Sec. 54-32. Nomination of municipal officers.
(a) Candidates for municipal office shall be nominated, without regard to political party affiliation, by petition on forms supplied by the city clerk. The petition of nomination shall contain the name and address of only one candidate, and shall indicate the municipal office for which the candidate is being nominated, prior to circulating the petition. A candidate can only circulate a petition for one office for the regular municipal election.
(b) Nomination petitions may be circulated and signed beginning on the 90th day and ending on the 70th day prior to the date of election. Each petition shall be signed by the registered electors in the following numbers:
(1) For a candidate for an at-large and mayor seat, at least 100 registered electors residing within the City.
(2) For a candidate from a ward within a city, at least 50 registered electors residing in the candidate's ward.
(c) Each registered elector signing a petition shall add to the signature a place of residence. The circulator of each nomination petition shall make an affidavit that each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that each signer has stated to the circulator that he or she is a registered elector of the City or the city and ward, as the case may be, for which the nomination is made. The signature of each signer of a petition shall constitute prima facie evidence of qualifications without the requirement that each signer make an affidavit as to qualifications.
(d) No petition shall be valid that does not contain the requisite number of signatures of registered electors. Any such petition may be amended in this respect at any time prior to 64 days before the date of election, unless such petition did not contain the requisite number of signatures when filed. Any person signing a nomination petition for a candidate for a ward office must reside within the same ward as the candidate from such ward.
(e) No registered elector shall sign more than one nomination petition for each separate office to be filled. Each council office that is to be filled by the electorate shall be considered as a separate office for the purpose of nomination. An elector may sign one nomination petition for one candidate from his or her ward of residence, as well as one petition for the office of mayor. An elector may also sign nomination petitions for up to two candidates for at-large offices.
(f) Each nomination petition shall be filed with the clerk no later than the 70th day prior to the day of election. Every such petition shall have endorsed thereon or appended thereto the written affidavit of the candidate accepting such nomination. The acceptance of nomination shall contain the place of residence of the candidate and the name of the candidate in the form that he or she wishes it to appear on the ballot. The candidate's name may be a nickname or include a nickname but shall not contain any title or degree designating the business or profession of the candidate. A candidate may run for one office per election.
(g) Nominated candidates shall have their names arranged alphabetically on the ballot by their legal last names.
(h) The city clerk shall cause all nomination petitions to be preserved in accordance with the municipal records retention schedule. All such petitions shall be open to public inspection. (Code 1979, § 14-26; Ord. No. 2016-35, § 3, 8-8-2016; Ord. No. 2013-23, § 19, 7-8-2013; Ord. No. 96-76, § 3, 12-30-1996)