e rural
sanitary authority. The union was preserved as the rural sanitary
district, with this qualification, that if it extended into more than
one county it was divided so that no rural district should extend into
more than one county. Rural district councillors are elected for each
parish in the rural district, and they become by virtue of their
office guardians of the poor for the union comprising the district, so
that there is now no election of guardians in a rural district.
Guardians are still elected as such for urban districts, but the rural
district council have ceased to be the same body as the guardians and
are now wholly distinct. A district councillor, whether urban or
rural, holds office for a term of three years. One-third of the whole
council retire in each year, the annual elections being held in March,
but there may be a simultaneous retirement of the whole council in
every third year if the county council at the instance of the district
council so order. The qualification and disqualification of district
councillors, whether urban or rural, now depend upon the Local
Government Act 1894. Property qualification is abolished. Any person
may be elected who is either a parochial elector of some parish within
the district or has during the whole of the twelve months preceding
his election resided in the district, and no person is disqualified
by sex or marriage. The electors both in urban and rural districts are
the body called the parochial electors. These are practically the
persons whose names appear in the parliamentary register or in the
local government register as being entitled to vote at elections for
members of parliament or county or parish councillors as the case may
be. The election takes place subject to rules made by the Local
Government Board, these rules being largely founded upon adaptations
of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882. The election is by ballot on
the same lines as those prescribed for a municipal election, and the
Corrupt Practices Act, the provisions of which have been referred to
when dealing with county councils, applies to the elections of
district councils. The provisions with reference to election
petitions, the grounds upon which they may be presented and the
procedure upon them, are the same in every respect as have already
been mentioned when dealing with county councils. It may be convenient
here