For the purpose of holding elections, the territory of said City shall be divided by ordinance by the City Council into five (5) wards, to contain as near as may be consistently with well-defined limits, an equal number of legal inhabitants; and it shall be the duty of the City Council once in ten (10) years, and not oftener than once in five (5) years, to review, and, if necessary, to alter such wards in such a manner as to preserve, as nearly as may be, an equal number of legal inhabitants in each ward.[1]
[1]
State law reference - Effective date of ward changes, 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2503.
[Amended 11-5-2019 by Order No. 2019-81; 8-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-69]
A. 
Officials and terms. The municipal elections shall take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and shall be conducted in the manner provided by the laws of this state. The Mayor, two (2) City Councilors and two (2) School Committee members shall be elected from the citizens at large, by the legal voters of the City voting in their respective wards. One (1) City Councilor and one (1) School Committee member shall be elected in each ward, being residents in the ward where elected. The City Council may divide any ward into two (2) or more precincts.
All said officers shall hold office for three (3) years from the first Monday in December, and until others shall be elected and qualified in their places.
Wardens and Ward Clerks shall be appointed annually by the City Council based upon the recommendation of the City Clerk.
B. 
Ranked choice voting; instant runoff tabulation. For the positions of Mayor, City Councilor, and School Committee Member, the City Clerk shall implement a ranked choice voting protocol according to these guidelines:
i. 
The ballot shall give voters the option of ranking candidates in order of choice.
ii. 
If a candidate receives a majority, i.e. at least one more than fifty percent (50%) of the first choice votes cast, that candidate is elected.
iii. 
If no candidate receives a majority of first choice votes, an instant runoff re-tabulation shall be promptly conducted by the City Clerk and completed within five (5) business days of the election. The instant runoff re-tabulation shall be conducted in successive rounds, with the majority determined for each successive round by the number of votes cast in that round. The candidate with the fewest votes after each successive round in which no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in that round shall be eliminated, and the votes in the successive rounds shall be re-tabulated among the remaining candidates until one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in that round. In each successive round, each voter's ballot shall count as a single vote for whichever candidate the voter has ranked highest who has not been eliminated in a prior round, if any.
iv. 
After the first round, a majority is determined as at least one (1) more than fifty percent (50%) of the votes cast for a remaining candidate in a particular round.
v. 
The City Clerk may adopt additional regulations consistent with this subsection to implement these provisions. The ballot shall contain instructions on how to vote for each office.
[Amended 11-5-2019 by Order No. 2019-81]
At the November 2013 municipal election, the Mayor, one (1) City Councilor At-Large, the Ward 1 City Councilor, the Ward 2 City Councilor, the Ward 5 City Councilor and Wardens and Ward Clerks for each Ward shall be elected to hold office for three (3) years; the person elected to the seat of the School Committee member At-Large whose four-year term is ending shall be elected to hold office for three (3) years, and one (1) City Councilor At-Large shall be elected to hold office for two (2) years; the Ward 3 School Committee member shall be elected to hold office for three (3) years and the Ward 3 City Councilor shall be elected to hold office for two (2) years; the Ward 4 School Committee Member shall be elected to hold office for three (3) years and the Ward 4 City Councilor shall be elected to hold office for two (2) years. All remaining School Committee members shall commence three year terms with the November 2015 municipal election.
As of January 1, 2023, Wardens and Ward Clerks shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions outlined in Section 6.2.
A vacancy occurring in the office of warden or ward clerk by death, resignation or removal from the City shall be filled by appointment of the City Clerk, subject to confirmation by a majority of the City Council members present and voting.
[Amended 8-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-69]
Whenever two (2) or more persons are to be elected to the same office, the several persons up to the number to be chosen, shall be elected by proportional representation. The City Clerk shall implement a proportional representation voting protocol according to these guidelines:
(a) 
The total number of ballots indicating a valid vote for a candidate shall be determined prior to counting of ballots for individual candidates.
(b) 
Each candidate shall be credited with one vote for every valid ballot that is sorted to that candidate as first choice, or otherwise credited to that candidate as hereinafter provided, and no ballot shall ever be credited to more than one candidate at the same time.
(c) 
A "quota" is the smallest number of votes which any candidate must receive in order to be assured of election without more candidates being elected than there are offices to be filled. It shall be determined by dividing the total number of valid ballots by one more than the total number of candidates to be elected and adding one to the result, disregarding fractions. Whenever at any stage of the counting the number of ballots credited to a candidate becomes equal to the quota, that candidate shall be declared elected, and no ballots in excess of the quota shall be credited to that candidate except as provided in (f) or (l) of this section.
(d) 
The ballots shall be sorted according to the first choices marked on them.
(e) 
If a candidate is elected while the ballots are being sorted according to first choices, any subsequent ballots which show that candidate as first choice shall each be credited to the second choice marked on it, or, if the second choice also has been elected, to the next choice marked on it for a candidate not yet elected.
(f) 
If during the first sorting of ballots, ballots are found which are marked for a candidate already elected as first choice, but show no clear choice for any unelected candidate, such ballots shall at the end of the sorting be given to the candidate of their first choice, and in their place an equal number, as nearly as possible, of the last ballots sorted to that candidate which show a clear choice for unelected candidates, all as determined by the City Clerk, shall be taken and re-sorted to unelected candidates as if they were then being sorted for the first time.
(g) 
When all the ballots have been thus sorted and credited to the first available choices marked on them, every candidate who is credited with fewer ballots than the number of signatures required for that candidate's nomination shall be declared defeated.
(h) 
All the ballots of the candidates thus defeated shall be transferred, each to the candidate indicated on it as next choice among the continuing candidates. A "continuing candidate" is a candidate not as yet either elected or defeated. Any ballot taken for transfer which does not clearly indicate any candidate as next choice among the continuing candidates shall be set aside as "exhausted."
