Nominations and Elections

City Charter - Article V

Sections

1. Date of Elections and Procedure to Determine Results

2. Warden and Ward Clerk Qualifications

3. Nominations for Elective Offices

4. Form of Nomination Papers

5. Filing Nomination Papers

6. List of Candidates to be Published

7. Ballots to be Prepared by the City Clerk

8. Form of Ballot

9. Count of Ballots

10. Election Returns

11. Specimen Ballots to be Published and Posted

12. State Laws Not Inconsistent, Applicable

Section 1. Date of Elections and Procedure to Determine Results

The regular municipal elections under the provisions of this charter will be held annually on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. At these annual elections, the qualified voters of the city shall ballot within their regular wards and at their respective polling places for members of the City Council, the Mayor, School Board and such other elective offices as are otherwise provided for in this charter. The candidates for these offices shall be duly qualified under the nomination regulations contained herein.

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Section 2. Warden and Ward Clerk Qualifications

The Warden and the Ward Clerk appointed as hereinafter provided shall be qualified voters of the wards for which they are appointed, and shall hold their offices for 2 years, or until others have been chosen and qualified in their stead; the Warden and the Ward Clerk shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties by the City Clerk, or by a justice of the peace, and certificate of such oath shall be entered by the clerk on the records.

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Section 3. Nominations for Elective Offices

The nomination of all candidates for elective offices provided for by this charter shall be by petition. The petition of candidates of Mayor shall be signed by not less than 50 qualified voters of the City. The petition for a candidate for the City Council or other elective offices shall be signed by not less than 25 of the qualified voters of the City. City Council candidates and other candidates seeking election from a particular voting district shall obtain all petition signatures from qualified voters of that district. No voter shall sign petitions for more than one candidate for each office.

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Section 4. Form of Nomination Papers

The signatures to nomination papers need not all be affixed to one nomination petition, but to each separate petition there shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof stating the number of signers of each petition, and that each signature appended thereto was made in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. With each signature shall be stated the place of residence of the signer giving the street and number of the street, or their description sufficient to identify the same. The form of the nomination petition shall be substantially as follows:

To the City Clerk of the City of Gardiner:

We, the undersigned voters of the City of Gardiner, hereby nominate............whose residence is ......................for the office of ....................to be voted for at the election to be held in the City of Gardiner on the.................day of ..................20....and we individually certify that we are qualified to vote for a candidate for the above office and that we have not signed more nomination petitions of candidates for this office than there are vacancies to be filled.

Name.................Street and Number..........................is the circulator of the foregoing nomination petition containing.................signatures, and that the signatures appended thereto were made in his presence and are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be.

Signed......................

Subscribed and sworn to before me this ...........day of.............,20....

Justice of the Peace or Notary Public..........................

If this petition is deemed insufficient by the City Clerk, he shall forthwith notify by mail....at No.........Street.

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Section 5. Filing Nomination Papers

The nomination petitions for any one candidate shall be assembled and united into one petition and filed with the City clerk not earlier than the first Monday of August nor later than the second Monday of September of the municipal election year. No nomination shall be valid unless the candidate shall file with the City Clerk in writing no later than the second Monday in September of a municipal election year. No nomination shall be valid unless the candidate shall file with the City Clerk in writing no later than the second Monday in September of a municipal election year his consent, accepting the nomination, agreeing not to withdraw, and if elected, to qualify.

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Section 6. List of Candidates to be Published

The City Clerk shall certify the list of candidates and shall cause to be published in one or more of the daily newspapers circulating in the City the name, the residences and offices to which nominated, of the candidates who have duly filed the above described petitions and acceptances.

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Section 7. Ballots to be Prepared by the City Clerk

Specimen ballots and official ballots for use in all City elections shall be prepared by the City Clerk and furnished by the City.

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Section 8. Form of Ballot

Ballots for use in elections under this charter shall contain the names of the various candidates, with their residence and the office for which they are a candidate, and shall be furnished with one column for crosses or check marks at the right of the candidates name and residence. Such ballots shall be without party mark or designation and shall be in form as prescribed by board of registration and city clerk.

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Section 9. Count of Ballots

All votes cast for the several offices shall be sorted, counted, declared and registered in open ward meetings as provided by statute. The Ward Clerk shall forthwith deliver to the City Clerk a certified copy of the records of such election.

The City Council shall examine copies of the records of the several wards, certified as aforesaid, and shall cause the persons who shall have been elected Mayor and members of the City Council to be notified in writing of their election. If is shall appear that at the first election, or at any subsequent election, one or more of the offices to be filled by said election has not been so filled, or if at any election the person elected shall refuse to accept the office for which he has been elected, warrants for another and special election to full such vacancy or vacancies shall be issued forthwith.

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Section 10. Election Returns

Upon receipt of the returns, after the first election under this charter, the then municipal officers and thereafter the City Council shall determine the successful candidates as has been the customary practice of canvassing returns of municipal elections in Gardiner.

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Section 11. Specimen Ballots to be Published and Posted

The City Clerk shall cause specimen ballots to be posted in public places in each ward and at City Hall. Such specimen ballots shall be printed on colored paper and marked specimen ballots, and shall contain the names of the certified candidates with the residence of each, instructions to voters, and such measures as may be submitted to the voters by the legislature or by the City Council. Such ballots shall be without party mark or designation.

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Section 12. State Laws Not Inconsistent, Applicable

The provisions of the laws of the State of Maine relating to the qualification of electors, registration, the manner of voting, the duties of election officers, and all other particulars in respect to preparation for, conducting and management of elections, so far as they may be applicable, shall govern all municipal elections of Gardiner, except as otherwise provided in this charter.

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