Registration shall be essential to the right to vote at any election held under the provisions of this Article or under the provisions of any act of the General Assembly of the State submitting any proposition or question to the decision of the voters of the town. Provisions for registration shall be made by ordinance by the Burgess and Commissioners and may be made in a manner different from that provided by this Charter.
There shall be a Board of Supervisors of Elections consisting of five (5) members, who shall be appointed by the Burgess, with the approval of the Commissioners, on or before the first Tuesday of the month of June in each election year. The terms of the members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections begin on the first Tuesday in June in the year in which they are appointed and run for three (3) years or until their successors take office. Members of the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall be qualified voters of the town and shall not hold or be candidates for any elective office during their terms of office. The Board shall appoint one (1) of its members as Chairman. Vacancies on the Board shall be filled by the Burgess, with the approval of the Commissioners, for the remainder of the unexpired term. The compensation of the members of the Board, if any, shall be determined by the Commissioners.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall be in charge of the registration of voters, nominations and all town elections. The Board may appoint election clerks or other employees to assist in any of its duties.
The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall give at least two (2) weeks' notice of every registration day and every election by an advertisement published in at least one (1) newspaper of general circulation in the town and by posting a notice thereof in some public place or places in the town.
In every election year, on the last Tuesday of the month of June, the Board of Supervisors of Elections appointed by the Burgess shall sit as officer or officers of registration for the purpose of revising the registration. Such revision shall be made in conformity with the provisions of the law of the state in force from time to time relating to the registration of voters. The officers of registration shall transfer voters' names from one address to another in case such voters have changed their residence, shall add the names of voters qualified to register at that time and shall strike from the registration lists the names of those persons who have died or become disqualified. When the registration books in use shall become worn out, dilapidated or unfit for further use, the Burgess and Commissioners shall provide similar books to replace the used ones, and the names of the voters shall be transcribed therein or new lists made or an entire new registration had, as determined by ordinance. If necessary for the performance of registration or the convenience of the citizens of the town, the Burgess may designate additional days as registration days. Registration shall be permanent. The Commissioners, by ordinance, shall adopt and enforce any provisions necessary to establish and maintain a system of permanent registration.
Every such officer of registration shall cause a copy of the lists of persons disqualified to be published by handbills posted in such public places about the town as he/she may select within five (5) days after the close of such registration. Any person considering himself aggrieved by the action of the officer of registration in striking his/her name from the list of qualified voters may appeal to the Burgess who is hereby authorized to hear such appeal and to make such correction in the registration list, by the hand of the Town Clerk, as just and right, in the judgment of the Burgess. During the appointed time of their respective sittings, the officers of registration shall have, in addition to the duties and authority given them herein, such other powers and authority as is conferred on officers of registration by the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended from time to time.
[Amended 5-14-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-03]
Any citizen of the state and a citizen of the United States who is a resident of the Town of Walkersville and who, at the date of any town election therein, is respectively eighteen (18) years of age, is qualified and entitled to vote under the Constitution and laws of the state at any state election held in the state, has been a bona fide resident of the town for thirty (30) days next preceding the election and is registered as required by this Article shall be entitled to vote at all town elections.
[Amended 12-10-2003 by Res. No. 2003-05]
All nominations for Burgess and Commissioners shall be made pursuant to nomination forms, rules, and times as provided in Chapter 22 of the Town Code.
[Amended 5-9-2018 by Res. No. 2018-01; 2-24-2021 by Res. No. 2021-01; 1-11-2023 by Res. No. 2022-03; 8-10-2023 by Res. No. 2023-06; 2-28-2024 by Res. No. 2024-01; 2-28-2024 by Res. No. 2024-02]
For the 2024 Election cycle, the elected Burgess will hold a term of four (4) total years, with tern ending in election year 2028. The two (2) Commissioners with the highest number of votes will hold a term of four (4) total years, similar to the Burgess, with their term ending in 2028. The three (3) Commissioners with the lowest number of votes will hold a term of two (2) total years, with election to be held in 2026, at which point, these positions will be eligible for a term of four (4) years. Further, this provision shall sunset or cease to be in effect as of December 31, 2024.
Any person who bribes, coerces or intimidates any voter, or attempts to bribe, coerce or intimidate any voter, at any election held under the direction of the Burgess and Commissioners shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof before any appropriate court of the County of Frederick or the State of Maryland, shall be fined for each and every offense or confined in the county jail, or both confined and imprisoned, at the discretion of the court having jurisdiction and hearing the case. The Burgess and Commissioners shall establish by ordinance from time to time the maximum fine or jail term for such cases.
Within forty-eight (48) hours after the closing of the polls, the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall determine the vote cast for each candidate or question and certify the results of the election to the Town Clerk, who shall record the results in the minutes of the Commissioners. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for the office of Burgess shall be declared as elected. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes for the offices of Commissioner being elected in that year shall be declared as elected. If the Board of Supervisors of Elections is unable to determine who is to be declared elected due to an equal number of votes being cast for two (2) or more candidates, the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall determine the candidate elected by a method to be determined by the incumbent Burgess and Commissioners.
All ballots used in any town election shall be preserved for at least six (6) months from the date of the election.
The Commissioners have the power to provide by ordinance, in every respect not covered by the provisions of this Charter, for the conduct of registration, nomination and town elections and for the prevention of fraud in connection therewith and for a recount of ballots in case of doubt or fraud. They shall also provide by ordinance for voting in any town election by absentee ballot.