The regular City election shall be held on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November on years ending in an odd number.
All City elections shall be nonpartisan and no party mark, emblem
or other designation shall appear on any ballot used at a preliminary
or general election for City offices.
The order in which names of candidates appear on the ballot
for each office at the preliminary and general election shall be determined
by a drawing, by lot, conducted by the City Clerk which shall be open
to the public.
The territory of the City shall be divided into nine precincts
so established as to consist of as nearly an equal number of inhabitants
in each precinct as is possible, in compact and contiguous territory,
bounded insofar as possible by the center line of known streets or
ways or by other well-defined limits. The City Council shall from
time to time, but at least once in each 10 years, review such precincts
to insure their uniformity in number of inhabitants.
Except as expressly provided in this Charter and authorized
by law, all City elections shall be governed by the General Laws of
the Commonwealth relating to the right to vote, the registration of
voters, the nomination of candidates, the conduct of preliminary,
general and special elections, the submission of Charters, Charter
amendments and other propositions to the voters, the counting of votes,
the recounting of votes, and the determination of results.
None of the following shall be subject to the initiative or
the referendum procedures:
1. Proceedings relating to the internal organization or operation of
the City Council or of the School Committee,
2. An emergency measure adopted in conformity with the Charter,
3. The City budget or the School Committee budget as a whole,
5. Any appropriation for the payment of the City's debt or debt
service,
6. An appropriation of funds to implement a collective bargaining agreement,
7. Proceedings relating to the election, appointment, removal, discharge,
employment, promotion, transfer, demotion, or other personnel action,
8. Any proceedings repealing or rescinding a measure or part thereof
which is protested by referendum procedures, and
9. Any proceedings providing for the submission or referral to the voters
at an election.
The City Council may of its own motion, and shall at the request
of the School Committee if a measure originates with that body and
pertains to affairs under its jurisdiction, submit to the voters at
any regular biennial City Election for adoption or rejection any measure
in the same manner and with the same force and effect as are hereby
provided for submission by petitions of voters unless they shall designate
that the measure is nonbinding.
If two or more measures passed at the same election contain
conflicting provisions, only the one receiving the greatest number
of affirmative votes shall take effect.