Chapter 4. ELECTIONS  

Section 4.1. The residents of the city having the qualifications of electors in the State of Michigan shall be electors of the city.

Section 4.2. The election of all city officers shall be on a nonpartisan basis. The general election statutes shall apply to and control as near as may be, all procedures relating to registration and city elections except as such statutes relate to political parties or partisan procedure and except as otherwise provided in this charter.

The Clerk shall give public notice of the time and place of holding each city election and of the officers to be elected and the questions to be voted upon in the same manner as is required by statute for the giving of public notice of general elections in the state.

The polls at all elections shall be opened and closed at the time prescribed by law for the opening and closing of polls at state elections, subject to the statutory right of the Commission to adjust these hours to local time.

Section 4.3.

A regular city election shall be held every two (2) years on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in each even numbered year.

The office of the City Commissioners from Wards I and II that have terms ending in November, 1981, shall have a term ending in November 1984.

The office of the City Commissioners from Wards I and II that have terms ending in November, 1982, shall have a term ending in November 1986.

The office of the City Commissioner-at-Large with a term ending in November, 1981, shall have a term ending in November, 1984.

The office of the City Commissioner-at-Large with a term ending in November, 1982, shall have a term ending in November, 1986.

The office of the City Commissioner-at-Large with a term ending in November, 1983, shall have a term ending in November, 1986.

Thereafter, the terms of office of all City Commissioners shall be for four (4) years from the second Monday in November at 7:30 p.m. local time in every even numbered year.

Section 4.4. Special city elections shall be held when called by resolution of the Commission at least forty days in advance of such election, or when required by this charter or by statute. Any resolution calling a special election shall set forth the purpose of such election. No more special elections shall be called in any one year than permitted by statute.

Section 4.5. All ward Commissioners shall serve for a period of two years and all Commissioners at large shall serve for a period of three years. And further, there shall be elected two ward Commissioners from each ward and three Commissioners at large.

The Justice of Peace and the Associate Justice of Peace shall be elected for four years.

Section 4.6. The method of nominating of all candidates for the city elections shall be by petition. Such petition for each candidate shall be signed by not less than twenty nor more than forty registered electors of the city. No person shall sign his name to a greater number of petitions for any one office than there are persons to be elected to said office at the following regular city election. Where the signature of any individual appears on more petitions than he is so permitted to sign, such signatures shall be counted only to the extent he is permitted to sign in the order of the respective dates and hour of filing the petitions containing such signatures.

Nomination petitions shall be filed with the Clerk between the thirty-fifth day preceding such election and 5:00 p. m. on the thirtieth day preceding the regular city primary election or any special election for the filling of vacancies in office.

The Clerk shall, prior to every city election, publish notice of the last day permitted for filing nomination petitions and of the number of persons to be nominated or elected to each office at least one week and not more than three weeks before such day.

Section 4.7. The form of petition shall be substantially as that designated by the Secretary of State for the nomination of nonpartisan judicial officers. A supply of official petition forms shall be provided and maintained by the Clerk.

Section 4.8. The Clerk shall accept only nomination petitions which conform with the form provided and maintained by him, and which contain the required number of valid signatures for candidates having the qualifications required for elective city offices by this charter. All petitions shall be accompanied by the affidavit of qualifications provided for in Section 6.1. When a petition is filed by persons other than the person whose name appears thereon as a candidate, it may be accepted only when accompanied by the written consent of the candidate.

The Clerk shall, forthwith after filing of a petition, notify in writing any candidate whose petition is then known not to meet the requirements of this section, but the failure to so notify any candidate shall not prevent a final determination that the petition does not meet such requirements. Within three days after the last day for filing petitions, the Clerk shall make his final determination as to the validity and sufficiency of each nomination petition and write his determination thereof on the face of the petition. No petition shall be determined to be valid unless the affidavit of qualifications provided for in Section 6.1 shall be filed with such petition.

The Clerk shall immediately notify in writing the candidate whose name appears thereon of his determinations.

Section 4.9. All nomination petitions shall be open to public inspection in the office of the Clerk, except the three days after the last day for filing the petitions.

Section 4.10. An Election Commission is hereby created, consisting of the Clerk and two other members as appointed by the Commission who shall not be a candidate for elective office at the election for which he serves as a member of the Election Commission, such members to be appointed by the Commission not less than thirty days before such election. The members shall serve without compensation. The Clerk shall be chairman. The Election Commission shall appoint the Board of Election Inspectors for each precinct and have charge of all activities and duties required of it by statute and this charter relating to the conduct of elections in the city. The compensation of election personnel shall be determined in advance by the Commission. In any case where election procedure is in doubt, the Election Commission shall prescribe the procedure to be followed, subject to state election laws.

Section 4.11. The form printing and numbering of ballots or the preparation of the voting machines used in any city election shall conform as nearly as may be to the provisions of statute, except that no party designation or emblem shall appear. In all city elections, the names of qualified candidates or nominees for each office shall be listed under a separate heading and shall be rotated systematically in the manner prescribed by statute for rotation of names.

If two or more candidates or nominees for the same office have the same or similar surnames, the Election Commission shall print the occupation and residence address under the respective names of each of such candidates or nominees on the ballots (or on labels or slips to be placed on voting machines when used), provided, that for any of such candidates who is an incumbent of such office, the occupation shall be designated as “Incumbent.”

Except as provided in this section, there shall be no supplementary identification of candidates or nominees on the ballot.

Section 4.12. The Clerk and the members of the Commission shall be the board of canvassers to canvass the votes at all city elections, except that if any of such persons are candidates for office at the election to be canvassed such person shall not serve as a canvasser at such election. The board of canvassers shall convene on the day following each city election at the usual time and place of meeting of the Commission and determine the results of the city election upon each question and proposition voted upon and what persons are duly elected to the several offices respectively at said election, and shall notify in writing the successful candidates of their election. The Clerk shall make under the corporate seal of the city, duplicate certificates of the determinations of the board and shall file one certificate with the County Clerk and the other in his own office.

Section 4.13. If, at any city election, there shall be no choice between candidates by reason of two or more persons having received an equal number of votes, then the Commission shall name a date for the appearance of such persons for the purpose of determining the election of such candidate by lot as provided by statute.

Section 4.14. A recount of the votes cast at any city election for any office or upon any proposition may be had in accordance with election statutes. Unless otherwise required by statute (a) the petition for a recount of the votes cast at any city election shall be filed with the Clerk by 5:00 P. M. on the second full day on which the Clerk’s office is open for business after the board of canvassers has made its official report of the result of the election at which such votes were cast, (b) any counter petition shall be filed by 5:00 P. M. on the next full day thereafter on which the Clerk’s office is open for business and (c) no officer shall be qualified to take office until final determination of any recount of the votes cast for such office.

Section 4.15. Any elected official may be recalled from office by the electors of the city in the manner provided by statute. A vacancy created by such recall shall be filled in the manner prescribed by this charter and by statute.