3866 ARTICLE 17.

appointment is unable or declines to serve the remaining judges shall name
some one to take his place. Suitable ballot boxes, polling places and printed
ballots shall be provided by the said Commissioners. Any person desiring
to become a candidate for any elective office shall, at least ten days before
election, file, or cause to be filed with the Commissioners, the chairman
or clerk thereof, a petition stating that he or she is a candidate for the
office, which petition must be signed by such person and endorsed by at
least (15) persons entitled to vote in the next town election. Upon the fil-
ing of such petition the Commissioners shall print such person's name upon
the ballot, with a square opposite each, the names appearing in the order
in which their petitions were received by the Commissioners. Preceding
the list of names on the ballot, there shall appear a statement instructing
the voter how many persons to vote for. Immediately upon the closing
of the polls the ballots shall be publicly counted and the said judges shall
within two days thereafter make a true and correct return of the votes

so cast in a sealed envelope to the chairman of the said Commissioners,
and within ten days thereafter the said Commissioners shall meet and

canvass said return and declare those qualified persons receiving the high-
est number of votes duly elected. In case two or more persons shall have
received the same number of votes so that there is no choice for the office,
a new election shall be immediately proclaimed by the said Commissioners
from among such tie candidates, which election shall be held on five days'
notice and in all respects as aforesaid except as to the day of election
and the convening of the Commissioners.

1929, ch. 342, sec. 6.

446. The Commissioners elected shall hold office for one year from the
first Tuesday in August or until their successors shall be elected, or ap-
pointed, and qualified as herein provided. In case any person elected
Commissioner shall fail to qualify within thirty (30) days after his
election as Commissioner, or in case of any vacancy by death, resignation,
removal from said town, or otherwise, the remaining Commissioners shall
fill such vacancy by the appointment of a resident qualified voter and
property owner of said town of Fairmount Heights, who shall hold office
for such term or unexpired term. All vacancies on the Board of Commis-
sioners caused by absences from its session for more than three consecutive
months without excuse satisfactory to the remaining Commissioners, shall
be filled by the remaining Commissioners in the same manner as provided
in this section for filling vacancies due to other causes. The Commis-
sioners shall serve without pay and shall at their first meeting after
election elect one of their number to be chairman of the Board of Com-
missioners. They shall pass rules and by-laws for their own government
while in session.

1929, ch. 342, sec. 7.

447. The Commissioners shall meet in some convenient place in said
town on the second Tuesday in August succeeding their election, and from