The nomination of all candidates for elective office provided
by this Charter shall be by petition. The petition of a candidate
for Councilor or for member of the School Committee shall be signed
by not less than 100 nor more than 150 qualified voters of the City.
The number of said petitions for candidates for any office that may
be signed by any voter shall not exceed the number of candidates to
be elected to said office, and in no case may a voter sign more than
one petition for any one candidate.
The signatures to nomination papers need not all be affixed
to one nomination petition, but to each separate petition there shall
be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof stating the number
of signers on each petition, and that each signature appended thereto
was made in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person
whose name it purports to be. With each signature shall be stated
the place of residence of the signer, giving the street and number
of the street or their description sufficient to identify the same.
The form of the nomination petition shall be substantially as follows:
To the City Clerk of the City of Bangor:
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We, the undersigned voters of the City of Bangor, hereby nominate
________________ whose residence is ______________ for the office
of _________ to be voted for at the election to be held in the City
of Bangor on the ________ day of ____ 20 ____; and we individually
certify that we are qualified to vote for a candidate for the above
office and that we have not signed more nomination petitions of candidates
for this office than there are persons to be elected thereto.
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Name ____________ Street and Number ______________ being duly
sworn, deposes and says that he or she is the circulator of the foregoing
nomination petition containing ____________ signatures, and that the
signatures appended thereto were made in his or her presence and are
the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be. (Signed)
____________________ Subscribed and sworn to before me this ____ day
of ________ 20__ Notary Public
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If this petition is deemed insufficient by the City Clerk notification
shall be made by mail _____________ at No _________________ Street
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[Amended 11-2-2021]
The nomination petitions for any one candidate shall be assembled
and united into one petition, and filed with the City Clerk not earlier
than 90 nor later than 70 days before the day of election, except
that different intervals apply in those contingent elections which
may follow a Recall election. No nomination shall be valid unless
the candidate shall file with the City Clerk in writing not later
than 70 days before the day of election, his or her consent accepting
the nomination, agreeing not to withdraw, and, if elected, to qualify.
The City Clerk shall notify the list of candidates and shall
cause to be published at least ten days prior to the date of the election
in one or more of the daily newspapers published in Bangor the names,
residences, and office to which nominated, of the candidates who have
duly filed the above described petitions and acceptances.
Sample ballots and official ballots for use in all city elections
shall be prepared by the City Clerk and furnished by the City.
[Amended 11-2-2021]
The names of candidates nominated as provided in the preceding
section shall be arranged on the ballot in alphabetical order according
to surnames.
The names of City Council candidates nominated as provided in
the preceding section shall be arranged in the order by which they
are drawn by lot by the City Clerk. The Clerk shall draw names at
5:00 p.m. on the next business day after the last date that nomination
papers can be filed with the Office of the City Clerk. The drawing
shall be conducted in public and all candidates shall be notified
of the place, date, and time that the drawing shall take place.
The ballots shall be without party mark or designation. The
full name and residence of each candidate shall be given. Adjacent
to each name shall be a space for the voter to indicate the voter's
choice. Blank spaces shall be left at the end of the list of the candidates
for each office, in which the name of any person not printed on the
ballot, for whom the voter desires to vote may be inserted.
The City Clerk shall cause sample ballots to be posted in public
places, including each polling place, and/or advertised in the newspapers
not later than ten days prior to the city election. Such ballots shall
be marked "sample ballot," and shall contain the names of the certified
candidates with the residence of each, instructions to the voters,
and such measures as may be submitted to the voters. Such ballots
shall be without party mark or designation.
The provisions of the laws of the State of Maine relating to
the qualification of electors, registration, the manner of voting,
the counting of votes, the duties of election officers, and all other
particulars in respect to the management of elections, so far as they
may be applicable, shall govern all municipal elections except as
otherwise provided in this charter.
A member of the Bangor City Council or School Committee may
be recalled and removed from elected office by the voters of the City
as herein provided.
(a) Procedure. Any 100 registered voters of the City
may begin the recall procedure by signing and filing with the City
Clerk a Request for Recall containing the name of the member of the
City Council or School Committee whose removal is sought, together
with a statement with the reason for the recall.
