Only persons qualified to vote in the Town shall be registered
as qualified voters. A qualified voter is:
(a) A citizen of the United States.
(b) Eighteen (18) years of age or older on the date of the next election.
(c) A resident of the Town of the time of the closing of registration
preceding the election.
The Mayor and Common Council may provide by Ordinance in every
respect not covered by the provisions of this charter for appointment
of Supervisor, registration of voters, nominations and Town elections.
[Revised, effective 11-24-1992; 12-4-1984; amended 2-24-2020 by Res. No. 20-CR-01]
(a) The elective offices of the Town shall be those of Mayor and seven
Common Council members. The Mayor shall be elected at large by the
qualified voters of the Town, and the Council members shall be elected
by the qualified voters in the ward in which the candidate resides.
(b) The Mayor and Council members from the first, third and seventh wards
shall be elected at the general election for Town offices held during
even-numbered years. Council members from the second, fourth, fifth
and sixth ward shall be elected at the general election for Town office
held during odd-numbered years.
(c) Any person desiring to run for Mayor shall file with the Supervisors of Elections a petition containing the names of at least twenty (20) persons, who are qualified voters in the Town; and any person desiring to run for Council member shall file a petition with said Supervisors of Elections containing the names of at least ten (10) qualified voters residing in the ward at least twenty-nine (29) calendar days, including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, prior to the election. In the event that the twenty-ninth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the petition filing deadline is extended to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. Any person desiring to be a candidate must also file the financial disclosure statement as required by §
12-105 of the Town Code of Ordinances. After the petitions have been filed and the time for filing has expired, the Supervisors of Elections shall cause to be published in some manner as shall give general publicity the names of the candidates filing petitions under this paragraph (c) and the positions to which they aspire.
[Amended 12-7-2020 by Res. No. 20-CR-02]
(d) Any person desiring to run for Mayor or Common Council of the Town who does not file a petition as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, may qualify to run for such office as a write-in candidate by filing with the Supervisors of Elections, at least five (5) calendar days before the date of the election, a petition to run as a write-in candidate for Mayor containing the names of at least twenty persons who are qualified voters in the Town or as a write-in candidate for Council member containing the names of at least ten (10) persons residing in the ward who are qualified voters, and a financial disclosure statement as required by §
12-105 of the Town's code of ordinances.
(e) Any person desiring to run for Mayor or Common Council of the Town
must qualify as a candidate under paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of
this section. All votes cast in an election for persons who are not
qualified as candidates shall be void and not counted.
(f) Before entering upon the duties of their office, each elected officer
shall take an oath of office as provided for in section 708.
[Added 12-6-2023 by Res. No. 23-CR-02]
(a) Public
parks and public open space owned or controlled by, or under the jurisdiction
of, the Town, may not be sold, developed, leased or used for any other
purpose than as public parks and open space, without the Common Council
first having submitted such sale, development, lease or use to referendum
for approval by the registered voters at the next general election
or a special election set for that purpose. The results of the referendum
shall be binding on the Mayor and Common Council, as provided by law.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit or limit the normal petition
procedure provided the citizens of the Town.
(b) A referendum
is not required for temporary use of public parks or public open space
for other purposes if a state of emergency has been declared by the
Governor of Maryland or under federal or local law and the Common
Council determines that such temporary use is necessary to protect
public safety. Said temporary use shall be of a reasonable duration
based on the circumstances and in no event will exceed one year.
(c) "Public
parks" is defined in this section as all parks, playgrounds or lands
that have been formally dedicated to permanent recreational use by
the Town or maintained for recreational use with Town funds.
(d) "Public
open space" is defined in this section as Town vacant public land,
whether dedicated formally to, or being maintained as, open space
for recreational use or potential use, as of and after January 1,
2024. This definition does not include open space adjacent to Town
Hall or the Town garage facility, or Town rights-of-way.