Mead v. City of Los Angeles

LENNON, J.

Plaintiff, William Mead, brings this action as a taxpayer against the city of Los Angeles and its officials to obtain a judgment decreeing a certain bond issue of the city of Los Angeles unauthorized and void and to restrain the city and its officials from issuing said bonds or

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expending any part of the proceeds thereof. Mary Ride-out, also a taxpayer, by permission of the lower court, filed a complaint in intervention, joining with the plaintiff in seeking the same relief. Defendant answered plaintiff’s complaint and the complaint in intervention, and the ease was tried, the court rendering its decision against the plaintiff and intervener. A judgment was entered decreeing that neither the plaintiff nor intervener take anything by this action. Both plaintiff and intervener have appealed.

The undisputed facts are these: An ordinance was adopted providing for the holding of a general municipal election in the city of Los Angeles on June 3, 1919. An ordinance was also adopted calling a special election to be held in the same city on the same day for the purpose of submitting to the voters the question of the authorization of a thirteen million five hundred thousand dollar bond issue for raising money to be used in the acquisition of a certain municipal improvement, to wit, works and a distributing system for supplying the city and its inhabitants with electricity for light, heat, and power. The general and special elections were not consolidated and two ballots were furnished to each voter, a general municipal ballot and a special ballot which contained only the bond election proposition. The elections were held on the same day and the election precincts established, the polling places designated, and the election officials appointed were identical in the two elections. In each of the various polling places there were in use for the two elections only one ballot-box, one register containing the affidavits of registered voters, one roster of voters, one poll-list, one list of assisted voters and one list of challenged voters. In view of the fact that the general and special elections were not consolidated, the failure to provide separate ballot-boxes and lists of various kinds to be exclusively used in the special election is claimed by appellants to have constituted a noncompliance with the election laws, which invalidated the special election.