The town of Norwich is divided into four districts, as follows: All that part of the territory of the city of Norwich, lying easterly of the westerly margin of the cove, and northerly and easterly of the Yantic river, and all that part of the territory of the town, without the limits of the city of Norwich, lying easterly of the river Thames, and of said city, known as Laurel Hill, shall be and remain the first district;

1860. Norwich.

First district.

All that part of the territory of the city of Norwich, not included Second district. in the first district, and all that part of the territory of the town, without the limits of the city of Norwich, lying westerly of the river Thames, and of said city, and southerly of a straight line, running from the northwest corner of said city, at Hubbard's upper papermill dam, to a point, ten feet north of the house of Charles H. Maples, and thence, due west to Bozrah line, shall be and remain the second district;

All that part of the town, lying easterly of the city of Norwich, Third district. and from the northeast corner line of said city, northerly to the Ox Hill road, to a point east of, and nearly opposite, the dwelling house of Ebenezer Lathrop, and thence, northerly, to the center of the Canterbury turnpike road, opposite and near the house of Joseph A. Yerrington, and following the center of said turnpike road, including all east and south of said turnpike road, to Lovett's bridge, shall be and remain the third district; and

All that part of the town, not included in the first, second, and Fourth district. third districts, shall be and remain the fourth district.

1857.

The town of East Haven is divided into two districts, as follows: East Haven. so much of said town, as lies southerly of a line, commencing at a First district. point, in the dividing line of the towns of New Haven and said East Haven, four rods north of Tomlinson's bridge, and running thence easterly, to a point in the middle of the highway, four rods south of the house of William Lancraft, and thence easterly, to a point in the middle of the highway, midway between the houses of David S. Fowler and Joseph Grannis, and thence due east to the eastern boundary of said town, shall be and remain the first district; and

So much of said town, as lies northerly of said line, shall be the Second district. second district.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS, AND OF VOTERS AT ELECTOR'S

MEETINGS.

tion, how consti

SECT. 2. The selectmen and town clerk of each of the several 1860. 1861. 1865, towns, in this state, except of the towns of Hartford, New Haven, Board of registraMiddletown, and Bridgeport, shall constitute a board of registration, tuted. to ascertain, determine, and make registry of, the names of all persons, legally qualified to vote for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, treasurer, comptroller, sheriff, member of congress, state senator, judge of probate, representatives to the general assembly, and justices of the peace, or any of them, or for electors of president and

1860.

list of qualified

voters.

vice president of the United States; and the town clerk shall be the clerk of said board, and in his absence or inability to perform the duties of such clerk, the remaining members of said board may ap point any other elector to be the clerk thereof.

SECT. 3. The clerk of said board in each town, except as hereinClerk to make after provided, shall, at least fourteen days before any elector's meeting is, by law, to be held, make a list, as nearly perfect as practica ble, of the names of all the persons, legally qualified to vote in such town, at any of said meetings; which names shall be arranged in alphabetical order, and delivered to said board.

List to be deposited in town

posted.

SECT. 4. The board of registration in each of said towns shall, elerk's office, and at least twelve days before any of said elector's meetings, deposit a list of the names of electors so made, authenticated by the signatures of said board, or of a majority thereof, in the office of the town clerk, for public inspection, and shall post copies of the same, certified by the clerk of said board, in the office of the town clerk, and on all the public sign-posts in the town, and shall make such further publication thereof, as said board may deem necessary.

Meetings of

tion, when to be

holden.

SECT. 5. Such board of registration shall meet at such convenient board of registra- place as it may appoint, on the last Monday in March, annually, and on Monday of the week next preceding any election of electors of president and vice president of the United States, at ten o'clock in the forenoon of said days, for the purpose of correcting and revising said list, and shall remain in session, for that purpose, until five o'clock in the afternoon of said days, and may take any necessary recess during said time, and may adjourn, from time to time, but shall be in session on Wednesday of said week, and not afterwards, except as is hereinafter provided, from ten o'clock in the forenoon, until five o'clock in the afternoon of said day.

To admit elect

ors, and to correet the list.

SECT. 6. At such meetings, said board shall examine and decide upon all applications, to be admitted to the privileges of an elector, and shall direct the administration of the oath, by law provided, to those who are found to be qualified; and any person, claiming to be an elector in such town, may apply to said board for the registration of his own name, or the name of any other person, which is omitted in the registry, and may object to the registration of the name of any person, either inserted by the board, or proposed to be inserted, on the ground that such person is not legally entitled to vote in said town; but the name of no person shall be added to such list, unless it shall be proved that he is a legally qualified elector of this state, and shall have resided in the town, where he claims the right to vote, for the period of four months immediately preceding the day Board may make of the elector's meeting; and said board shall also make such erasures from such list, and additions thereto, as are shown to be necessary, to render the same a complete and perfect registry of the legally qualified electors of this state, who shall have resided in such town for the period of four months as aforesaid; but the name of no person shall be erased from such list, until he shall have a fair opportunity to be heard thereon, and, if required, such examination shall be under oath.

erasures and additions.

