at four (4) o'clock p. m.

1. If the election of trustees of schools be held under the school law, the Australian ballot act does not apply, while it does apply if such trustee be elected at the same time as the township officers. People v. Brown, 189–619.

2. The rule seems to be well settled that those provisions of law which fix the time or place of holding elections are to be construed as mandatory and not merely directory. Simons v. The People, 18A-588.

§ 14. If, upon any day appointed for the election of trustees of schools, the said trustees of schools or judges shall be of opinion that, on account of the small attendance of voters, the public good requires it, or if a majority of the voters present shall desire it, they shall postpone said election until the next Saturday, at the same place and hour, at which time and meeting the voters shall proceed as if it were not a postponed or adjourned meeting: Provided, that if notice shall not have been given of such election, as required by section 8 of this article, then and in that case said election may be ordered as aforesaid, and holden on any other Saturday, notice thereof being given as aforesaid.

1. If within the time required, a sufficient number of inhabitants, qualified to vote, organize and hold an election, the person so elected will hold the office of trustee, notwithstanding an adjournment of the election to a different day and date. A subsequent election is invalid, the power of the voters in this regard, having been exhausted at the regular election, at which a trustee was duly elected. People v. Kies, 20–474.

$15. If the township treasurer shall fail or refuse to give notice of the regular election of trustees, as required by said section 8 of this article, and if, in case of a vacancy, the remaining trustee or trustees shall fail or refuse to order an election to fill such vacancy, as required by section 16 of this article, then, and in each of such cases, it shall be the duty of the county superintendent to order an election of trustees to fill such vacancies as aforesaid, and all elections so ordered and held shall be valid to all intents and purposes what

ever.

§ 16. When a vacancy or vacancies shall occur in the board of trustees of schools, the remaining trustee or trustees shall order an election to fill such vacancy, upon any Saturday, notice to be given as required by said section 8 of this article.

§ 17. In case of a tie vote at any election of trustees of schools, the election shall be determined by lot, on the day of the election, by judges thereof.

§ 18. In townships where, for general elections, there are more than two (2) polling places, the trustees shall give notice that polls. will be opened for such elections in at least two places; in which case at least one of said trustees shall attend at each of said places, and additional judges shall be chosen as provided in section eleven (11)

of this article: Provided, there shall be at least one polling place for each 800 legal voters in said township. Should the polling places be in excess of the number of trustees, then the voters at such polling places so in excess shall select from their number the requisite number of voters, who shall act as judges of said election in the manner provided by said section eleven (11) for the election of trustees in unincorporated townships. Said judges shall return the ballots and original poll-books, with a certificate thereon, showing the result of the election in said precinct, to the township treasurer of the township in which said election shall be held, whereupon it shall be the duty of the board of trustees of said township, within five days after said election, to meet and to canvass the returns from each precinct, to make out a certificate showing the number of votes cast for each person in each precinct, and in the whole township, and shall file said certificate with the county superintendent of schools as otherwise provided by law.

§ 19. In counties adopting township organization, in each and every township whose boundaries coincide and are identical with those of the town, as established under the township organization laws, the trustee or trustees shall be elected at the same time and in the same manner as the town officers. In all such townships, if no trustees are elected at the stated town meeting, and when vacancies occur in the board, an election of trustee or trustees shall be ordered by the remaining trustee or trustees of schools, through the township treasurer, as provided for in section nine (9) of this article.

1. If the election of trustees of schools be held under the school law the Australian ballot act does not apply, while it does apply if such trustees be elected at the same time as the township officers. People v. Brown, 189–619.

2. Section 19, article 3, of the school law which provides that trustees of schools shall be elected at the same time and in the same manner as town officers, is not repealed by section 1 of the Australian ballot act. lbid.

3. An election for school trustees held at the time of electing town officers at the annual meeting is not void because it does not affirmatively appear that the place where the election was held had been designated by the electors at their annual meeting as the place for holding elections, where it has been a custom, acquiesced in for years, to hold the annual meeting and election at such place, and particularly where it is admitted that no votes were lost because of the location of the voting place. Ibid.

§ 20. Upon the election of trustees of schools, the judges of the election shall, within ten (10) days thereafter, cause a copy of the poll-book of said election to be delivered to the county superintendent of the county, with a certificate thereon showing the election of said trustees and the names of the persons elected; which copy of the poll-book, with the certificate, shall be filed by said superintendent, and shall be evidence of such election. For a failure to deliver said copy of the poll-book and certificate within the time prescribed, the judges shall be liable to a penalty of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) to be recovered in the name of the People of the State of Illinois, by action of assumpsit, before any justice of the peace of the county, which penalty, when collected, shall be added to the township school fund of the township.

