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City of Augusta, ME
Kennebec County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (3) Index
The regular municipal elections under the provisions of this Charter will be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each year. At these annual elections the qualified voters of the City shall vote for members of the Council, the Mayor, School Board members, and School Board Chairperson and such other elective offices as are otherwise provided for in this Charter. The candidates for these offices shall be duly qualified under the nomination provisions contained herein.
As provided in Section 2 of Article II, the qualified voters of the various wards shall vote for eight members of the Council and the Mayor, and such other elective officers as herewithin prescribed, all of whom shall have been nominated under the provisions of this Charter, subject to the provisions of Article II, Section 1, above.
The City Council may order that a special election be held to fill vacancies in elective office, vote on an initiative or referendum question subject to Article V-A, Section 6(f), of the Charter, or on any other matter allowed by this Charter or required by state law.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 1; Amendment No. 2-1973, 11-6-1973; Amendment of 6-14-1988; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The Warden and the Ward Clerk appointed as hereinafter provided shall be qualified voters of the wards for which they are appointed, and shall hold their offices for two years, or until others have been chosen and qualified in their stead; the Warden and the Ward Clerk shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties by the City Clerk, a notary public or an attorney at law, and a certificate of such oath shall be entered by the Clerk on the records.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 2; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The nomination of all candidates for elective offices provided for by this Charter shall be by petitions. Candidates seeking election to the Council or the Board shall run either from a ward or at large. The petition of candidates for Mayor and Chairperson of the School Board shall be signed by not less than 200 qualified voters of the City. The petition of candidates for members of Council and the School Board elected at large shall be signed by not less than 100 qualified voters of the City. The petition for a ward candidate for the Council, School Board, or other elective offices shall be signed by not less than 50 of the qualified voters of the respective ward.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 3; Amendment No. 4-1974, 11-5-1974; Ord. No. 648, 11-20-1978)
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 of 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 established by ordinance by the Council.
Nomination petitions for elections will be available on the 100th day prior to the election, and shall be available for 40 days.
The nomination petitions for any one candidate shall be assembled and united into one petition and filed with the City Clerk not earlier than the 75th day nor later than the 60th day prior to the election.
The Council shall have the authority to shorten the nomination period as needed.
No nomination petition shall be valid unless the candidate shall file with the City Clerk, in writing, his or her consent, accepting the nomination, agreeing not to withdraw and, if elected, to qualify; prior to the close of business on the last day of filing.
Any changes to state law which alter these deadlines will automatically be incorporated into the Charter.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 5; Amendment No. 2-1973, 11-6-1973; Ord. No. 648, 11-20-1978; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
The City Clerk shall certify the list of candidates and shall cause to be published in one or more conspicuous places within the City the names, the residences and offices to which nominated, of the candidates who have duly filed the above-described petitions and acceptances.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 6; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
Sample ballots and official ballots for use in all City elections shall be prepared by the City Clerk and furnished by the City.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 7; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
Ballots for use in elections under this Charter shall contain the names of the various candidates, with their residence and the office for which they are a candidate, and shall be marked in the appropriate manner in accordance with ballot instructions. Such ballots shall be without party mark or designation and shall be in the form as prescribed by the Board of Voter Registration and City Clerk.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 8; Amendment of 11-3-1998)
All votes cast for the several offices shall be sorted, counted, and posted in each polling place as provided by statute. The Ward Clerk shall forthwith deliver to the City Clerk a certified copy of the records of such election.
The Council shall examine copies of the records of the several wards, certified as aforesaid, and shall cause the persons who shall have been elected Mayor, and members of the Council and other elected office as provided in this Charter to be notified in writing of their election. If it shall appear that at the first election, or at any subsequent election, one or more of the offices to be filled has not been filled, or if the person elected shall refuse to accept the office for which he or she has been elected, the Council shall order a special election to fill such vacancy or vacancies.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 9; Amendment of 11-4-2008; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
Upon receipt of the returns, the Council shall determine the successful candidates by certifying the vote at its next business meeting.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 10; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The City Clerk shall cause sample ballots to be posted in public places in each ward and at City Hall. Such sample ballots shall be printed on colored paper and marked sample ballots, and shall contain the names of the certified candidates with the residence of each, instructions to voters, and such measures as may be submitted to the voters by the Legislature or by the Council. Such ballots shall be without party mark or designation.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 11; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The provisions of the laws of the State of Maine relating to the qualifications of electors, registration, the manner of voting, the duties of election officers, and all other particulars in respect to preparation for, conducting and management of elections, so far as they may be applicable, shall govern all municipal elections of Augusta, except as otherwise provided in this Charter.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. V, § 12)