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HomeMy WebLinkAboutArticle 7 - Elections ARTICLE 7 Elections Section 1. Regular Elections Regular City elections shall be held at the same times and places as biennial general State elections, in accordance with applicable State election laws. Section 2. Notice of Regular Elections The Recorder, pursuant to directions from the Council, shall give at least ten (10) days notice of each regular City election by posting notice thereof at a conspicuous place in the City Hall, and by publication in a newspaper of wide and general circulation published in the City of Ashland. The notice shall state the officers to be elected, the ballot title of each measure to be voted upon, and the time and place of the election. Section 3. Special Elections The Council shall provide the time, manner and means for holding any special election which shall comply with applicable State laws. The Recorder shall give at least ten (10) days notice of each special election in the manner provided by the action of the Council ordering the election. Section 4. Regulation of Elections Except as this Charter provides otherwise and as the Council provides otherwise by ordinances relating to elections, the general laws of the State shall apply to the conduct of all City Elections, recounts of the returns therefrom, and contests thereof. Section 5. Nominations A qualified elector may be nominated for an elective City office to be filled at the election. The nomination must be by a petition that specifies the office sought and must be in a form prescribed by the Council. The petition shall be signed by not fewer than twenty-five (25) electors, and with the candidate's written acceptance of such nomination. No elector may sign more than one petition for each office to be filled at the election. If he/she does so, his/her signature will be valid only on the first sufficient petition filed for the office. The signatures to a nomination petition need not all be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper of the petition shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, indicating the number of signers of the paper and stating that each signature of the person appended thereto was made in his/her presence, and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. Opposite each signature shall be stated the (late of signing, the signer's place or residence, identified by its street and number or other sufficient designation. The Recorder shall make a record of the exact time at which each petition is filed and shall take and preserve the name and address of the person by whom it is filed. If the petition is not signed by the required number of qualified electors, the Recorder shall notify the candidate and the person who filed the petition within twelve (12) days after the filing. If the petition is insufficient in any other particular, the Recorder shall return it immediately to the person who filed it, certifying in writing wherein the petition is insufficient. The deficient petition may be amended and filed again as a new petition, or a substitute petition for the same candidate may be filed, within the regular time for filing nomination petitions. All nomination papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and filed in final form as one instrument with the Recorder not less than twelve (12) days before the date that the Recorder must file the same with the County Clerk. (Charter Amendment 11-2-82) Section 6. Canvass of Returns In all elections held in conjunction with State and County elections, the State laws governing the filing of returns by the County Clerk shall apply. In each special City election, the returns therefrom shall be filed with the Recorder on or before noon the day following; and, not later than five (5) days after the election, the Council shall meet and canvass the returns. The results of all elections shall be entered in the record of the proceedings of the Council. The entry shall state the total number of votes cast at the election, the votes cast for each person, and for and against each proposition, the name of each person elected to office, the office to which he/she has been elected, and a reference to each measure enacted or approved. Immediately after the canvass is completed, the Recorder shall make and sign a Certificate of Election of each person elected and deliver the Certificate to him/her within one (1) day after the canvass. A Certificate so made and delivered shall be "prima facie" evidence of the truth of the statements contained in it. Section 7. Tie Votes In the event of a tie vote for candidates for an elective office, the successful candidate shall be determined by a public drawing of lots in the manner prescribed by the Council. Section 8. Oath of Office Before entering upon the duties of his/her office, each officer shall take an oath or shall affirm that he/she will support the constitutions and laws of the United States, the State of Oregon, and the Charter and laws of the City of Ashland, and that he/she will faithfully perform the duties of his/her office.