1. It will be intended that the election was in the proper county, if the re turns are made to the school commissioner, although it does not appear from the body of the affidavit or the jurat of the same, the name of the county and state in which such election was held. People v. Kies, 20-474.

2. A poll-book which shows the returns of an election for trustees of schools of a town, by name, may be properly admitted in evidence, when it is proven that the town so named and the congressional township were the same territory, and that the township was called by such name, and that the former trustees of that township had ordered that the school business of that township should be done in the name of such town. Ibid.

§ 21. When school trustees are elected at town meetings, as provided in section nineteen (19) of this article, it shall be the duty of the county clerk, as soon as the list of the names of officers elected at the town meetings is filed with him, to give to the county superintendent a list of the names of all school trustees elected at the town meetings of the county, and of the towns for which they are elected.

§ 22. Within ten days after the annual election of trustees, the board shall organize by appointing one of their number president, and some person who shall not be a director or trustee, but who shall be a resident of the township, treasurer, if there be a vacancy in this office who shall be ex officio clerk of the board.

1. The statute makes the treasurer ex officio clerk of the board of trustees. He is the keeper of their records, and is intimately associated with them in the performance of their official duties. It is highly important to the trustees, that the person selected should be not only capable of discharging efficiently the duties of clerk, but also a man of approved integrity. A large discretion should be indulged to the trustee in the appointment of their treasurer, and where a selection has been made, but before they have been notified of an acceptance of the trust by the appointee, and before a bond has been presented, they may rescind their action and make another appointment. People v. Trustees of Schools, 42A-60.

§ 23. The president shall hold his office for one year, and the treasurer for two years, and until their successors are appointed, but either of said officers may be removed by the board for good and sufficient

cause.

1. The statutes gives the board of trustees the power to remove a treasurer for proper cause. The appointment of another and the approval of his bond, amounts to a removal of the treasurer from that office. Holbrook v. Trustees of Schools, 22-539..

§ 24. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at all meetings of the board and it shall be the duty of the clerk to be present at all meetings of the board, and to record in a book to be provided for the purpose all their official proceedings, which book shall be a public record, open to the inspection of any person interested therein. All of said proceedings when recorded shall be signed by the president and clerk. If the president or clerk shall be absent or refuse to perform any of the duties of his office at any meeting of the board, a president or clerk pro tempore may be appointed.

§ 25. It shall be the duty of the board of trustees to hold regular semi-annual meetings on the first Mondays of April and October, and special meetings may be held at such other times as they think proper. Special meetings of the board may be called by the president or any two members thereof. At all meetings two members shall be a quorum for business.

1. When a body of men are referred to as having power to decide a question, it is always understood, unless otherwise expressly declared, that the majority shall decide. Trustees of Schools v. Allen, 21-120.

2. The law constitutes two members of the board a quorum to transact business. And when they concur in any act, which the board may legally perform, the act is as legally binding as if all were present. When the Legislature designated that number as a quorum for the transaction of business, it conferred upon them full power to perform all the duties devolving upon the board. Where their action is illegal, it purports to be regular and must be held binding until vacated by certiorari or some other direct proceeding. Schofield v. Watkins, 22-66.

§ 26. At the regular semi-annual meetings on the first Mondays of April and October, the trustees shall ascertain the amount of State, county and township funds on hand and subject to distribution, and shall apportion the same as follows:

First-Whatever sum may be due for the compensation and the books of the treasurer, and such sum as may be deemed reasonable and necessary for dividing school lands, making plats, etc.

Second-And the remainder of such funds shall be divided among the districts, or fractions of districts, in which schools have been kept in accordance with the provisions of this act and the instructions of the State and county superintendents during the preceding year ending June 30, in proportion to the number of children under twenty-one (21) years of age in each.

1. Trustees of schools are public officers, vested with the power to determine to what district money collected for school purposes shall belong. The school directors of one district cannot refuse to receive the money thus ordered by the board of trustees to be paid to them; by receiving it, they do not become liable to an action by another district claiming it. If another district has any action, it must be against the trustees of the township. School Directors v. School Directors, 36-140.

§ 27. The funds thus apportioned shall be placed on the books of the treasurer to the credit of the respective districts, and the same shall be paid out by the treasurer on the legal orders of the directors of the proper districts in the same manner as other funds of the district are paid out.

§ 28. The board of trustees of each township in this State shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, by the township treasurer, the clerk of the board, the directors of the several districts, or other person, and forward to the county superintendent of the county in which the township lies, on or before the 15th day of July, preceding each regular session of the General Assembly of this State, and at such other times as may be required by the county superintendent, or by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a statement exhibiting the condition of schools in their respective townships for the preceding biennial period, giving separately each year, commencing on the first day of July and ending on the last of June, which statement shall be as follows:

First-The whole number of schools which have been taught in each year; what part of said number have been taught by males exclusively; what part have been taught by females exclusively; what