Regular city elections shall be held at the same times and places
as biennial general state elections, in accordance with the applicable
state election laws. The auditor, pursuant to directions from the
commission, shall give at least 10 days' notice of each regular city
election by posting notice thereof at a conspicuous place in the City
Hall and in one public place in each voting precinct of the city.
The notice shall state the officers to be elected, the ballot title
of each measure to be voted upon, and the time and place of the election.
The commission shall provide the time, manner and means for
holding any special election. The auditor shall give at least 10 days'
notice of each special election in the manner provided by the action
of the commission ordering the election.
Except as this charter provides otherwise and as the commission
provides otherwise by ordinances relating to elections, the general
laws of the state shall apply to the conduct of all city elections,
recounts of the returns therefrom and contests thereof.
In all elections held in conjunction with state and county elections,
the state laws governing the filing of returns by the county clerk
shall apply. In each special city election the returns therefrom shall
be filed with the auditor on or before noon of the day following,
and not later than five days after the election, and the commission
shall meet and canvass the returns. The results of all elections shall
be entered in the record of the proceedings of the commission. The
entry shall state the total number of votes cast at the election,
the votes cast for each person and for and against each proposition,
the name of each person elected to office, the office to which he
has been elected and a reference to each measure enacted or approved.
Immediately after the canvass is completed, the auditor shall make
and sign a certificate of election of each person elected and deliver
the certificate to him within one day after the canvass. A certificate
so made and delivered shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of
the statements contained in it.
In the event of a tie vote for candidates for an elective office,
the successful candidate shall be determined by a public drawing of
lots in a manner prescribed by the commission.
The term of office of a person elected at a regular city election
shall commence the first of the year immediately following the election.
Before entering upon the duties of his office, each officer
shall take an oath or shall affirm that he will support the constitutions
and laws of the United States and of Oregon and that he will faithfully
perform the duties of his office.
A qualified elector who is a resident of the city may be nominated
for an elective city office to be filled at the election. The nomination
shall be by a petition that specifies the office sought and shall
be in a form prescribed by the commission. The petition shall be signed
by not fewer than 50 electors. No elector shall sign more than one
petition for each office to be filled at the election. If he does
so, his signature shall be valid only on the first sufficient petition
filed for office. The signatures to a nomination petition need not
all be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper of the petition
shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, indicating
the number of signers of the paper and stating that each signature
appended thereto was made in his presence and is the genuine signature
of the person whose name it purports to be. Opposite each signature
shall be stated the signer's place of residence, identified by its
street and number or other sufficient designation. All nomination
papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and filed with the
auditor as one instrument not earlier than 120 days nor later than
65 days before the election. The auditor shall make a record of the
exact time at which each petition is filed and shall take and preserve
the name and address of the person by whom it is filed. If the petition
is not signed by the required number of qualified electors, the auditor
shall notify the candidate and the person who filed the petition within
five days after the filing. If the petition is insufficient in any
other particular, the auditor shall return it immediately to the person
who filed it, certifying in writing wherein the petition is insufficient.
The deficient petition may be amended and filed again as a new petition,
or a substitute petition for the same candidate may be filed, within
the regular time for filing nomination petitions. The auditor shall
notify an eligible person of his nomination, and that person shall
file with the auditor his written acceptance of nomination, in such
form as the commission may require, within five days of notification
of nomination. Upon receipt of the acceptance of nomination, the auditor
shall cause the nominee's name to be printed on the ballots. The petition
of nomination for a successful candidate at an election shall be preserved
in the office of the auditor at least until completion of the term
of office for which the candidate is elected.
As an alternative method, any qualified, registered elector
may become a candidate by making and filing his or her declaration
of candidacy in a form prescribed by the commission with the auditor
of the city of Warrenton not less than 65 days before the day fixed
by law for said election, providing said candidate accompanies his
or her said declaration with the filing fee, the sum of which shall
be set by the city commission. Upon receipt of the appropriate declaration
of candidacy and filing fee, the auditor shall cause the candidate's
name to be printed on the ballots. The declaration of candidacy for
a successful candidate at an election shall be preserved in the office
of the auditor at least until completion of the term of office for
which the candidate is elected.