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(a) No person shall be eligible as a candidate for member of council, Place 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14, unless the person is at the time a bona fide resident of District 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14, respectively, has resided continuously in Texas for 12 months, and has resided within the district in which the person is a candidate for a period of at least six months prior to the date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate’s application for a place on the ballot. Any person elected to a place representing a district must continuously reside in the district during that person's term of office. A candidate for member of council, Place 15, may be a resident of any portion of the city, must have resided continuously in the city for a period of at least six months and continuously in Texas for 12 months prior to the date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate’s application for a place on the ballot, and must continuously reside within the city during the person’s term of office.
(b) If the district in which a person will have resided for at least six months prior to the date of an election will change because of the relocation of a district boundary, the person is eligible to become a candidate:
(1) for the new district assigned to the person’s residence; or
(2) for the previous district of the person’s residence if the person moves to a residence within the revised boundaries of that district prior to becoming a candidate for election.
(c) No person may appear on the official ballot as a candidate for a place on the city council unless that person files with the city secretary a signed, sworn, and dated affidavit certifying compliance with the residency requirements of this section, except that a sworn application for a place on the ballot filed with the city secretary in accordance with the Texas Election Code will satisfy the requirements of this paragraph. (Amend. of 4-3-76, Prop. No. 1; Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 1; Amend. of 5-1-93, Prop. No. 1; Amend. of 11-5-24)
A person desiring to become a candidate for the city council shall file with the city secretary, within the time required by the Texas Election Code, as amended, an application for a place on the ballot and a petition signed by qualified voters of the city eligible to vote for the candidate equal in number to the minimum number of signatures required for a candidate petition by the Texas Election Code, as amended. Each application and petition must comply in form, content, and procedure with the Texas Election Code, as amended. (Amend. of 6-12-73, Prop. No. 11; Amend. of 4-2-83, Prop. No. 2; Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 1; Amend. of 5-1-93, Prop. No. 6)
The places on the official ballot shall be designated as “Member of Council, Place No. ,” designating the place numbers for which the voters in each district are eligible to vote, with Place 15 designated as mayor and being the first in order and the others being in numerical order, and the candidate’s name shall appear in the place for which the candidate’s petition and application were filed. The city secretary shall make up the official ballot from the names presented to the city secretary in the manner required by this Charter. The order in which the names of the candidates for each place must appear on the ballot will be determined by lot, in a drawing held under the supervision of the city secretary. (Amend. of 4-3-76, Prop. No. 1; Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 1; Amend. of 5-1-93, Prop. No. 6)
If no candidate for a particular office receives a majority of the votes cast for all candidates for that office in the first election, a runoff election for that office is required. Candidates in the runoff election will be listed on the ballot in the order of their standing in the first election. If two candidates tie in the number of votes received in the first election, they shall cast lots to determine the order in which their names will be listed on the runoff ballot. The runoff election will be conducted in accordance with the Texas Election Code, as amended. (Amend. of 4-2-83, Prop. No. 4; Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 5; Amend. of 5-1-93, Prop. No. 6)
(a) To be valid, a petition submitted for the purpose of complying with an election process must comply with the Texas Election Code, as amended.
(b) Every person circulating a petition or page of a petition, other than a petition to place a candidate’s name on the ballot, shall file with the city secretary an affidavit containing the person’s name and address and a statement that:
(1) the person circulated the petition;
(2) the purpose was explained to each signer;
(3) each signer freely provided all information required;
(4) all statements contained in the petition are true; and
(5) the person witnessed the affixing of each signature on the petition.
(Amend. of 4-2-83, Prop. No. 2; Amend. of 5-1-93, Prop. No. 6)