To examine applicants, and may under oath.

SECT. 7. Whenever any person shall apply for the registry of his require evidence own name, or the name of any other person, the board of registration, upon the request of any elector of the town, shall examine the applicant, under oath, and, upon the request of any such elector, shall require the evidence, under oath, of at least one other elector

of the state, that the person, whose name is presented to be added to said list, has, or will have, resided in such town, for the period of four months before the day of the elector's meeting; and, at the request of any elector, the residence of the person so applying, or applied for, and the residence of the elector, who may support such application by his oath, shall be recorded by said board, by street and number, if the streets of such town are numbered, or, if not, by street or school district.

of the times and

SECT. 8. The board of registration, in each of such towns, shall Shall give notice give notice of the time and place of holding their meetings, to cor- places of meetrect and revise the registry list, upon the posted or published lists, ing. and by advertising the same in one or more newspapers in each town, respectively, if any are published therein.

when and for

SECT. 9. In addition to the meetings of the board of registration, To meet on the herein before provided, said board shall be in session, on the day of day of election, the elector's meeting, at the place where said meeting is held, but what purpose. not after twelve o'clock of said day, for the purpose of admitting, as electors, those applicants only, legally qualified to be so admitted, whose right of admission shall have accrued since the last meeting of said board; but such persons shall not be admitted as electors, nor shall their names be added to said list, unless notice shall have been given to said board, at or before its last prior meeting, of the intention of such persons so to apply for admission as electors, and their names shall have been entered on said list, under the head of "intended applications ;" and the name of any person so applying shall be entered on said list, under such head, by said board.

ed lists to be

SECT. 10. Duplicate copies of said corrected lists hall be made, Copies of correctone of which shall, on or before the Wednesday of the week next lodged in town preceding any elector's meeting, be lodged in the office of the town clerk's office, &c clerk, for public inspection, and the other of said copies shall, before the opening of the polls, on the respective days of the elector's meetings, be delivered to the presiding officer of such meeting, and the name of each elector shall, at the time of voting, be checked by one of said board; and the name of no person shall be added to said list, on the day of the elector's meeting, except as provided in the next preceding section of this act; nor shall any person vote, whose name is not on said list, unless he shall furnish satisfactory proof to the presiding officer of the elector's meeting, that his name appeared upon the original corrected list, and that it was omitted from the duplicate copy, by fraud, or clerical mistake.

lodged with town

SECT. 11. The copy of said list, which shall be used on the day Check list to be of the elector's meeting, with the marks or checks upon the same, clerk after elecshall, by the presiding officer of said meeting, within twenty-four tion. hours after the final adjournment thereof, be lodged in the office of the town clerk, where the same shall be kept on file, and carefully

preserved.

divided into dis

SECT. 12. The clerk of the board of registration, in each town, Lists of voters to which may be divided into districts, except in the towns of Hart- be made in towns ford, New Haven, Middletown, and Bridgeport, shall, at least four- tricts. teen days before any of said electors' meetings, make and deliver to the board of registration, in such town, a list for each district in said. town, as nearly perfect as practicable, of the names of all persons qualified to vote in said town, at any of said electors' meetings, who have their place of lodging in said district; and such names shall be duly arranged in alphabetical order, on each of said lists.

To be deposited

in town clerk's

SECT. 13. The board of registration, in each of said towns respectoffice and posted. ively, shall, at least twelve days before any of said electors' meetings,

Meetings of board of registration,

&c.

Times and places of the meetings of

fied.

session on day of

electors' meeting.

deposit the lists thus made, signed by said board, or by a majority thereof, in the town clerk's office, for public inspection, and shall also post a copy of the list of the district, at the place of voting, in each district in their respective towns, and in at least two other public places in each district, which shall be certified by the clerk of said board, and shall give the boundaries of such district.

SECT. 14. The board of registration, in each of said towns, shall meet in the first district in each of their respective towns, at such convenient place as they may appoint, at the times mentioned in the fifth section of this act, to revise and make corrected lists of the several districts, and to examine and decide upon all applications to be admitted to the privileges of an elector; and said board shall proceed in the discharge of its duties, in the manner herein before provided, in the sixth and seventh sections of this act; and the name of each person, who is qualified to vote at any electors' meeting, shall be registered in only one district at the same time, which shall be in the district, in which such person has his place of lodging, at the time of such registration.

