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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNominations and Elections • NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS The regular municipal election. A regular municipal election shall be held, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even numbered year commencing in 1980 at such place or places as the city council may designate. The city clerk shall give at least 15 days published notice of the time and place of holding such election and of the officers to be elected, but failure to give such notice shall not invalidate the election. Special Elections. The council may by resolution order a special election and provide all means for holding it. The clerk shall give at least 15 days published notice of a special election. The procedure at such election shall con- form as nearly as possible to that prescribed for other city elections. Piling for office. No earlier than 37 days or later than 30 days before the municipal election, any voter of the city qualified under the state constitution for elective office may, by filing an affidavit and paying a filing fee,in an amount as set by ordinance,to the city clerk, have his name placed on the municipal ballot.. Canvass of Elections. The council shall meet and canvass the election returns within five days after any regular or special election, and shall make full declaration of the results as soon as possible, and file a statement thereof with the city clerk. The city clerk shall forthwith notify all persons of their election. The City Council shall act as the elections canvassing board. The canvas- sing board shall meet within two days after the final count of votes (ballots) to determine the eligibility of winning candidates. and shall make full declaration of the results as soon as possible. The clerk shall forthwith notify all persons of their election. Vacancies of Municipal Elected Offices in cases of death or resignation. If a vacancy in an elected office of the city should occur, due to the death or resignation of an elected official, with more than months remaining in the vacated office, there shall be a special election held, within days after the vacancy or vacancies occur, to elect a successor to serve for the remainder of the unexpered term of the office vacated. In the case of a vacancy where there remains less than month9 in the unexpired term, under this section, the council shall by a majority vote appoint a successor to serve for the remainder of said term. Procedure at elections. Subject to the provisions of this charter and applicable state laws, the council may by ordinance further regulate the conduct of municipal elect- ions. Except as otherwise provided in this charter or in ordinances adopted pursuant thereto, the general laws of the State of Minnesota pre- taining to elections shall apply to municipal elections. Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Powers Reserved by the People. The people of Mounds View reserve to themselves the power, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, to initiate and adopt any ordinance except an ordinance appropriating money or authorizing the levy of taxes, to require such an ordinance when passed by the council to be referred to the electors for approval or disapproval, and to recall elected public officials. These powers shall be called the initiative, the referendum, and the recall respectively. Petitions An initiative or referendum shall be initiated by a petition signed by 'registered voters of the city equal in number to _ percent of those who voted in the last preceding city election. Each petition shall be spon- sored by a committee of five voters whose names and addresses shall appear on the petition on file in the city clerks office. Each signer shall sign his/her name and give his/her street address. Each seperate page of the petition shall have appended to its certificate, verified by oath by the petitioner, that each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. Immediately upon receipt of the petition, the city clerk shall examine the petition as to its suffi- ciency and report to the council within 20 days. Upon receiving the re- port, the council shall determine by resolution the sufficiency of the petition. If the council determines that the petition is insufficient or irregular, the city clerk shall deliver a copy of the petition, together with a written statement of its defects, to the sponsoring committee. The comm- ittee shall have 30 days in which to file additional signature papers and to correct the petition in all other particulars. Initiative. Any ordinance, except an ordinance relating to the appropriation of money or the levy of taxes, may be proposed by a petition which shall state at the head of each page or attached thereto the exact text of the proposed ordinance. The petition for initiative shall follow the petition require . ments as outlined in ( section for petitions) . If the petition submitted under this section is found to be sufficient the ordinance shall be placed on the ballot at the next election occurring in the city. If no election is to occur within 120 days after the filing of the petition, the council shall call a special election on the ordinance to be held within such period. If a majority of those voting on the ordinance vote in its favor it shall become effective 30 days after adoption unless the ordinance specifies a later effective date. • Referendum • Any ordinance subject to the initiative may be subjected to referendum by a petition which shall state, at the head of each page or on an attached paper, a description of the ordinance. The petition for referendum shall follow the petition requirements as outlined in (section for petitions) . If the petition submitted under this section is found to be sufficient the ordinance shall be placed on the ballot at the next election occurring in the city. If no election is to occur within 120 days after the filing of the petition, the council shall call a special election on the ordinance to be held within such period. If a majority of the voters voting there- on favors the ordinance, it shall guxintaxeff$ctximmedi$ttey xaxxxaxt tax yarned remain in effect, if a majority of the electors voting thereon votes against the ordinance, it shall be considered repealed upon cert- ification of the election results. . Recall Any five electors may form themselves into a committee for the purpose of bringing about the recall of any elected officer of the city. The committee shall file a certificate with the city clerk naming the officer whose removal is sought, a statement of the grounds for removal in not more than 250 words, and their intention to bring about the officer' s recall. A copy of this certificate shall be attached to each signature paper and no signature paper shall be put into circulation until the certificate has been filed with the clerk. Recall petition The petition for the recall of any official shall follow the petition requirements as outlined in (petition section) except that the number of signers of the recall petition must be as leastpercent of the total number of electors who cast their vote in the last preceding city election. Filing the recall petition Within thirty days after the filing of the original certificate, the committee shall file the completed petition in the office of the city clerk. The city clerk shall examine the petition within the next five days, and if the city clerk finds it irregular in any way or finds that the number of signers is less than required in (recall petition section) the city clerk shall so notify one or more members of the committee. The committee shall then be given twenty days in which to file additional signature papers and to correct the petition in all other respects, but they may not change the statement of the grounds which the recall is sought. If at the end of that time the city clerk finds the petition still insufficient or irregular, the city clerk shall notify all the members of the committee to that effect and shall file the petition in the office. No futther action shall be taken thereon. Recall Election If the petition or amended petition is found sufficient, the city clerk shall transmit it to the council without delay, and shall also officia- lly notify the person sought to be recalled of the sufficiency of the petition and of the rending action. The council shall at its next meet- ing, by resolution, provide for the holding of a special recall election not less thanthirty, days nor more than forty-five days after such meet- ing,but if any other election is to occur within sixty days after such meeting, the council may in its descretion provide for the holding of the recall vote at that time. The city clerk shall include with the published notice of the vote th'e statement of the grounds for the recall and also, in not more than five hundred words, the answer of the officer concerned in justification of his/her course of office. Vacancy in office by recall If a vacancy of a municipal office occurs due to recall the vacancy so created shall be filled as provided in (section on vacancy by death or resignation) .