Chapter XIII
ELECTIONS

13.01 Regular Elections.

Regular City elections shall be held at the same times and places as state elections, in accordance with applicable state election laws.

13.02 Special Elections.

The Council shall provide the time, manner, and means for holding any special election.

13.03 Regulation of Elections.

Except as this Charter or the Council, by ordinance, provides otherwise, the general laws of the state shall apply to the conduct of all City elections, recounts of the returns, and contests thereof.

13.04 Canvass of Returns.

In all elections held in conjunction with the state and county elections, the state laws governing the filing of returns by the County Clerk shall apply, and after the elections, the Council shall meet and canvass the returns. The results of all elections, including, but not limited to special elections, shall be made a matter of record in the Council’s minutes. The minutes shall contain a statement of the total number of votes cast at each 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 each person has been elected, and a reference to each measure enacted or approved.

13.05 Tie Votes.

In the event of a tie vote for candidates for an elective official, the successful candidate shall be determined by a public drawing of lots in the manner prescribed by the Council. A measure which receives a tie vote does not pass.

13.06 Commencement of Terms of Office.

The term of office of an elected official elected at a regular City election shall commence at the first regular Council meeting of the next calendar year.

13.07 Oath of Office.

Before entering upon the duties of office, each elected official shall take an oath or shall affirm that the official will support the Constitution and laws of the United States and of Oregon and will faithfully perform the duties of office.

13.08 Nominations.

A registered voter who has resided in the City during the twelve months immediately preceding the election may be nominated for one City elective office. Nominations shall be by petition specifying the position sought which shall be in the form prescribed by state law. Such petition shall be signed by not fewer than 20 registered voters. No registered voter shall sign more than one petition for each vacant position and any second or subsequent signature shall be invalid. The signature pages to a nominating petition shall be appended to the petition, but each separate signature page shall have an attached affidavit of the circulator thereof, indicating the number of signers on the signature page and stating that each signature page appended thereto was made in the circulator’s presence and is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be. With each signature the signer’s place of residence, identified by its street and number or other sufficient description, shall be stated. All nomination papers comprising a petition shall be filed with the Recorder as one instrument. Filing deadlines shall be those established by state law. The Recorder 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 was filed. If the petition is not signed by the required number of qualified registered voters, the Recorder shall notify the candidate and the person who filed within five days after the filing. If the petition is insufficient in any other particular, the Recorder shall return it immediately to the person who filed the petition, certifying in writing wherein the petition is insufficient. Such deficient petition may be amended and filed again as a new petition, or a substitute petition may be filed, within the regular time for filing nominating petitions. The Recorder shall notify an eligible person of their nomination, and such person shall file with the Recorder their written acceptance within five days of notification of nomination. Upon receipt of such acceptance of nomination, the Recorder 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 Recorder until the term of office for which the candidate is elected expires.