All residents of the City of New Buffalo having the qualification of electors in the State of Michigan shall be electors of the City.
The election of all City officers shall be on a non-partisan basis. General election statutes shall apply to and control, as near as may be, all procedures relating to registrations and City elections except as such statutes relate to political parties or partisan procedures, and except as otherwise provided in this Charter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: As to the "Michigan Election Law," see MCLA § 166.1 et seq.
The City of New Buffalo shall consist of one ward and one voting precinct. The Council may by ordinance increase the number of election precincts but shall make no change less than 60 days before any election.
A regular City election shall be held on the second Monday of March, 1966, and on the second Monday of March of every year thereafter,[1] at such place or places as shall be designated by the Council.
[1]
Editor's Note: Public Act 523 of 2012, effective 3-27-2013, authorizes (but does not require) cities that hold annual or odd-year elections to move to the November general election date, by adoption of a resolution by the City Council. Election date changes take effect after December 31 in the year in which the resolution is adopted. The New Buffalo City Council passed the resolution on 9-17-2013 to move the elections to the even year November general election date.
Special City elections shall be held when called by resolution of the Council at least 45 days in advance of such election, or when required by this Charter or the general laws of the state. Any resolutions calling a Special Election shall set forth the purpose of such election.
The general election laws of the State of Michigan shall apply to and control all procedures relating to registration and City elections except as herein otherwise specifically provided.
An Election Commission is hereby created consisting of the Clerk, the Assessor and the City Attorney of which the Clerk shall be Chairman. The Commission shall have charge of all activities and duties required by State Law and this Charter relating to the conduct of elections in the City. In any case where election procedure is in doubt, the Election Commission shall prescribe the procedure to be followed. The compensation of the Commissioners shall be determined in advance by the Council and shall be a fixed amount for each election.
Notice of the time and place of holding any election and of the officers to be elected and the questions to be voted upon, shall be given by the Clerk as required by the general election law.
The polls of all elections shall be opened and closed at the time prescribed by law for the opening and closing of polls at State elections unless otherwise permitted by law and changed by the Council.
The method of nomination of all officers provided for in this Charter who are elected by the electors of the City shall be by petition. Petitions shall be signed by not less than 25 nor more than 50 qualified registered electors of the City of New Buffalo. No person shall sign his name to a greater number of petitions for any one office than there will be persons elected to said office at said election. Where any signature appears on more petitions than there are candidates to be elected to said office, such names shall be counted only in the order of the respective dates of signing as shown on the petition. The petitions shall be filed with the Clerk at least 20 days and not more than 30 days prior to the date of holding the election.[1] The Clerk shall publish notice of the last day permitted for filing nomination petitions, at least one week before, and no more than three weeks before, such day.
[1]
Editor's Note: Pursuant to MCLA § 168.551, as amended by PA 276 of 2012, city clerks shall receive nominating petitions or filing fees filed under the state act up to 4:00 p.m., Eastern standard time, of the 15th Tuesday before the August primary.
The form of petition shall be similar to that used for State and County officers with no references to political parties. Official petition forms shall be prepared and furnished by the Clerk. Before the Clerk shall furnish any nomination petitions to any person, he shall enter thereon in ink the name of the person desiring to become a candidate for office, or the person in whose behalf the petition is to be circulated and the name of the office for which he is to be a candidate.
The Clerk shall accept for filing only nomination petitions on official blanks containing the required number of signatures for candidates having the qualifications required by this Charter. When petitions are filed by persons other than the person whose name appears thereon as a candidate, they may be accepted for filing only when accompanied by the written consent of the person in whose behalf the petition or petitions were circulated. The Clerk shall, forthwith after the filing of a petition, determine the sufficiency of the signature on each petition filed, and if he finds that any petition does not contain the required number of legal signatures of registered electors, he shall immediately notify the candidate in writing of the insufficiency of his petition. Each petition which is found by the Clerk to contain the required number of signatures of registered electors for candidates shall be marked "In Order," with the date thereof, and he shall so notify the candidate whose name appears thereon, in writing.
All nomination petitions shall be open to public inspection in the office of the Clerk as soon as the Clerk has determined the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petitions.
The form of the ballot used in any City election shall conform as nearly as may be to that prescribed by the general laws of the State, except that no party designation or emblem shall appear upon any City ballot. The names of qualified candidates or nominees for each office shall be listed in a single column and shall be rotated systematically on the ballots. In all other respects the printing and numbering of ballots shall conform to the general laws of the state relating to elections.
A board of four canvassers shall be appointed by the Council pursuant to Act No. 65 (Extra Session) of the Public Acts of 1963. The Board of Canvassers shall convene on the first Thursday following each election at the office of the City Clerk and publicly canvass the returns. The Clerk shall make under seal of the City duplicate certificates of the determination of the Board and shall file one certificate with the Clerk of Berrien County and the other in his own office.
If at any City election there shall be no choice between candidates because two or more persons received an equal number of votes, 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 or refuse 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. Such determination shall be final.
A recount of the votes cast at any City election for any office or upon any proposition may be had in accordance with the general election laws of the State. Unless otherwise provided by statute the petition for a recount of the votes cast at any City election shall be filed with the Clerk within six days after the Board of Canvassers has made its official report of the result of the election at which such votes were cast, and any counter petition shall be filed within 24 hours thereafter.
Any elected official may be removed from office by the electors of the City in a manner provided by the general laws of the State. A vacancy created by the recall of any elected official shall be filled in the manner prescribed by law.