printed on the primary ballot if a petition as hereinafter prescribed is filed in his behalf with the city clerk. Such petition shall be signed by not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty qualified electors in cities of not more than twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and by not less than one hundred or more than two hundred qualified electors in cities of more than forty thousand inhabitants. No elector shall sign the petition of more candidates than the number of councilmen to be elected, and should he do so, his signature shall be void as to the petition or petitions last filed. Sec. 25. Petitions.-The signatures of all the petitioners need not be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper there shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers thereto and that each person signed in his presence and that the signature is that of the person whose name it purports to be. Each petition paper shall be of uniform size to be determined by the city clerk and shall contain the name of only one candidate. Each signer shall write his name and place of residence by street and number in ink or indelible pencil. Petition papers shall be in substantially the following form: We, the undersigned, electors of the city of hereby present ..whose residence is Nebraska, as a candidate for nomination to the office of councilman to be voted upon at the primary election, to be held on the..... ...day of ..... 19.....; and we individually certify that we are qualified to vote for the above office and that we have not signed similar petitions greater in number than the number of councilmen to be chosen at the next general municipal election. that he is the circulator of the foregoing petition paper contain ing ..signatures, and that the signa Ch. 208) Election Recall 505 tures appended thereto were made in his presence and are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be. (Signed).. Subscribed and sworn to before me this. 19.... day of Notary Public. Sec. 26. Nomination papers-filed where.-All papers comprising a nominating petition shall be assembled and filed with the city clerk as one instrument, not earlier than forty nor later than thirty days before the primary election. No such nominating petition shall be filed unless accompanied by a receipt from the city treasurer showing the payment of a filing fee of ten dollars to help defray the expenses of such primary. Any person whose name has been submitted for candidacy shall file his acceptance thereof with the election authorities not later than twenty days before the primary election day, and in the absence of such acceptance the name of the candidate shall not appear on the ballot. Sec. 27. Who nominated. The names of candidates for nomination who shall receive the highest number of votes at the primary election shall be placed on the ballot at the next regular municipal election in number not to exceed twice the number of places in the council to be filled, and the candidates, equal in number to the places to be filled, who shall receive the highest number of votes at the regular municipal election, shall be declared elected. Sec. 28. Elections-how held and conducted.-All elections in any city adopting this act shall be held, conducted and the results canvassed and certified in the manner, and by the election authorities, prescribed by the general election laws, except as herein otherwise provided. In any city, to which as to city elections, the primary election laws do not apply, the primary election provided for herein shall be governed by the general law, so far as applicable and not inconsistent herewith, for holding the regular city election therein. ARTICLE V-THE RECALL Sec. 29. Recall of councilmen.-Any or all of the council men provided for in this act may be removed from office by the electors of the city as herein provided. A petition demanding that the question of removing such officer or officers be submitted to the electors shall be filed with the clerk of the council. Such petition for the recall of any or all of the councilmen shall be signed by electors equal in number to at least twenty-five (25) per cent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding regular municipal election. The signatures to such petitions need not be appended to any one paper. Sec. 30. Petition for recall.-Petition papers shall be procured only from the city clerk who shall keep a sufficient number of such blank petitions on file for distribution as herein provided. Prior to the issuance of such petition papers an affidavit shall be made by one or more qualified electors and filed with the clerk, stating the name and office of the officer or officers sought to be removed. The city clerk, upon issuing any such petition papers to an elector, shall enter in a record, to be kept in his office, the name of the elector to whom issued, the date of such issuance, and the number of papers issued, and shall certify on such papers the name of the elector to whom issued and the date issued. No petition paper shall be accepted as part of the petition unless it bears such certificate of the city clerk and unless it be filed as provided herein. Sec. 31. Same-signatures. Each signer of a recall petition shall sign his name in ink or indelible pencil and shall place thereon after his name his place of residence by street and number. To each such petition paper there shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers to such part of the petition and that each signature appended to the paper was made in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that such circulator has not received and will not receive, either directly or indirectly, any compensation for circulating said petition, or for procuring signatures thereto. Sec. 32. Petition-when filed. All papers comprising a recall petition shall be assembled and filed with the city clerk as one instrument within thirty (30) days after the filing of the affidavit required in Section 30 hereof. The petition shall bear the endorsements thereon of the names and addresses of three persons designated as filing the same. Ch. 208) Recall Elections 507 Sec. 33. Verification and certificate.-Within ten days after the filing of the petition, the city clerk shall ascertain whether or not the petition is signed by the requisite number of electors, and shall attach thereto his certificate showing the result of such examination. If the petition be insufficient, he shall forthwith notify the person filing the same; and the petition may be amended at any time within ten days after the giving of said notice, by the filing of a supplementary petition upon additional petition papers, issued, signed and filed as provided for the original petition. The city clerk shall, within five days after such amendment, examine the amended petition, and attach his certificate thereto as in the case of the original petition. If his certificate shall show the amended petition to be insufficient, or if no amendment was made, he shall file the petition in his office without prejudice to the filing of a new petition for the same purpose. Sec. 34. Order of election on recall. If the petition or amended petition, shall be found to be sufficient, the city clerk shall submit the same to the council at its next regular meeting and shall notify the officer or officers whose removal is sought of such action. If said officer, or officers, do not resign within five (5) days after such notice, the council shall, within ten days of the receipt of the clerk's certificate, order an election to be held not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days thereafter. Provided, that if any other municipal election is to be held within ninety days after the receipt of said certificate, the council may provide for the holding of the removal election on the same date. Sec. 35. Ballots on recall. The ballots at such recall elections shall conform to the following requirements: With respect to each person whose removal is sought the question shall be submitted, "Shall (Name of person) be removed from the office of (Name of Office) by recall?" Immediately following each such question there shall be printed on the ballots the two propositions, in the order set forth: For the recall of (Name of person). Against the recall of (Name of person). Immediately to the left of the proposition shall be placed a square in which the electors, by making a cross mark (X), may vote for either of such propositions. Sec. 36. Result of election.-Should a majority of the votes cast thereon at a recall election be against the removal of the officer named on the ballot, such officer shall continue in office for the remainder of his term, subject to recall as before. If a majority of the votes cast thereon, at a recall election shall be for the removal of the officer named on the ballot, he shall, regardless of any technical defects in the recall petition, be deemed removed from office. Sec. 37. Second election-when.-No recall petition shall be filed against a councilman within six (6) months after he takes his office, nor within six (6) months after a recall election has failed to remove him. Sec. 38. Election ordered by court, when-Should the council fail or refuse to order a recall election as herein provided within the time required, such election may be ordered by any court of general jurisdiction in the county in which the city is situated. ARTICLE VI-INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM. Sec. 39. Initiative and referendum.-The electors of the city shall have power to propose any ordinance or other measure that may be enacted by the council and to adopt or reject the same at the polls, and also power at their own option to approve or reject at the polls any ordinance or measure passed by the council. Sec. 40. Petition. The initiative shall be exercised in the following manner: (a) A petition, signed by qualified electors of the city, accompanied by the proposed measure in the form of an ordinance and requesting that the same be submitted to a vote of the people if not passed by the council, shall be filed with the city clerk. (b) Within ten days from the filing of such petition, the city clerk shall certify the number of votes cast at the last regular municipal election, and the number of signers of such petition, and shall present such certificate, petition and proposed measure to the council. (c) If such petition be signed by qualified electors equal in number to twenty-five per cent of the total number of ballots cast at the last preceding regular municipal election the council, within ten days after the receipt thereof, shall either pass such measure without alteration, or submit it |