Procedure.
Section 170
SEC. 170. Procedure. — (a) Notice of the contest against the election of a candidate shall be served upon him by means of a summons at the post-office address stated in his certificate of candidacy, except when the contestee, without waiting for the summons, has made the court understand that he has been notified of the contest, or has filed his answer thereto. (b) The contestee shall answer the contest within five days after being summoned, or in case there has been no summons, from the date of his appearance, and in all cases, before the commencement of the hearing of the contest. The answer shall deal only with the election in the precincts which are covered by the allegations of the contest. (c) Should the contestee desire to impugn the votes received by the contestant in other precincts, he shall file a counter contest within the same period fixed for the answer, serving a copy thereof upon the contestant by registered mail or by personal delivery or through the sheriff. (d) The contestant shall answer the counter contest within three days after notice. (e) If no answer shall be filed to the contest or to the counter contest within the time limits respectively fixed, a general denial shall be deemed to have been entered. (f) In election contest proceedings, the registry list as finally corrected by the board of inspectors, shall be conclusive in regard to the question as to who had the right to vote in said election. (g) The other defeated candidates voted for may, within the time limit prescribed for the filing of the contest, intervene in the case as other contestants and ask for affirmative relief in their favor, by a petition in intervention, which shall be considered as another contest, except that it shall be substantiated within the same proceedings. Their intervention in any other manner shall not be allowed.