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 town 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 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 town 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.
All persons shall have equal privileges in registering, voting and holding town offices, subject to the qualifications of § WC-29. 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.
There shall be a Board of Supervisors of Elections,
consisting of three (3) members who shall be appointed by the President
of the Council with the approval of the whole Council on or before
the first Monday in March in every second odd-numbered year. The terms
of members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall begin on
the first Monday in March in the year in which they are appointed
and run for four (4) 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 term of office.
The Board shall appoint one (1) of its members as Chairman. Vacancies
on the Board shall be filled by the President of the Council with
the approval of the Council for the remainder of the unexpired term.
The compensation of the members of the Board shall be determined by
the Council.
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
ten (10) days after receiving the written copy of the charges against
him.
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.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall
give at least two (2) weeks' notice of every registration day and
every election by an advertisement published in at least one (1) newspaper
of general circulation in the town and by posting a notice thereof
in some public place or places in the town.
There shall be a registration on the first Monday
in April of qualified persons not registered to vote. If necessary
for the performance of registration or the convenience of the citizens
of the town, the Council may designate additional days as registration
days. Registration shall be permanent, and no person shall be entitled
to vote in town elections unless he is registered. It shall be the
duty of the Board of Supervisors of Elections to keep the registration
lists up to date by striking from the lists persons known to have
died or to have moved out of the town. The Council is hereby authorized
and directed, by ordinance, to adopt and enforce any provisions necessary
to establish and maintain a system of permanent registration and to
provide for the registration of voters as frequently and conveniently
as possible.
Every person who is a citizen of the United
States, is at least eighteen (18) years of age, has resided within
the corporate limits of the town for ninety (90) days next preceding
any town election and is registered in accordance with the provisions
of this Charter 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.
If any person shall feel 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, such
person may appeal to the Council. Any decision or action of the Council
upon such appeals may be appealed to the Circuit Court for the county
within thirty (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 at the office of
the Board of Supervisors of Elections on or before the second Monday
in April next preceding the town election. No person shall file for
nomination to more than one (1) elective town public office or hold
more than one (1) elective town public office at any one time.
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 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
on election days or for longer hours if the Council requires it.
On the second Tuesday of May in every odd-numbered
year, the qualified voters of the town shall elect persons to serve
on the Council to fill vacancies and replace those Council members
whose terms have expired.
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.
Any registered voter is entitled to vote in
a town election by absentee ballot. It shall be the duty of the Board
of Supervisors of Elections to transmit and receive applications for
absentee ballots and to provide ballots, envelopes, instructions and
printed matter to enable absentee voters to vote.
Within forty-eight (48) hours after the closing
of the polls, the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall determine
the votes cast for each candidate or question and shall certify the
results of the election to the Clerk-Treasurer of the town, who shall
record the results in the minutes of the Council. The three (3) candidates
for Commissioners with the highest number of votes in the general
election shall be declared elected as Commissioners. All ballots used
in any town election shall be preserved for at least six (6) months
from the date of the election.
[Added 12-8-2014 by Res. No. 2014-2]
If, on the day immediately following the second Monday in April next preceding the Town election, the number of duly qualified candidates for the office of commissioner is equal to the number of vacancies in such office, then no election shall be held on the second Tuesday in May and all such candidates shall be sworn in on the second Monday in July as provided for in Section 207 of Article II of the Charter[1] and assume the office of commissioner thereafter.
