ART. 12.] GARRETT COUNTY. 825

Such petition shall consist of sheets having such form printed
or written at the top thereof and shall be signed by tile legal
voters in their own proper persons only, and opposite the
signature of each legal voter shall be written the house number
and street name, if there be such; and if the petition is for
the entire county, the city, town, village or election district,
as the case may be, in which he resides, and the date of signing
the same, no signature shall be valid or counted in considering
such petition unless these requirements are complied with and
unless the date of signing is less than six months preceding the
date of filing the same. At the bottom of each sheet of such
petition shall be added a statement signed by a resident of the
political sub-division in which the signers thereof reside, with
his residence address as aforesaid, stating that the signatures
on that sheet of said petition are genuine and that to the best of
his knowledge and belief the persons so signing were at the time
of signing said petition legal voters of the said political sub-
division; that their respective residences when required to be
stated are correctly stated therein, and that each signer signed
the same on the date set opposite his name. Such statement
shall be sworn to before some officer residing in said county,
where such legal voters reside, authorized to administer oaths
therein, such sheets shall be fastened together in one document
filed as a whole, and when filed shall not be withdrawn or
added to. No signature shall be withdrawn after the filing of
such petition, such petition so verified or a copy thereof duly
certified as hereinafter provided shall be prima facie evi-
dence that the signatures, statement of residence here required
to be stated and dates upon such petition are genuine and true,
and that the persons signing the same are legal voters of the
political sub-divisions named therein. Upon request of any one
filing such a petition and verified statement and paying or ten-
dering to the Supervisors of Elections one dollar for each one
hundred names, or fraction thereof signed thereto, together
with a copy thereof. The Supervisors of Election shall imme-
diately compare the original and copy and attach to such copy
and deliver to such person their official certificate that such
copy is a true copy of the original, stating the day when such
original was filed in their office, whoever in making the sworn
statement above prescribed shall knowingly, wilfully and cor-
ruptly swear falsely shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on
conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly, whoever
forges the signature of any person upon any petition or state-
ment provided for in this Act shall be deemed guilty of forgery,
and on conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly.