JAMES M. DAVIS MAYOR CITY OF BAYONNE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK MUNICIPAL BUILDING 630 AVENUE C BAYONNE, NJ 07002 TEL: (201) 858-6029 FAX: (201) 823-4391 CITY OF BAYONNE MUNICIPAL ELECTION MAY 8, 2018 ROBERT F. SLOAN, RMC/CMC CITY CLERK MEMORANDUM OF INSTRUCTIONS TO: ALL CANDIDATES AND CAMPAIGN MANAGERS This memorandum of instructions accompanies the documents which, when properly signed and filed, will authorize placement of the candidate's name on the ballot for the to be held Tuesday, May 8, 2018. These instructions are intended as a guide and you will remain responsible for compliance with all applicable requirements of Title 19 (Elections), and Title 40, Chapters 69A (Faulkner Act) and 45 (Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law) of the New Jersey Statutes, along with any other applicable laws, including campaign reporting requirements. I. CONTENTS OF DOCUMENT PACKAGE The following are included in the documents package. Those papers which are to be filled out and returned must be filed together. Papers not required to be filed may be retained by you. 1. Petition of Nomination - Certificates Total number enclosed: Mayor and At Large - 650 (approximate) Ward Council 250 (approximate) 2. Certificate of Appointment of Campaign Manager and Acceptance of Appointment by Campaign Manager. 3. Affidavit of Candidate and Campaign Manager. 4. Request for Ballot Designation. 5. Request for Grouping. (For candidates running together.) Council At Large packages only.
Page 2 6. Description of Ward Boundaries - Candidates for Ward Council Member only. Simply stated, the First Ward includes the area from the south side of 16 th Street between Newark Bay and Kennedy Boulevard, and from the south side of 17 th Street between Kennedy Boulevard and Constable Hook, in a southerly direction to and including First Street; the Second Ward includes the area from the north side of 16 th Street between Newark Bay and Kennedy Boulevard and the north side of 17 th Street between Kennedy Boulevard and Constable Hook to and including the south side of 32 nd Street; the Third Ward includes the area from the north side of 32 nd Street to the City Line. 7. 2018 May Municipal Non-Partisan Election Timeline 8. A Compliance Manual Request Form from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. 9. Petition Package Checklist II. QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES Candidates for election to municipal office must be registered voters in the City of Bayonne. Candidates for Mayor and Council Member at Large must be residents of the City of Bayonne for at least one year. Candidates for Ward Council Member must be residents of the ward in which they intend to seek election and must have been so for at least one year. (Following election, ward council members must continue to reside within the ward in which they were elected or they will forfeit their office.) Being a resident means having occupied the candidate's primary address, his or her domicile. III. ELECTION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS All candidates are required to comply with the registration and reporting requirements of the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act, which is enforced by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). Candidates and their supporters should be advised that registration and reporting requirements may be effective as soon as any campaign funds are raised or any money is spent or services accepted on behalf of the campaign. Additional information can be obtained from: New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission
Page 3 28 West State Street P.O. Box 185 Trenton, NJ 08608-0185 Telephone: 1-609-292-8700 Website: www.elec.state.nj.us. A Compliance Manual Request Form from the Election Law Enforcement Commission is included. The city clerk is obligated to report the names and addresses of all candidates filing nominating petitions to the commission. NOTICE: ALL CANDIDATES ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES ACT. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL THE ELECTION LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION AT (609) 292-8700 OR VISIT THEIR WEBSITE AT www.elec.state.nj.us. IV. NOMINATING PETITION REQUIREMENTS The nominating petition consists of separate certificates, a supply of which accompanies this memorandum. You have been furnished with approximately double the number of signed certificates needed. You may make copies of a nominating certificate if you think you need more than you have been furnished. Copies may be made on plain white paper. The color of the paper of the petition forms furnished by this office is for our convenience in identifying the office sought. Please do not request additional certificates or have someone pick up an additional candidate package. You can expect to have some of the certificates rejected, usually because the person signing is not a registered voter. Each certificate must be signed by a registered voter. Please note that each nominating petition certificate