Delaware General Assembly

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DOVER RELATED TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL.

The council shall be the legislative body of the city and composed of nine members nominated and elected as herein provided.

In order that the members of council shall be distributed over the city, the city shall be divided into four election districts, the district boundaries of which shall be established by council so that the districts are nearly equal in population as shown by the most recent federal decennial census. The district boundaries established for municipal elections shall continue in effect until the next succeeding federal decennial census is made available for use by municipalities in the State of Delaware, at which time council shall redistrict the city so that the districts shall be nearly equal in population in accordance with said census, which redistricting shall be used for the next regular municipal election, which procedure shall be followed by council after each succeeding federal decennial census in this manner so that the districts shall be maintained as nearly equal in population as possible at all times.

The term of mayor shall be for a period of two (2) years commencing on the second Monday in May following their election and continuing for a term of two years until the second Monday in May or until their successor has been duly elected and qualified.

The term of the councilmen shall be for two(2) years. In each regular municipal election held in an odd numbered year, five councilmen shall be elected, four by district voting being from the

districts and one at-large as stated herein. In each regular municipal election held in an even numbered year, four councilmen shall be elected by district voting from each of the districts of the city.

At the regular municipal election held in April of 2012, the mayor shall be elected at-large. The term of mayor elected at the April 2012 regular municipal election shall be for a period of three years, commencing on the second Monday in May following his/her election and continuing for a term of three years until the second Monday in May 2015, or until his/her successor has been duly elected and qualified.

Thereafter, commencing with the regular municipal election to be held in April of 2015, the term of mayor shall be for a period of four years commencing on the second Monday in May following his/her election and continuing for a term of four years until the second Monday in May, or until his/her successor has been duly elected and qualified.

At the regular municipal election held in April of 2012, four councilmen shall be elected by district voting from each of the districts of the city. The term of the councilmen elected at the April 2012 regular municipal election shall be for three years, commencing on the second Monday in May following their election and continuing for a term of three years until the second Monday in May 2015, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified.

At the regular municipal election held in April of 2013, five councilmen shall be elected, four by district voting being from the districts and one at-large. The term of the councilmen elected at the April 2013 regular municipal election shall be for a period of four years, commencing on the second Monday in May following their election and continuing for a period of four years until the second Monday in May, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified.

Thereafter, commencing with the regular municipal election to be held in April of 2013, the terms of the councilmen shall be for a period of four years, commencing on the second Monday in May following their election and continuing for a term of four years until the second Monday in May, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. The mayor and at-large councilman shall be elected at alternating biennial regular municipal elections.

In order to be eligible to be elected as mayor or as a member of council, the person must as of the date of the election be:

(2) A resident of the city and having continuously resided therein or in an area annexed to the city during the two years next preceding the day of the election;

(3) A resident of the election district from which they are seeking election, unless they are seeking election as an at-large councilman or mayor;

(5) Nominated therefore, as hereinafter provided.

Holding Other Office. Except where authorized by law, no council members shall hold any other elected public office during the term for which the member was elected to the council. No council member shall hold any other city office or employment during the term for which the member was elected to the council. No former council members shall hold any compensated appointive office or employment with the city until one year after the expiration of the term for which the member was elected to the council, unless granted a waiver by the Board of Ethics (Ethics Commission).

At the regular municipal election held on the third Tuesday in April of any even numbered year, four (4) councilmen shall be elected by district voting from each of the districts as designated by council for a term of two years, and a mayor shall be elected by the voters of the city for a term of two years, as provided in section 5 of this Charter.

Regular municipal elections shall be held each year biennially on the third Tuesday in April. All other municipal elections that may be held shall be known as special municipal elections. At each such municipal election, the polls shall be opened at 7:00 a.m. and closed at 8:00 p.m. The council may designate the places of election and make all necessary rules and regulations not inconsistent with this Charter or with other laws of the State of Delaware for the conduct of elections, for the prevention of fraud in elections, and for the recount of ballots in case of doubt or fraud. At the alternating biennial regular municipal elections held on the third Tuesday in April of any odd numbered year, five councilmen shall be elected for a term of two four years, four of whom shall be elected by district voting from each of the districts as designated by council and one of whom shall be elected by at-large voting by all voters of the city, as provided in section 5 of this Charter. At the next biennial regular municipal election held on the third Tuesday in April of any even numbered year, four councilmen shall be elected by district voting from each of the districts as designated by council for a term of two four years, and a mayor shall be elected by the voters of the city for a term of two four years, as provided in section 5 of this Charter.

Section 3. Amend Section 7 of the Charter of the City of Dover by deleting the text indicated in strikeout and inserting the text indicated in underscore as follows:

The mode of nomination of candidates for the council and for mayor shall be by petition, signed by not less than ten nor more than 25 electors of the city, filed with the clerk of council on or before 4:30 p.m. on the second Friday of February of each year biennially for candidates for council and on or before 4:30 p.m. on the last working day in January biennially for candidates for mayor in the years when a mayor is to be elected. Should the second Friday of February fall on a legal holiday, the filing date shall be 4:30 p.m. on the next working day thereafter which is not a legal holiday.

Whenever a petition nominating a person for the office of mayor or councilman shall have been filed as above prescribed, the name of such person shall be printed on the ballot for the regular biennial municipal election as a candidate for the office for which they were nominated, provided they possess the qualifications prescribed by this Charter for a candidate for such office.

No nominating petition shall designate more than one person to be voted for as a member of council or as mayor. The signers of a nominating petition for a member of the council must be electors of the city residing in the city election district in which the nominee resides; but the signers to the nominating petition for the mayor and for the at-large councilman may be city electors residing in the city at-large. There must be attached to each nominating petition an affidavit of the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers and that each signature appended thereto was made in their presence, and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that all of said signers are entitled to vote at the regular municipal election referred to; and, in the case of a petition nominating a candidate for councilman running from a particular district and to be elected by district voting, that the circulator of the petition verily believes that each signer of said petition is a resident of the same city election district in which the nominee resides. With each signature shall be stated the place of residence of the signer, giving the street and number or other description sufficient to identify the same. The form of the nominating petition shall be substantially as follows:

We, the undersigned, electors of the City of Dover, hereby nominate ____________, who resides in the ____________ City District of the said City of Dover, for the office of Councilman (or for the office of Mayor as the case may be) to be voted for at the regular municipal election to be held in the said City, on the _____________ day of __________ in the year ____________; and we individually certify that we are qualified to vote for a candidate for the office named, and that we have not signed any other nominating petition for that office, and that our places of residences are truly stated after our signatures.

__________________ being duly sworn (or affirmed) deposes and says that they were the circulator of the foregoing petition paper containing signatures, and that the signatures appended thereto were made in his/her presence, and are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be, and that they verily believe the residence of each signer thereof to be truly stated, and that all of said signers are entitled to vote at the regular municipal election referred to in said paper; and, in case the petition is nominating a candidate for councilman to be elected from a specific district by district voting, that each signer of said petition is a resident of the same city election district in which the nominee resides.