Registration
The Village of Bingham Farms originally shall consist of one ward and one voting precinct. The Council may from time to time establish by ordinance convenient election precincts.
SECTION 1. The registration and re-registration of electors in the Village of Bingham Farms shall be conducted as provided for in the Constitution and general laws of the State of Michigan.
Nomination
SECTION 2. Candidates for any elective office, to be voted for at any municipal election under the provisions of this Charter, shall be nominated by petition in the manner hereinafter prescribed and the names of such candidates for any office and no others shall be printed on the election ballot to be voted for at the next regular municipal election.
SECTION 3. Such petition for nomination shall be in substantially the following form:
We, the undersigned, being duly qualified electors of the Village of Bingham Farms do hereby request that the name of (name of candidate) be placed on the ballot as a candidate for (name of office) at the election to be held in said Village on the day of , 19 . We further state that we know him to be a qualified elector of said Village and a person of good moral character and qualified in our judgment for the duties of such office.
Names of qualified electors:
It shall be unlawful for any person to sign more than one such nominating petition for the same office, except where two or more candidates are to be elected for the same office, then he may sign as many petitions as there are persons to be elected for said office.
Such petition shall be without any mark or designation showing the party affiliation of the person being so nominated. The person circulating a nominating petition shall, before the acceptance of such petition by the Village Clerk, subscribe to the following oath:
State of Michigan
ss.
County of Oakland
being duly sworn deposes and says that he is the circulator of the foregoing petition containing signatures, that the signatures appended thereto were made in his presence and are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be, and that all of said signers are qualified electors of said Village to the best of his knowledge and belief.
Signed
Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 19 .
, Notary Public
Oakland County, Michigan
My commission expires
SECTION 4. All nominating petitions shall be filed with the Village Clerk on or before four p.m. on the sixth Monday prior to any regular or special election at which any officer or officers of the Village is or are to be elected. No person shall be nominated to any office in the Village unless the petition or petitions filed in his behalf for such office have been signed by not less than fifteen (15) qualified electors of the Village. The petition or petitions filed for any candidate shall not contain more than twenty (20) signatures of qualified electors. (Section 4 as amended March 14, 1983)
SECTION 5. The Village Clerk shall forthwith examine the petition or petitions filed for each candidate and if satisfied that the required number of electors have signed the same, he shall endorse thereon the word “APPROVED” with the date of filing the same; but should he find that the petition or petitions for any candidate do not contain the required number of names of the electors as herein provided, he shall immediately notify such candidate of the additional number of names of electors required.
SECTION 6. When the petitions for nomination of any candidate shall be found to contain the required number of names of electors, the Village Clerk shall forthwith notify the persons therein placed in nomination. Any person, desiring to become a candidate for any elective office, shall on or before four p.m. of the fourteenth day prior to such election, file with the Clerk an acceptance of such nomination in substantially the following form:
State of Michigan
ss.
County of Oakland
I, , being first duly sworn, say that I reside in the Village of Bingham Farms, County of Oakland, State of Michigan; that I am a qualified elector therein; that I accept nomination for the office of to be voted upon at the election to be held on the day of , 19 , and that I possess the legal qualifications therefor, and I hereby request that my name be printed upon the official ballot for election to such office.
Signed
Subscribed and sworn to before me, a notary public, on this day of , 19 .
, Notary Public
Oakland County, Michigan
My commission expires
SECTION 7. All such petitions shall be open to public inspection after being filed in the Office of the Village Clerk, in accordance with such reasonable rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by him.
Elections
SECTION 8. Regular municipal elections shall be held for the Village of Bingham Farms on the second Monday in March of each year for the election of officers of said Village in accordance with the provisions of this Charter.
SECTION 9. Special elections may, subject to the general laws of the State, be held at such times as the Council may by resolution determine, the purpose and object of which shall be set forth in the resolution calling such election.
SECTION 10. Notice of the time and place of holding any election and of the officers to be elected and the questions to be voted upon, shall except as herein otherwise provided, be given by the Clerk in the same manner and at the same times as provided in the State election laws for the giving of notices by village clerks in State elections. Such notice of the election shall be posted in three (3) public places in the Village of Bingham Farms, and a copy shall be published in a newspaper in the Village, if any is published therein, at least two weeks prior and not more than four weeks before the election. The affidavit of the Clerk as to such posting and publishing shall be conclusive proof thereof.
