(a) Every person who becomes a candidate for election to the office of City Council of the City of Clarksburg or member of the Water Board (including write-in candidates), shall at the time of filing the certificate of announcement, pay a filing fee of $50.00.
(b) A candidate seeking election to the office of City Council or member of the Water Board who is unable to pay the filing fee may qualify through the following petition process in lieu of payment of the filing fee.
(1) The candidate shall file an oath with the City Clerk in the office of the City Clerk, Municipal Building, Clarksburg, West Virginia stating that he/she is unable to pay the filing fee due to lack of financial resources.
(2) Upon receipt of the written oath, the City Clerk shall provide the candidate with in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition forms and instructions on gathering the required signatures. The number of required signatures shall be four registered voters for each whole dollar of the filing fee: provided, that the filing fee shall be waived in whole and not in part. Only signatures of registered voters of the City may be solicited. Solicitors of signatures shall also be residents of the City.
(3) No registered voter forfeits his or her opportunity to vote in the election by signing an in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition.
(4) The candidate may submit a greater number of signatures to allow for subsequent losses due to invalidity of some signatures. However, the City Clerk is not required to determine the validity of a greater number of signatures than that required.
(5) The candidate shall file all in-lieu-of-filing-fee petitions with the required number of valid signatures with the City Clerk not later than the last day required by Section 38 of the Charter for filing certificate of announcements and payment of the filing fee.
(Ord. 95-4. Passed 2-3-95.)