Sec. 4. Terms of mayor and councilmen staggered.

The incumbents of said offices shall serve their respective elected terms and, in addition thereto, the mayor and three (3) councilmen having terms expiring on the first Monday of May, 1961, shall be continued in office until the first Monday in December, 1961, and the three (3) councilmen having terms expiring on the first Monday of May, 1962, shall be continued in office until the first Monday of December, 1962, Anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding:

   (a)   In 1961 there shall be elected a mayor and three (3) councilmen for a term of two (2) years, which terms shall expire at 10:00 a.m. on the first Monday in December, 1963;

   (b)   In 1962 there shall be elected three (3) councilmen for a term of three (3) years, which terms shall expire at 10:00 a.m. on the first Monday in December, 1965;

   (c)   In the year 1963 when the said terms provided in (a) hereof shall expire there shall be held elections under the provisions of this chapter at which there shall be elected a mayor and three (3) councilmen to fill the offices expiring on the first Monday in December, 1963; and

   (d)   In the year 1965 when the said terms provided in (b) hereof shall expire there shall be held elections under the provisions of this chapter at which there shall be elected three (3) councilmen to fill the offices expiring on the first Monday in December, 1965. Thereafter there shall be held primary and general elections quadrennially for such offices.

(Ord. No. 2080, eff. 11-10-60)

Sec. 5. Qualifications for candidates for mayor and councilmen.

Candidates for the office of mayor and councilman [councilmen] of the city shall be duly qualified electors under the laws of the State of Arizona and under the provisions of this Charter, and shall have resided within, and have been a qualified elector of, the City of Tucson for not less than three (3) years immediately prior to becoming a candidate, except that time of residence in any area and being a qualified elector thereof shall be counted as residence and electoral qualifications within the City of Tucson one (1) year after said area becomes annexed to the city. Any candidate for councilman shall have resided in his respective ward or annexed area at least one (1) year prior to his becoming a candidate, unless such residence has been shortened by the redistricting of the city as to wards.

(Ord. No. 1640, eff. 5-16-56)

   Cross References: Mayor and councilmen holding other offices prohibited, ch. XVIII, § 1.

Sec. 6. General conduct and control of elections; sample ballots and instructions authorized.

The conducting and carrying on of all city elections shall be under the control of the mayor and council, and they shall, by ordinance, subject to the provisions of this Charter, provide for the holding of all municipal elections. Sample ballots and instructions to voters may be sent out to the registered electors entitled to a vote at any municipal election, but the sending out of said ballots and instructions shall not be necessary, and no notice of any such election, other than the publication of the ordinance calling and providing for the same, shall be necessary.

Sec. 7. Applicability of general laws; duties of mayor and council and clerk.

The provisions of the general laws of the State of Arizona, governing the elections of state and county officers, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, shall govern the said elections, in matters for which no provision is made in this Charter, or by ordinance, and the mayor and council and clerk, respectively, shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed by such laws on the board of supervisors and clerks of counties concerning elections.

   State Law References: Elections and electors generally, A.R.S. title 16.

Sec. 8. City to be divided into wards; redistricting.

The city shall be divided into six (6) wards, each ward containing, as nearly as possible, the same total population. Beginning with the year 2000, and quadrennially thereafter, and, in addition, during the second year following the year of any decennial United States census, the mayor and council may, if necessary to equalize the total population contained in the said wards, one with another, redistrict the said city as to the said wards, and said redistricting shall be done between the first day of October and the thirty-first day of December of said years.

(Ord. No. 8947, § 1, 9-2-97)

   Editors Note: Added as a result of a Charter Amendment Special Election held November 4, 1997. This amendment became effective on December 9, 1997.

Sec. 8.1. Redistricting advisory committee.

In any year in which redistricting of the city's wards is permitted under this Charter, or whenever redistricting is otherwise mandated by law, the mayor and council shall establish a Redistricting Advisory Committee, which shall make written recommendations regarding the redistricting of wards. The formation, term and activities of the Committee shall be regulated by ordinance.

No redistricting of the city's wards shall occur prior to the consideration by the mayor and council of the Redistricting Advisory Committee's written recommendations.

No redistricting plan shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring any political party or person, nor for the purpose of diluting the voting strength of any racial or ethnic minority group. To the extent reasonably practicable, wards shall be equal in population and shall be contiguous and compact.

(Ord. No. 8118, eff. 9-7-93)

Sec. 9. Mayor nominated and elected at large; councilmen nominated from wards, elected at large.

Beginning in the year 1930, and continuing thereafter, the mayor shall be nominated from and elected by the voters of the city at large, and the councilmen shall be nominated each from, and by the respective voters of, the ward in which he resides, and shall be elected by the voters of the city at large.