Section 45-8A-23.006 Election of first council; term of office.
Section 45-8A-23.006
Election of first council; term of office.
(a) Election of first council: term of office. Within five days of the date of his or her receipt of the certificate of adoption the judge of probate with whom the certificate was filed shall call an election to be held on the first Tuesday in September 1954. The expenses of this election shall be paid by the city. Before calling such election the judge of probate shall cause the city to be divided into five wards containing as nearly equal number of people as possible. Candidates shall qualify in the manner prescribed in Section 45-8A-23.051 and shall have the qualifications and eligibility set forth in Sections 45-8A-23.052 and 45-8A-23.053. Each candidate shall announce the ward from which he or she desires to become a candidate. Each voter in the election may cast one vote for a candidate from each of the wards. Any candidate receiving a majority of the total votes cast for the candidates from the ward from which he or she is a candidate shall be elected as the councilman from his or her ward. In the event that any or all of the wards shall not have a candidate who received such a majority in the election then as to such ward or wards there shall be a run-off election to be held two weeks after the first election. In the run-off election only those two candidates from each ward who receive the largest vote in the first election shall be eligible in the run-off election, and only these two shall have their names placed on the ballot for the run-off election. Any candidate receiving a majority of the total votes cast in the run-off election for the candidates from the ward from which he or she is a candidate shall be elected as the councilman from his or her ward. The councilmen so elected shall take office on the first Monday in October following the election. Each councilman shall hold office for four years, but shall serve until his or her successor shall have qualified. A councilman may succeed himself or herself in office.
(b) Notwithstanding any notice requirements of any other statute or statutes concerning municipal elections, a notice published by the judge of probate, with whom the certificate of adoption was filed at any time not less than 20 days prior to the election, shall be deemed sufficient notice of the election. The notice shall, in substance, state the month, day, and year of the election and the purpose for which it is called. The notice shall further recite that the judge of probate has divided the city into wards as provided under this part, and state where a copy of the order of the judge of probate dividing the city into wards has been filed. The notice shall be published not less than one time in a newspaper published in the city, and if no newspaper is published in the city, then by posting notices in three public places within the municipality. The date of the election of the first council provided for in this part shall prevail notwithstanding any other statute or statutes concerning municipal elections. In the event said election should not take place on the day appointed, the same shall be called by the judge of probate and held on some Tuesday as early as is convenient thereafter, but not less than 45 days thereafter. In such event the judge of probate shall give at least 15 days' notice of the election which shall be given in the same manner as provided for the notice to be given by the judge of probate as stated above. Any run-off election shall be held as provided above. The councilmen so elected in a delayed election shall take office the first Monday of the month following the election or run-off election, if one be necessary. The election of the first council shall, except as otherwise provided herein as to the call and notice of the election, the date or dates of elections and run-off elections, the qualification of the candidates and other matters specifically declared to be to the contrary in this part, be held and conducted, in the same manner as provided by law in respect to municipal elections in cities of this state which have a population of its size according to the latest federal decennial census for cities not organized under a commission form of government. All municipal officers of the city shall have the same duties and responsibilities as they have with respect to municipal elections. The call of the election by the judge of probate shall be sufficient to require any municipal officer or officers to comply with their duties and responsibilities with regard to all municipal elections, including the designation of places of voting, appointment of election officers, and other matters concerning the elections. The officer or officers shall issue any orders necessary to cause all election requirements to be met. Notwithstanding any provision of any other statute or statutes there shall be no requirement that, in the election of the first council, an elector must vote only in the ward of his or her residence.
(Acts 1953, No. 404, p. 472, §1.07; Act 1969, No. 283, p. 619, §2.)