A regular city election shall be held annually on the date of
the biennial spring election established by law. One Councilman shall
be elected at each regular city election from each of the four wards
of the city. A Mayor shall be elected at each regular city election
held in an even numbered year. A Municipal Judge shall be elected
at each regular city election held in an odd numbered year preceding
the expiration of the term of such office in the same manner as the
Mayor is nominated and elected.
Special city elections shall be held when called by resolution
of the Council, adopted at least 45 days in advance of such election.
If a special election is to be held on the date of any State primary
or election, such election shall be called in ample time for the giving
of notice to the County Clerk of questions to be voted thereat, as
required by law. Any resolution calling a special election shall set
forth the purpose of such election. Unless otherwise permitted by
law, no more than two special city elections shall be held in any
one calendar year.
Until otherwise provided, the boundaries of the four wards of
the city shall remain as established on the effective date of this
charter. Upon a showing by the Clerk that any ward or wards contain
more than 1 1/2 times as many registered electors as any other
ward or wards, the Council may redefine the boundaries of the wards
of the city, or any of them, so as to more equitably equalize the
number of registered electors in the wards. Any such action may be
subject to referendum of the electors of the city in accordance with
the procedure therefor established by Chapter 5 of this charter.
A regular city primary election shall be held on the date set
by law for holding primary elections preceding biennial spring elections.
Each person who has the constitutional qualifications of an
elector in the State of Michigan, or who will have such qualifications
at the next election held in the city, shall be entitled to register
as an elector of the city.
All primary and general city elections for the nomination and
election of officers shall be non-partisan. The general election laws
of the State shall apply to and control, as nearly as may be, all
procedures relating to notices for, to registrations for, and to the
conduct of city elections, except as such general laws relate to political
parties or partisan procedures, and except as otherwise provided by
this charter. The compensation of all election personnel shall be
determined by the Council.
The Election Commission shall be comprised of the Clerk, the
Assessor, and the City Attorney. The Clerk shall be chairman. The
Commission shall have charge of all activities and duties required
of it by law relating to the conduct of elections in the city. In
the absence of a quorum, the member present may create a quorum as
permitted by law. In any case where election procedure is in doubt,
the Election Commission shall prescribe the procedure to follow.
A person desiring to qualify as a candidate for any elective
office under this charter shall file with the Clerk an official nominating
petition therefor. Official blank nominating petitions, in substantially
the same form as required by law or by the Secretary of State for
nonpartisan judicial officers, shall be prepared and furnished by
the Clerk. Such petition shall be signed by not less than 25 nor more
than 100 of the registered electors of the city. Such petitions shall
be filed with the Clerk not later than 5:00 in the afternoon on the
seventh Monday preceding the primary election date. Before the Clerk
shall furnish a form of nominating petition to any person, he shall
enter thereon with typewriter or in ink the name of the candidate
and the name of the office for which he is to be a candidate. No petition
which has been altered with respect to such entries shall be received
by the Clerk for filing. Nominating petitions for the purpose of filling
a vacancy shall so state in connection with the name of the office
for which they are to be used. If any person signs his name to a greater
number of petitions for any office than there will be persons elected
to that office, his signature shall be disregarded on all petitions
for that office. In the case of petitions nominating persons for the
office of Councilman, no name, other than of a registered elector
of the ward in which a person seeks that office, shall be counted
on any such petition.
The Clerk shall accept for filing only nominating petitions
on official blanks issued by him. Within five days after the filing
of a petition, the Clerk shall determine the sufficiency of the number
of genuine signatures of registered electors of the city on the petition.
If he finds that any petition does not contain the required number
of such signatures, he shall immediately notify the candidate, in
writing, of the insufficiency of his petition. No additional signatures
on any petition shall be received by the Clerk after the final date
and time fixed for filing nominating petitions. Each petition which
is found by the Clerk to contain the required number of genuine signatures
shall be marked "Valid" with the date of such finding.
On or before the third day after the last day for filing nominating
petitions, each person for whom a valid nominating petition has been
filed, or someone acting on his behalf, shall file with the Clerk
an affidavit that he is possessed of all of the qualifications set
forth in this charter for an elective city office. Such affidavit
shall be on a form provided by the Clerk. If such affidavit be not
filed as herein required, the candidate shall be deemed to have withdrawn
and his name shall not be placed on any city primary or election ballot.
(a)
If valid petitions and affidavits have been filed for more than
twice the number of candidates for an office than there will be positions
filled in that office at the next regular city election, a primary
shall be held with respect to that office and the names of all persons
who have filed valid nominating petitions for that office shall be
placed on the ballot therefor.
(b)
If valid petitions for no more than twice the number of candidates
for an office to be filled at the following regular city election
have been filed, then no primary election shall be held with respect
to such office, and the names of the candidates for such office shall
be placed on the ballot for the regular city election.
(c)
Candidates, equal in number to twice the number of persons to
be elected to each office at the next regular city election, who receive
the highest number of votes at any primary election shall be the nominees
for election to the respective offices for which they are candidates,
and their names shall be placed on the ballots for the regular city
election.
The form, printing, and numbering of ballots used in any city
election shall conform, as nearly as may be, to that prescribed by
law, except that no party designation or emblem shall appear thereon.
The names of qualified nominees for each office shall be listed on
the ballot under a separate heading for each office and shall be rotated
on the ballots as required by law. Absentee ballots for city officers
and questions may be facsimiles of the format of the face of the voting
machines used by the city.
It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police, under the direction
of the Clerk, to take charge of all registration books and supplies
and deliver them to the respective Boards of Inspectors of Elections,
taking their receipt therefor.
The electors of the city shall be entitled to vote by absentee
ballots at any election under the circumstances and in the manner
provided by law.
The Election Commission shall constitute the Board of Canvassers
to canvass the votes cast at all elections. If any of such persons
are candidates for office at an election to be canvassed, such persons
shall not be a member of the Board of Canvassers at such election
and the Council shall designate a person to act in his stead. A majority
of the members of such board shall be a quorum for the transaction
of the business of the Board. The Board of Canvassers shall meet at
the City Hall at 2:00 in the afternoon on the day following each city
primary and election, and publicly canvass the returns of such primary
or election, and shall determine the vote upon all questions and propositions,
and declare whether the same have been adopted or rejected and which
persons have been nominated for or elected to office.
A recount of the votes cast at any city primary or election
for any office, or upon any proposition, may be had in accordance
with the general election laws of the state.
If, at any city primary or election, the outcome cannot be determined
because two or more persons received an equal number of votes, and
no recount concerning such votes is or may be pending, the Election
Commission shall name a date for the appearance of such persons for
the purpose of determining the election of one of them by lot. Should
any person fail to appear, in person or by representative, to determine
the result of any tie at the time and place named, such determination
shall be made by lot in his absence at the direction and under the
supervision of the Election Commission. Any determination by lot shall
be final.
