The election for all elective Town officers
shall be held on the day of the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November at a place to be designated by the Town Council. Notices
of the designated place must be posted in three public places at least
10 days before said election. The polling places shall remain open
between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., or longer at the discretion
of the Town Council.
[Amended 6-5-1995 by Res. No. 3; 3-3-2003 by Res. No.
623; 7-3-2006 by Res. No. 680]
Every person who is a citizen of the United
States, is at least eighteen (18) years of age, and has resided within
the corporate limits of the Town for thirty (30) days preceding any
Town election, and is registered with the Board of Elections Supervisors
for Caroline County, and is registered in accordance with the provisions
of this Charter and Town ordinances shall be a qualified voter of
the Town. Transfers may be granted by the registration officials from
one ward to another in said Town. No person shall be entitled to register
on Election Day. Every qualified voter of the Town shall be entitled
to vote at any or all Town elections.
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 July in every year. The terms of
members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections begin on the first
Monday in July in the year in which they are appointed and 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 Councilpersons' consent for the remainder of the
unexpired term. The compensation of the members of the Board shall
be determined by the Town Council.
Any member of the Board of Supervisors of Elections
may be removed for good cause by the Town Council, if, in the judgment
of the Town Council the member is not properly performing or will
not properly perform the duties of the position. 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 Town Council if he so requests
within 10 days after receiving the written copy of the charges.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall
give at least two weeks' notice of the schedule of registration and
of Election Day by an advertisement published in at least one newspaper
of general circulation in the Town and by posting a notice thereof
in three public places in the Town.[1]
If any person is aggrieved by the action of
the Board of Supervisors of Elections in refusing to register or in
striking off the name of any person, or by any other action, he may
appeal to the Town Council. Any decision or action of the Town Council
upon such appeals may be appealed to the Circuit Court for the county
within the time allowed for such appeals.
Candidates for election to the office of Councilperson
shall file with the Board of Supervisors of Elections a petition signed
by at least 20 registered voters of the Town of Denton. The candidate
shall file his petition for an elective office not less than 30 days,
including Sundays and holidays, prior to the date of such election.
Such petition shall state the name and address of the candidate, the
fact that such person is eligible for election of the office of Councilperson
and that such person wishes his name placed on the ballot as candidate.
Such petition shall be sworn to by the person filing same, both as
to the fact of the candidate's eligibility and as to the genuineness
of the signatures on such petition. The Board of Supervisors of Elections
shall advertise the filing requirements once weekly for one month
prior to the filing deadline in a paper circulated in the Town. No
person shall be eligible for elective Town public office who has not
fulfilled the requirements of this section. No candidate shall file
for election for more than one Town public office at any one election.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall cause to be given general
publicity the names of such eligible candidates with the names of
the offices they seek and shall post all of such names and offices
conspicuously at the polls.
The Town shall elect five Councilpersons to
serve for a term of five years. The Councilpersons shall serve staggered
terms; one elected in each year.
A.
Beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November 1980, and every fifth year thereafter, the Town shall
elect one Councilperson.
B.
Beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November 1981, and every fifth year thereafter, the Town shall
elect one Councilperson.
C.
Beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November 1982, and every fifth year thereafter, the Town shall
elect one Councilperson.
D.
Beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November 1983, and every fifth year thereafter, the Town shall
elect one Councilperson.
E.
Beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November 1984, and every fifth year thereafter, the Town shall
elect one Councilperson.
F.
In order to facilitate an orderly transition of election
days from the prior Charter which provided for elections in the month
of May and the new Election Day, the respective terms of each of the
incumbent Councilpersons shall be extended to the 31st of December
of the fifth year of their respective elected terms.
[Amended 7-2-2020 by Res. No. 873]
It is 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. In the event that
there is no contest for any of the offices for which an election shall
be proper, the Board of Supervisors of Elections is authorized and
directed to cancel the election with respect to said office or offices
after giving public notice thereof by publication on the Town’s
website and for one week in a newspaper or newspapers having general
circulation in the Town, and to certify as elected the candidate or
candidates therefor who have filed a valid certificate of nomination
pursuant to § C5-8 of the Charter.
Any qualified voter registered to vote in the
Town of Denton is entitled to vote in any municipal election by absentee
ballot.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall
mail absentee ballots to qualified voters, at the request of those
voters, not less than 15 days prior to the election. All absentee
ballots shall be delivered to Town Hall before the vote counting begins.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § C5-13, Write-in votes, was
repealed 7-2-2020 by Res. No. 873.
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, except for the provisions in § C3-10.
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, absentee
ballots and write-in votes. Once the actual vote counting begins,
no persons shall enter or leave the room in which the vote counting
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 Treasurer
of the Town, who shall record the result in the minutes of the Town
Council. The candidates with the highest number of votes shall be
declared elected for each Commission vacancy. A tie vote shall be
decided by special election between the tied candidates.
All ballots and records used in any Town election
shall be preserved for at least six months from the date of the election.
The Town 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.
Women shall have equal privileges with men in
registering, voting and holding Town offices. Whenever the masculine
gender has been used as to any registering, voting or holding Town
office, it shall be construed to include the feminine gender.
Any person who fails to perform any duty required
of him under the provisions of this article or any ordinances passed
thereunder; in any manner willfully or corruptly violates any of the
provisions of this article or any ordinances 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.
