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

The recorder, pursuant to directions from the council, shall give lawful notice of each regular city election by posting notice thereof at a conspicuous place in the city hall and in one public place in each voting precinct of the city. The notice shall state the officers to be elected, the ballot title of each measure to be voted upon, and the time and place of the election.

Manner, and means for holding any special election. The recorder shall give lawful notice of each special election in the manner provided by the action of the council ordering the election.

Except as this charter provides otherwise and as the council provides otherwise by ordinances relating to elections, the general laws of the state shall apply to the conduct of all city elections, recounts of the returns therefrom, and contests thereof.

In all elections held in conjunction with state and county elections, the state laws governing the filing of returns by the county clerk shall apply. In each special city election the returns therefrom shall be filed with the recorder on or before noon of the day following, and not later than five days after the election, the council shall meet and canvass the returns. The results of all elections shall be made a matter of record in the journal of the proceedings of the council. The journal 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 he has been elected, and a reference to each measure enacted or approved. Immediately after the canvass is completed, the recorder shall make and sign a certificate of election of each person elected and deliver the certificate to him within one day after the canvass. A certificate so made and delivered shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of the statements contained in it.

In the event of a tie vote for candidates for an elective office, the successful candidate shall be determined by a public drawing of lots in a manner described by the council.

The term of office of a person elected at a regular city election shall commence the first of the year immediately following the election.

Before entering upon the duties of his or her office, each officer shall take an oath or shall affirm that he or she will support the constitutions and laws of the United States and of Oregon and that he or she will perform the duties of his or her office.

A qualified elector who has resided in the city during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the election, and has maintained such domicile within the City of Carlton during such preceding twelve months as his or her primary place of abode, may be nominated for an elective city position. Nomination shall be by petition specifying the position sought in a form prescribed by the council. Such petition shall be signed by not fewer than 20 electors, or as may otherwise be specified by applicable laws. No elector shall sign more than one petition for each vacant position. If he or she does so, his or her signature shall be valid only on the first sufficient petition filed for the position. The signatures to a nomination petition need not all be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper of the petition shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, indicating the number of signers of the paper and stating that each signature appended thereto was made in his or her presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. With each signature shall be stated the signer’s place of residence, identified by its street and number or other sufficient description. All nomination papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and filed with the recorder as one instrument not earlier than 90 nor later than 30 days before the election. 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 is filed. If the petition is not signed by the required number of qualified electors, the recorder shall notify the candidate and the person who filed the petition within 5 days after the filing. If the petition is insufficient in any other particular, the recorder shall return it immediately to the person who filed it, 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 for the same candidate may be filed, within the regular time for filing nomination petitions. The recorder shall notify an eligible person of his or her nomination, and such person shall file with the recorder his or her written acceptance of his or her nomination, in such form as the council may require, 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 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.