The election for all elective Town officers shall be held on the first Tuesday in May at a place to be designated by the Council.
Every person who is a citizen of the United States, is at least 18 years of age, resides in the Town at least 30 days preceding a Town election and is registered in accordance with the provisions of this Charter and Town ordinances shall be a qualified voter of the Town. Every qualified voter of the Town shall be entitled to vote at any or all Town elections.
A. 
Appointment. Subject to § C3-3D, there shall be a Board of Supervisors of Elections consisting of three members who shall be appointed by the Town Council on or before the first Monday in March in every odd-numbered year. The terms of members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall begin on the second Monday in March in the year in which they are appointed and shall run for two years. Members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall be qualified voters of the Town and shall not hold or be candidates for any elective office during their terms of office. The Board shall appoint one of its members as Chairman. Vacancies on the Board shall be filled by the Town Council for the remainder of the unexpired term. The compensation of the members of the Board shall be determined by the Council. The Town Council shall appoint two substitute members to the Board of Supervisors of Elections. The terms of office of the substitute members will be the same as for the members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections.
[Amended 10-4-2021 by Res. No. 10-1-21]
B. 
Removal. Any member of the Board of Supervisors of Elections may be removed for good cause by the Council. Before removal, the member of the Board of Supervisors of Elections to be removed shall be given a written copy of the charges against him and shall have a public hearing on them before the Council, if he so requests, within 10 days after receiving the written copy of the charges against him.
C. 
Duties. The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall be in charge of the registration of voters, nominations and all Town elections. The Board may appoint election clerks or other employees to assist it in any of its duties.
D. 
The Town Council may determine by resolution, from time to time, to not appoint a Board of Supervisors of Elections as provided for in § C3-3A. The Council may determine not to appoint a Board of Supervisors of Elections only if the Council provides by agreement for the duties and responsibilities of the Board for the administration and management of Town elections to be carried out by the Charles County Board of Elections with the assistance of such staff as determined by the Charles County Board of Elections.
[Added 10-4-2021 by Res. No. 10-1-21]
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall give at least two weeks' notice of every election by an advertisement published in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the Town and by posting a notice thereof in some public place or places in the Town.
Any person who has his domicile in the Town and is entitled by law to register to vote in Charles County elections shall be entitled to register to vote in Town elections. Registration of voters shall be permitted in the Town offices during regular office hours every day such offices are open and at such other times and places as the Council may establish from time to time by resolution, except that registration shall not be permitted within 30 days immediately prior to any general or special Town election, excluding runoff elections, in which case the same voter registration list used in the regular general or special election causing the runoff election shall be used. In addition to registration at the Town offices, any person who has his domicile within the Town may register to vote in Town elections by registering to vote in Charles County elections, provided that such registration must reflect that the registrant has a residential address located within the incorporated limits of the Town on voting registration records with Charles County more than 30 days prior to the date of the Town election at which such person seeks to vote. The Board of Supervisors of Elections is authorized to strike from the registration lists any person who has died or who has become ineligible to vote in Town elections or who has not voted in a Town election, general, primary, special or referendum, within the five preceding calendar years. Registration of any person shall be permanent until stricken pursuant hereto. Every person who has his domicile in the Town and has registered to vote in Town elections pursuant to this section shall be a qualified voter of the Town.
If any person shall feel aggrieved by the action of the Board of Supervisors of Elections in refusing to register or on striking off the name of any person or by any other action, such person may appeal to the Council. Any decision or action of the Council upon such appeal may be appealed to the Circuit Court for the county within 30 days of the decision or action of the Council.
Persons may be nominated for elective office in the Town by filing a certificate of nomination signed by five registered voters in the Town.
A. 
Such certificate shall state the following:
(1) 
The office for which the candidate is seeking nomination.
(2) 
The name of the candidate.
(3) 
A statement that the signers of the certificate are registered voters.
(4) 
The signers' support of the nomination of the named candidate.
B. 
The certificate shall be filed with the Clerk of Council at least 30 calendar days prior to the election.
C. 
No person shall file for nomination to more than one elective Town public office or hold more than one elective Town public office at any one time.
[Amended 2-7-2011 by Res. No. 1-1-11, effective 3-29-2011]
All Council members shall be elected at large. Every voter shall be entitled to vote for candidates equal to the number of vacancies to be filled. The voters of the Town shall elect three Council members on the first Tuesday in May in each odd-numbered year, except that Council members shall be elected every four years beginning with the election conducted on the first Tuesday in May 2011.
It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors of Elections to provide for each special and general election a suitable place or places for voting and suitable ballot boxes and ballots and/or voting machines. The ballots and/or voting machines shall show the name of each candidate nominated for elective office in accordance with the provisions of this Charter, arranged in alphabetical order by office with no party designation of any kind. The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall keep the polls open from 8:00 am. until 8:00 p.m. on election days or for longer hours if the Council requires it.
The Council shall make provisions by ordinance for the casting of ballots in municipal elections by absentee ballots. These provisions shall define the circumstances in which qualified voters of the Town may vote by absentee ballot; establish procedures governing the application for an absentee ballot; prescribe the form of absentee ballots; regulate the manner and timeliness of casting of absentee ballots; and regulate other matters relating to the casting of ballots in municipal elections by absentee ballots as the Council deems appropriate and not inconsistent with other provisions of this Charter or state law.
All special Town elections shall be conducted by the Board of Supervisors of Elections in the same manner and with the same personnel, as far as practicable, as regular Town elections.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall begin counting the votes immediately after the polls have closed. All votes shall be counted, to include the regular ballot and absentee ballots. Once the actual vote count begins, no person shall enter or leave the room in which the vote count is being conducted until completion of the vote count. The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall complete the vote count within 24 hours after the polls have closed, shall determine the number of votes cast for each candidate and shall certify this result to the Clerk of Council of the Town, who shall record the result in the minutes of the Council. The candidates for election to the vacancies as Council members with the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. A tie vote shall be decided by special election between the tied candidates within 30 days.
All absentee ballots and all records used in any Town election shall be preserved for at least six months from the date of the election.
The Council shall have the power to provide by ordinance in every respect not covered by the provisions of this Charter for the conduct of registration, nomination and elections and for the prevention of fraud in connection therewith and for a recount of ballots in case of doubt or fraud.
Any person who fails to perform any duty required of him under the provisions of this article or any ordinance passed thereunder, in any manner willfully or corruptly violates any of the provisions of this article or any ordinance passed thereunder or willfully or corruptly does anything which will or will tend to affect fraudulently any registration, nomination or election shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any officer or employee of the Town government who is convicted of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this section shall immediately, upon conviction thereof, cease to hold such office or employment.