The City Clerk shall then prepare recall petition forms with
a copy of the Request for Recall attached thereto. Thereafter, the
Clerk shall, during regular business hours, for the following 30 days,
keep the petition open for signature by registered voters of the City.
In addition, the City Clerk shall also cause petition forms to be
prepared and made available for circulation during said 30 days by
registered voters of the City. The number of petition forms and attached
Request for Recall copies shall be made available by the clerk in
increments of 10 pages, up to 100 total pages for an official sought
to be recalled. No voter may sign the petition more than once.
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At the expiration of said 30 days, or upon the Clerk ascertaining
that the required number of signatures have been presented to the
Clerk, whichever occurs first, the Clerk shall declare the petition
closed. The circulating of petition forms and filing of the same with
the Clerk must be accomplished prior to the expiration of said 30
days. The Clerk shall not accept any petition form circulated without
also receiving an affidavit from said circulator stating that all
of the signatures were affixed in the circulator's presence; that
the circulator believes them to be genuine signatures of the persons
they purport to be; and that every signor had an opportunity before
signing to read the full text of the recall petition and attachment.
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(b) Certification of recall petition. Within 10 days
after the closing of the petition, the Clerk shall ascertain whether
or not the number of valid signatures on the petition is equal to
at least 10 percent of the number of all registered voters at the
time the Request for Recall was filed with the Clerk. The Clerk shall
attach to said petition, a certificate showing the results of such
examination. If the petition is found to have insufficient valid signatures,
the Clerk shall notify the Council Chair of the results and the petition
will be considered to be null and void. Similar recall petitions against
the same official for substantially the same reason shall not be filed
for one year from the date of the Clerk's certification.
(c) Calling of recall election. If the petition shall
be certified by the Clerk to have sufficient valid signatures, the
Clerk shall submit the petition with the Clerk's certificate to the
City Council at its next regular meeting and shall notify the member
of the City Council or School Committee whose recall is sought by
such petition. The City Council shall thereupon, within ten days after
the receipt of the City Clerk's certificate, order an election to
be held not less than 60 nor more than 70 days thereafter; provided
that if a scheduled election is to occur within 100 days after the
receipt of said certificate, the City Council may, in its discretion,
provide for the holding of a recall election on the same date. In
the event the individual named in a successful recall petition chooses
to resign, the Council will declare the office vacant and no Recall
election will be held. Vacancies will be filled in the manner prescribed
in Section 2 of this Article for filling vacancies occurring at times
other than expiration of terms
[Amended 11-2-2021]
Within 10 days after the City Council orders a recall election,
the Clerk shall make available nomination petitions to candidates
for a possible subsequent election to fill any vacancies created by
the recall election. Such petitions shall require the number of signatures
specified in Section 3 of this Article and shall be returned to the
Clerk within five days after the recall election and only if a vacancy
then exists.
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(d) Form of ballot in recall elections. The form of
the ballot shall, as nearly as possible be: "Shall (name and title
of official) be recalled?" The reason for the recall as presented
in the Request for Recall shall be included in the statement following
the ballot question and the Yes or No indicator.
[Amended 11-2-2021]
(e) Majority vote required; choosing of successor.
In case a majority of those voting in the recall election of any official
shall vote in favor of recalling such official, he or she shall thereby
be removed from office, effective upon certification of the election
results by the City Clerk. If the recall succeeds, the City Council
shall schedule an election within 30 days of the recall election for
the purpose of electing candidates to fill any vacancies created by
the recall election. If a scheduled election is to occur within 100
days after the receipt of the Clerk's certificate for the recall election,
the City Council may, in its discretion, provide for the holding of
the election on the same date. The contents and form of the ballot
shall be the same as provided in Sec. 8 of this Article.
[Amended 11-2-2021]
A warden and ward clerk shall be appointed as necessary by the
City Clerk. The term of office, compensation and duties of wardens
and ward clerks, other than as may be established by State law, shall
be established by ordinance adopted by the City Council.