SECT. 15: Such board shall give notice of the time and place of board, how noti- holding their meetings, to correct and revise the lists of said districts, upon each of the lists posted in the several districts, and by advertising the same in one or more newspapers in each of such towns, respectively, if any are published therein; and said board shall be Board shall be in in session in each town, at the place of voting in the first district, on the day when said electors' meeting shall be held, for the purpose of admitting to the privileges of electors only those applicants, who are legally qualified to be so admitted, and whose right of admission shall have accrued since the last meeting of the board; but the names of electors, so admitted, shall not be added to the list of the district in which they have their place of lodging, unless notice shall have been given to said board, at or before the last prior meeting thereof, of the intention of such persons so to apply for such admission, and their names shall have been entered on the list of their district, under the head of "intended applications ;" and said board shall give such electors, so admitted, a certificate, stating the fact of their admission, and addressed to the presiding officer of the district wherein such electors are entitled to vote; and the presiding officer, to whom said certificate is addressed, shall, on the receipt thereof, enter the name of the person, mentioned in such certificate, on the list of said district, who shall thereupon be allowed to vote therein. SECT. 16. In each of such towns, duplicate copies shall be made of the corrected list of each district, one set of which shall be lodged clerk, and distri- in the office of the town clerk, for public inspection, on or before the buted to presid- Wednesday of the week next preceding any of said electors' meetings, and the other set shall, before the opening of the polls in each district, at any electors' meeting, be distributed among the presiding officers in the several districts, each presiding officer receiving the duplicate list of his own district; and such presiding officer shall cause the name of each elector to be checked on said list, at the time of voting; and the name of no person shall be added to the list of any of said districts, on the day of the electors' meeting, except as provided in the preceding section, nor shall any person vote, whose name is not on the list of the district in which he claims the right to vote, unless he shall furnish to the presiding officer of said district

Copies of corrected lists to be lodged with town

ing officers.

Names to be checked.

shall be received.

satisfactory proof, that his name appeared on the original corrected list of said district, and that it was omitted by fraud, or clerical mistake, from the duplicate copy delivered to said presiding officer. SECT. 17. The presiding officer in each district, at the electors' Whose votes meetings, shall receive the votes of all persons, whose names are on the list prepared for the district, wherein such officer is presiding; and the list used in each district, at such meeting, with the marks or Check lists to be checks upon the same, shall, by the presiding officer in the first dis- lodged with town trict, within twenty-four hours after the ballot box is closed in said district, be lodged in the office of the town clerk, where the same shall be kept on file, and carefully preserved.

clerk.

alization to be ap

SECT. 18. Whenever any person shall present to the board of Papers of naturregistration, in any town, papers of naturalization, issued to him in proved, and indue form of law by a court having jurisdiction, said board, if satis- dorsed. fied of the genuineness of such papers, and that they were issued to the person presenting them, shall approve them by a written indorsement thereon, with the date of such indorsement, signed by the clerk of said board; and if such person shall have the other legal qualifications, such board shall admit him to the privileges of an elector, and cause his name to be entered on the registry list.

clerks of boards of registration.

SECT. 19. The clerks of the board of registration shall be paid a Compensation of reasonable compensation, by their respective towns, for their services in making the registry lists, and the copies thereof, and for posting and publishing the same, as is provided in this act.

lists, when.

SECT. 20. If any person shall desire a certified copy of a list of Town clerk shall electors, deposited in the office of any town clerk, made by the clerk furnish copies of of the board of registration, or perfected at the meetings of said board, such town clerk shall furnish said copy to such person, upon payment to him of the same fees therefor, as are allowed for copies to clerks of courts.

Penalty

1861.

ing to discharge

SECT. 21. If any member of the board of registration, any pre-pay for refasiding officer, or assistant presiding officer, of an electors' meeting, sing or neglectany constable, or any clerk, appointed to perform the services spe-duties, &c. cified in this act, shall, without just or reasonable cause, neglect or refuse to discharge any of the duties herein prescribed, he shall be punished by a fine of three hundred dollars; and if such member, presiding officer, assistant presiding officer, constable, or clerk, shall be guilty of fraud in performing said duties, he shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and by imprisonment in a common jail for six months; but the provisions of this section shall not apply to the towns of Hartford, New Haven, Middletown, or Bridgeport, nor where any other punishment for such offenses is provided in this act.

1860.

oath, and for giv

SECT. 22. Any person, who shall take a false oath before any board of registration, shall be liable to the punishment prescribed Penalty for false by law for the crime of perjury; and if any person shall willfully ing false name begive a false name, or false answer, to said board, while in session, he shall be punished by a fine of fifty dollars, and by imprisonment in a common jail for three months.

fore the board.

1861. 1865.

chosen in Hart

SECT. 23. At each annual town meeting, held for the choice of 1860. town officers, in the towns of Hartford, New Haven, Middletown, Registrars, when and Bridgeport, the legal voters of said towns, respectively, shall and how to be choose by general ticket two electors, residing in the town of Hart-ford, New Haven, ford, and in each voting district of the towns of New Haven, Mid- Bridgeport. dletown, and Bridgeport, to be registrars of voters for the year ensuing, for the several districts of the town of Hartford, and for their

Middletown, and