Nominations for elective offices of the Municipality shall be made only by petition, signed by registered electors of the Municipality in number not less than prescribed by the general election laws of the State of Ohio, and shall contain no party marks or designation. There shall be a primary election held whereby the candidates for any office shall file a petition in accordance with the provisions of this Charter and the general laws of the State of Ohio. The number of candidates for any office at any regular Municipal election in the City at large, or in each ward, as the case may be, shall be the two (2) candidates on the primary election ballot receiving the highest number of votes at the primary election. In case there shall not be for any office more than two (2) persons who shall have filed petitions as provided for in this Charter, then said persons shall be the candidates at the regular election and the primary for the particular office shall not be held. The name of each person who is nominated in compliance herewith shall be printed on the official ballot at the general election and the names of no other candidate shall be printed thereon. (In no case shall any elector cast more than one vote for any elective office at any one election.)
If a citizen who has filed his nomination petition properly for any of the elective offices shall become disqualified from holding office or die between (a) the last day for filing nomination petitions and (b) the day of election, then the County Board of Elections shall make provision on the day of election to fill the office for which he was a candidate, so that the electors may vote for a write-in candidate for the office for which he was a candidate.
Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the general laws of Ohio shall govern the nomination and election of elective officers of the Municipality.
(Amended 11-2-82)