[Ord. No. 4526 § 8.1.(a), 1-18-1994]
(a)
RUNOFF
Regular elections. General - The regular City general
election shall be held on the first (1st) Tuesday after the first
(1st) Monday in April of each even numbered year.
In the event no candidate for a City office receives a majority
of the total votes cast at the general election, there shall be a
runoff election for that office between the two (2) candidates receiving
the highest number of votes on the first (1st) Tuesday after the first
(1st) Monday in June that year. If, at any runoff election, there
shall be no choice between the candidates by reason of the two (2)
having received an equal number of votes, the Council shall proceed
to determine the election by lot in a meeting open to the public and
to which both candidates have been invited.
(b)
Special elections. The Council may by resolution
order special elections, fix the time for such elections, and provide
for holding such elections.
(c)
Conduct of elections. All City elections shall be
governed by the provisions of the Charter and applicable State law.
The Council by ordinance may further regulate elections, subject to
the provisions of the Charter and applicable State law. If the regular
election date is changed by State law, the above elections shall be
held on the regular election dates as close as practicable to the
above dates.
[Ord. No. 4526 § 8.2.(b)(d), 1-18-1994]
(a)
Nominations. Nominations of candidates for all elective
offices shall be by petition. Petitions for Council member shall be
signed by not less than twenty-five (25) registered qualified voters
of the district who are entitled to vote for the candidate so nominated.
Petitions for the Mayor shall be signed by not less than fifty (50)
registered qualified voters of the City. The signatures shall be executed
in ink or indelible pencil. Each signer shall indicate next to his
or her signature the date of his or her signing and the place of his
or her residence, giving the street and number or other description
sufficient to identify his or her place of residence. The Council
by ordinance shall designate the appropriate form for nominating petitions
and for acceptance of nominations.
(b)
Filing and acceptance. All separate papers comprising
a nominating petition shall be assembled and filed with the City Clerk
as one (1) instrument not earlier than ninety (90) days before the
close of filing and not later than one (1) week prior to the time
when the City must certify the candidates to the St. Louis County
Board of Election Commissioners. The City Clerk shall make a record
of the exact time when each petition is filed. No nominating petition
shall be accepted unless accompanied by a signed acceptance of nomination.
(c)
Procedure after filing. Within five (5) days after
the filing of a nominating petition, the City Clerk shall certify
the petition to the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners
to verify the signatures. Promptly upon receipt of the report of the
Board of Election Commissioners, the City Clerk shall notify the candidate
and the person who filed the petition whether or not it is sufficient.
If a petition is not sufficient, the City Clerk shall return it immediately
to the person who filed it with a statement certifying wherein it
is found to be insufficient. Within the regular time for filing petitions,
such a petition may be amended and filed again or a new petition may
be filed for the candidate. The City Clerk shall keep on file all
petitions found sufficient at least until the expiration of the term
for which the candidates are nominated in those petitions.
(d)
Filling vacancies if no petition filed. In the event
no candidate files a valid nominating petition for an elective office
prior to the last date permitted for such filing under Section 8.2.(b),
not later than the date of the scheduled election the Council shall
appoint a person eligible to hold the office under Section 3.2.(c)
to fill the office during the term for which the election would have
been held had one (1) or more persons filed nominating petitions for
it.
The City Clerk shall cause the names of the candidates to appear
on all ballots in the order in which the candidates filed petitions
for nominations which were verified and accepted. The candidates shall
appear on the ballot without party designation.
[Ord. No. 4526 § 8.4.(b), 1-18-1994]
(a)
Number of votes. In an election for Mayor, every
voter shall be entitled to vote for only one (1) candidate. In an
election for Council member, every voter shall be entitled to vote
for one (1) candidate for each seat on the Council to be filled in
his or her district.
(b)
Returns; canvass. The City Council shall canvass
the election returns, and declare the results of any municipal election,
regular, runoff or special, at the first (1st) regular meeting to
be held following such election. The candidates receiving the highest
number of total votes cast for each office in the general election
shall be declared elected and inducted into office at that time, except
as provided in Section 8.1.(a); in the event a runoff election is
required for any office, the candidate receiving the highest number
of total votes cast for that office in the runoff election shall be
declared elected and inducted into office at that time.
(c)
Tie vote. If at any municipal election there shall
be no choice between candidates by reason of two (2) or more having
received an equal number of votes, the Council shall proceed to determine
the election by lot in a meeting open to the public and to which all
candidates have been invited.
[Ord. No. 4526 § 8.5., 1-18-1994]
Four (4) City Council districts shall be established and their
boundaries set by ordinance following each decennial (ten year) census
prepared by or for the United States Government or at other more frequent
intervals as may be determined by the Council. Districts shall comprise
compact and contiguous territory and shall contain, as nearly as possible,
an equal number of inhabitants.
