20A-9-404 - Municipal primary elections.
20A-9-404. Municipal primary elections.
(1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, candidates for municipal office in allmunicipalities shall be nominated at a municipal primary election.
(b) Municipal primary elections shall be held:
(i) consistent with Section 20A-1-201.5, on the second Tuesday following the firstMonday in the September before the regular municipal election; and
(ii) whenever possible, at the same polling places as the regular municipal election.
(2) If the number of candidates for a particular municipal office does not exceed twicethe number of persons needed to fill that office, a primary election for that office may not be heldand the candidates are considered nominated.
(3) (a) For purposes of this Subsection (3), "convention" means an organized assembly ofvoters or delegates.
(b) (i) By ordinance adopted before the June 1 that falls before a regular municipalelection, any third, fourth, or fifth class city or town may exempt itself from a primary election byproviding that the nomination of candidates for municipal office to be voted upon at a municipalelection be nominated by a political party convention or committee.
(ii) Any primary election exemption ordinance adopted under the authority of thissubsection remains in effect until repealed by ordinance.
(c) (i) A convention or committee may not nominate more than one group of candidatesor have placed on the ballot more than one group of candidates for the municipal offices to bevoted upon at the municipal election.
(ii) A convention or committee may nominate a person who has been nominated by adifferent convention or committee.
(iii) A political party may not have more than one group of candidates placed upon theballot and may not group the same candidates on different tickets by the same party under adifferent name or emblem.
(d) (i) The convention or committee shall prepare a certificate of nomination for eachperson nominated.
(ii) The certificate of nomination shall:
(A) contain the name of the office for which each person is nominated, the name, postoffice address, and, if in a city, the street number of residence and place of business, if any, ofeach person nominated;
(B) designate in not more than five words the political party that the convention orcommittee represents;
(C) contain a copy of the resolution passed at the convention that authorized thecommittee to make the nomination;
(D) contain a statement certifying that the name of the candidate nominated by thepolitical party will not appear on the ballot as a candidate for any other political party;
(E) be signed by the presiding officer and secretary of the convention or committee; and
(F) contain a statement identifying the residence and post office address of the presidingofficer and secretary and certifying that the presiding officer and secretary were officers of theconvention or committee and that the certificates are true to the best of their knowledge andbelief.
(iii) Certificates of nomination shall be filed with the clerk not later than the sixthTuesday before the November municipal election.
(e) A committee appointed at a convention, if authorized by an enabling resolution, mayalso make nominations or fill vacancies in nominations made at a convention.
(f) The election ballot shall substantially comply with the form prescribed in Title 20A,Chapter 6, Part 4, Ballot Form Requirements for Municipal Elections, but the party name shall beincluded with the candidate's name.
(4) (a) Any third, fourth, or fifth class city may adopt an ordinance before the June 1 thatfalls before the regular municipal election that:
(i) exempts the city from the other methods of nominating candidates to municipal officeprovided in this section; and
(ii) provides for a partisan primary election method of nominating candidates as providedin this Subsection (4).
(b) (i) Any party that was a registered political party at the last regular general election orregular municipal election is a municipal political party under this section.
(ii) Any political party may qualify as a municipal political party by presenting a petitionto the city recorder that:
(A) is signed by registered voters within the municipality equal to at least 20% of thenumber of votes cast for all candidates for mayor in the last municipal election at which a mayorwas elected;
(B) is filed with the city recorder by the seventh Tuesday before the date of the municipalprimary election;
(C) is substantially similar to the form of the signature sheets described in Section20A-7-303; and
(D) contains the name of the municipal political party using not more than five words.
(c) (i) If the number of candidates for a particular office does not exceed twice thenumber of offices to be filled at the regular municipal election, no partisan primary election forthat office shall be held and the candidates are considered to be nominated.
(ii) If the number of candidates for a particular office exceeds twice the number ofoffices to be filled at the regular municipal election, those candidates for municipal office shallbe nominated at a partisan primary election.
(d) The clerk shall ensure that:
(i) the partisan municipal primary ballot is similar to the ballot forms required bySections 20A-6-401 and 20A-6-401.1;
(ii) the candidates for each municipal political party are listed in one or more columnsunder their party name and emblem;
(iii) the names of candidates of all parties are printed on the same ballot, but under theirparty designation;
(iv) every ballot is folded and perforated so as to separate the candidates of one partyfrom those of the other parties and so as to enable the elector to separate the part of the ballotcontaining the names of the party of his choice from the remainder of the ballot; and
(v) the side edges of all ballots are perforated so that the outside sections of the ballots,when detached, are similar in appearance to inside sections when detached.
(e) After marking a municipal primary ballot, the voter shall:
(i) detach the part of the ballot containing the names of the candidates of the party he hasvoted from the rest of the ballot;
(ii) fold the detached part so that its face is concealed and deposit it in the ballot box; and
(iii) fold the remainder of the ballot containing the names of the candidates of the partiesfor whom the elector did not vote and deposit it in the blank ballot box.
(f) Immediately after the canvass, the election judges shall, without examination, destroythe tickets deposited in the blank ballot box.
Amended by Chapter 256, 2007 General Session