(i) 
When all the ballots of the candidates thus defeated have been transferred, the one candidate who is then lowest on the poll shall be declared defeated and all that candidate's ballots transferred in the same way.
(j) 
Thereupon the candidate who is then lowest shall be declared defeated and all that candidate's ballots similarly transferred; and in like manner candidates shall be declared defeated one at a time and all their ballots transferred.
(k) 
If, when a candidate is to be declared defeated, two or more candidates are tied at the bottom of the poll, that one of the tied candidates shall be declared defeated who was credited with fewest ballots immediately prior to the last transfer of ballots. If two or more of the tied candidates were tied at that stage of the count, also, the second tie shall be decided by referring similarly to the standing of candidates immediately prior to the last transfer of ballots before that. This principle shall be applied successively as many times as may be necessary, a tie shown at any stage of the count being decided by referring to the standing of the tied candidates immediately prior to the last preceding transfer of ballots. In interpreting this and other rules contained in this section the transfer of all ballots from candidates defeated together under rule (g) of this section, and the transfer of all ballots from each candidate defeated thereafter shall each constitute a single separate transfer.
(l) 
Whenever candidates to the number to be elected have received the quota, any transfer of ballots in progress when the last quota was reached shall be completed, but immediately thereafter all continuing candidates shall be declared defeated and the election shall be at an end. Whenever all ballots of all defeated candidates have been transferred, and it is impossible to defeat another candidate without reducing the continuing candidates below the number still to be elected, all the continuing candidates shall be declared elected and the election shall be at an end.
(m) 
A record of the count shall be kept in such form as to show, after each sorting or transfer of ballots, the number thereby credited to each candidate, the number thereby set aside as exhausted, the total for each candidate, the total set aside as exhausted, and the total number of valid ballots found by adding the totals of all candidates and the total set aside as exhausted.
(n) 
Every ballot that is transferred from one candidate to another shall be stamped or marked so that its entire course from candidate to candidate can be conveniently traced.
(o) 
If at any time after the first sorting of the ballots a ballot is found to have been credited to the wrong candidate, it may be transferred, as part of the transfer that is in progress, to the continuing candidate, if any, to whom it should have been credited at the time the error was made, or, if it should previously have become exhausted, may be set aside as exhausted as part of the transfer that is in progress; provided, that if the number of misplaced ballots found is sufficient to make it possible that any candidate has been wrongly defeated, so much of the sorting and transferring as may be required to correct the error shall be done over again before the count proceeds. If in correcting an error any ballots are re-sorted or re-transferred, every ballot shall be made to take the same course that it took in the original count unless the correction of an error requires its taking a different course. The principles of the rules of this section shall apply also to any recount which may be made after the original count has been completed.
If it shall appear that there is no choice of Mayor, or any of the other officers to be elected from the citizens at large, or from any of the several wards, or if the person elected Mayor, or any person or persons elected to any other of the offices aforesaid, shall refuse to accept the office, or shall die before qualifying, or if a vacancy in the office of Mayor shall occur subsequently and more than three (3) months previous to the expiration of the municipal year, warrant shall forthwith be issued for a new election, and the same proceedings shall be had in all respects as hereinbefore provided, and shall be repeated until such election is completed.
A vacancy occurring in the City Council by death, resignation or removal from the City of any member thereof, shall be filled for the unexpired term by a majority vote of the remaining members present and voting, voting by roll call; and if such vacancy be occasioned by the death, resignation or removal from the City of a member elected by a ward, the same shall be filled from the ward where it occurs.
A vacancy occurring in the School Committee by death, resignation or removal from the city, of any member thereof, shall be filled for the unexpired term by a majority vote of the remaining members present and voting, from the ward where it occurs, or if at large from any ward.
Special municipal elections may be held from time to time for municipal purposes when called by the Mayor and City Councilors; and the City Council shall establish by ordinance an initiative and referendum procedure to be ratified by a plurality vote of the voters of said City according to the rights secured to all citizens by the state constitution. Any subsequent amendments or revisions of the initiative and referendum ordinance shall require the same ratification by the voters as required for the adoption of said ordinance.
The Mayor-elect, City Councilors-elect and School Committee Members-elect shall on the first Monday of December, meet and be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties. The oath shall be administered by the City Clerk or any notary public or dedimus justice, and shall be duly certified on the journal of the City Council.
In case of the absence of the Mayor-elect or if a Mayor shall not then have been elected, the oath of office may at any time thereafter be administered to the Mayor-elect in the presence of the City Council; and at any time thereafter, in a like manner, the oath of the office may be administered to any member of the City Council or School Committee member who has been previously absent, or has been subsequently elected; and every such oath shall be duly certified as aforesaid.
After the oath has been administered to the City Councilors present, they shall be called to order, at their first organization by the City Clerk, or in case of the absence of the Clerk, by the longest-serving member present.
The person so calling the City Council to order shall proceed to call the roll of the members and each member shall declare their choice for President of the City Council, who shall be a member thereof. If no quorum is present, an adjournment shall be taken to a later hour, or to the next day, and thereafter the same proceedings shall be had from day to day, until a quorum shall be present. If any person receives a majority of the votes of all the members of the City Council present, such person shall be declared chosen President thereof. If, on the first day on which a quorum is present no person receives such majority, the roll call shall be repeated until some person receives the vote of such majority, or an adjournment is taken to the succeeding day, and on such succeeding day when a quorum is present, a plurality of those voting shall be sufficient for an election.
The President may be removed from the office by the affirmative vote of five (5) members of the City Council taken by roll call.