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.