SECTION 11. Election ballots shall be printed without any party mark, emblem, vignette, or designation whatever, on plain, substantial paper, and the same shall be printed, numbered, and the names of candidates transposed and alternated, in accordance with the provisions of the general laws of the State regulating the same at elections in this State. Beneath the names printed on the ballots for each office, there shall be printed one or more blank lines according to the number to be elected to such office, with squares to the left thereof, so that the elector may write or paste thereon the names of any person other than those printed thereon, and to vote for such person by placing a cross in the square opposite his name.
SECTION 12. The ballot for officers shall be in substantially the following form:
OFFICIAL BALLOT
Candidates for election to the Village offices of (naming offices to be filled) of the Village of Bingham Farms at the election held on the day of , 19 .
(Place a cross in the square opposite the names of the persons for whom you desire to vote.)
FOR PRESIDENT
Vote for One
(Here list the names of candidates with a square at the left of each name.)
FOR TRUSTEES
Vote for (designate the number of Commissioners to be elected)
(Here list the names of candidates with a square at the left of each name.)
SECTION 13. The Village Clerk shall prepare all ballots for printing and copies of all ballots shall be on file in the office of the Clerk at least ten (10) days before the election. The Clerk shall cause to be delivered at each polling place prior to the time of the opening of the polls a number of ballots equal to at least one and one-fourth (1-¼) times the registered electors in such polling precinct, and also all supplies, stationery, books, blanks and accessories necessary for the conduct of elections.
SECTION 14. Immediately upon the closing of the polls the Board of Election Inspectors shall count the ballots and ascertain the number of votes cast for each of the candidates and upon each of the questions and propositions voted upon and shall make immediate returns thereof to the Village Clerk upon blanks to be furnished by the Village Clerk.
SECTION 15. A recount of the votes cast at any Village election for any office or upon any proposition may be had in accordance with the general election laws of the State.
SECTION 16. The person receiving the highest number of votes for any office shall be deemed to have been duly elected to that office. If more than one person is to be elected to any office, then the persons, equal in number to the number to be elected to that office receiving the highest number of votes for that office, shall be deemed to have been duly elected to that office. (Section 16 as amended September 13, 2005)
SECTION 17. If any person shall make a false oath or affidavit in connection with any matter required by this Chapter or shall violate any provision of this Chapter or shall knowingly neglect or refuse to perform any duty herein prescribed, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished as in this Charter provided.
SECTION 18. The inhabitants of the Village, having the qualifications of electors under the Constitution and general laws of the State and no others, shall be electors therein. Every elector of the Village who is registered in the Village registration book in accordance with the general laws of the State shall be entitled to vote at any election held under the provisions of this Charter.
SECTION 19. The polls for all municipal elections shall be open at 7:00 a.m. of election day and remain open until 8:00 p.m. of said day.
SECTION 20. The Council shall provide all necessary voting booths, equipment, ballot boxes and supplies for the conduct of all elections.
SECTION 21. The general election laws of the State when applicable shall apply to all regular and special Village elections, in relation to polling places and their equipment, inspectors and clerks of election and their appointment, powers and duties, the powers and duties of all Village officers, the conduct of elections and the manner of voting, assisted voters, absent voters, election returns, canvass by precinct inspectors, recounts and correction of frauds and errors in return, and in general to all election matters whether the same be herein specifically enumerated or not; provided, however, that when there is a conflict between such general laws and this Charter, then the provisions of the general laws of the State shall control. (Section 21 as amended November 6, 2018)
SECTION 22. Inspectors and clerks of election shall be appointed by the Village Council and shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by the Council.
SECTION 23. The Village Council shall have power, and it shall be their duty to remove any inspector or clerk of election if in their judgment such inspector or clerk should be removed for the proper and efficient conduct of the election; to fill any vacancy in the office of inspector or clerk of election; and in general to perform such acts as election commissions in villages are authorized to perform.
SECTION 24. If at any election of municipal officers there shall be no choice between candidates by reason of two or more candidates having received an equal number of votes, then the Commission shall appoint a date for the appearance of such persons as have received tie votes, for the purpose of determining by lot among such persons the right to such office, and shall cause notice thereof to be given to all such persons interested, if such persons can be found. The manner of determining by lot shall be the same as provided by the general laws of the State for such determination in case of a tie vote for a County officer. In no case, however, shall the election of any person be determined by lot without first a recount of the votes cast at such election, if one of the persons receiving such tie vote shall demand such a recount.
SECTION 25. No informalities in conducting a municipal election shall invalidate the same if such election shall be conducted in substantial conformity with the requirements of this Charter.