is printed in both English and Spanish. Each certificate may only be signed by ONE voter. Do NOT have different voters sign the same certificate, even if one is a Spanish speaking voter. It is your responsibility to make sure signers of your nominating petition certificates are registered voters, that their signature will compare with the signature on file with their voting registration, and that all other requirements are met. The name and address of the voter must be included. CERTIFICATES FOR WARD COUNCIL MEMBER MAY ONLY BE SIGNED BY VOTERS WHO ARE RESIDENTS OF THE WARD IN WHICH THE CANDIDATE IS SEEKING OFFICE. Each certificate must have the name and address of the candidate filled in. It is a violation of the election laws to have a voter sign a nominating petition certificate without the candidate s name filled in. Please note that voters are allowed to sign nominating petition certificates for only one candidate for each office to be filled. A voter can, therefore, sign one certificate
Page 4 for a candidate for Mayor, one for a Candidate for Ward Council Member in the ward in which they live, and two for candidates for Council Member at Large. If a voter signs more certificates than he or she is permitted, all such certificates signed by the voter are rendered invalid. Claiming that a voter signed a particular certificate before he or she signed a certificate for a competing candidate will not prevent both certificates from being rejected. The deadline for filing the certificates and other documents constituting the nominating petition package is Monday, March 5, 2018 at 4:30 P.M. at the City Clerk's Office, Municipal Building, 630 Avenue C, Bayonne, NJ (NJSA 40:45-8). All petition documents for a particular candidate must be filed together. No additional signatures may be filed after the deadline under any circumstances. Candidates must file valid certificates equal to at least one percent (1%) of the registered voters of the entire city or of the appropriate ward. The number of required signatures will be based on the voter registry as of the General Election of November 8, 2017. The number of required signatures of registered voters is as follows: Mayor - 360 Council Member at Large - 360 Council Member - First Ward - 124 Council Member - Second Ward - 113 Council Member - Third Ward - 123 Nominating petitions will be examined for statutory correctness. All ballots submitted are retained by the City Clerk, who will notify the candidate of any defects. Candidates will have an opportunity to correct defects with the following exceptions: a) after the filing deadline, no new names may be added to the petition papers; b) no corrections to nominating petitions may be made within the last 61 days prior to the election, that is, by March 8, 2018. NJSA 40:45-9(d). See Section VIII, DATES, below. Please note that it can take up to a week or longer to verify signatures. If your petition is deficient because signers to your petitions are not registered voters, you will have very little time in which to correct the deficiency by getting them to register. Therefore, it may be helpful to you to file early. Because of the volume of nominating petition papers and the short time period in which we must examine them, it is appreciated if candidates file their petition papers in advance of the filing deadline.
Page 5 V. BALLOT DESIGNATION s in the City of Bayonne are nonpartisan elections by statute under our form of government. Candidates may request that a ballot designation not to exceed six words be placed on the ballot opposite his or her name. The statutory description of the designation is for the purpose of indicating either an official act or policy to which he is pledged or committed, but the designation shall not indicate political party affiliations. The designation can be the candidate s campaign slogan, motto, name of group of candidates running together, etc. However, designations may not include political party references (Democrat, Republican, Democratic, GOP, etc.) and any designation bearing such references will not be included on the ballot. Ballot designations referring to established organizations must be accompanied by written permission to use the name. The slogan will appear on the ballot as it appears on the Request for Ballot Designation Form. Be sure to print clearly or type the form in upper or lower case (ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or A Combination of Cases) exactly as it should appear on the ballot. UPPER CASE designations are more readily visible and are recommended, but the ballot designation will be published exactly as the candidate submits it, misspellings included. VI. BALLOT GROUPING AND POSITION Because the election is nonpartisan, candidates who run as a group or slate may not be included in the same row or column on the ballot, except if by chance. However, two candidates for Council Member at Large may request that their names be listed on the ballot together in the order requested by them with the same ballot designation. In such cases, the names will appear on the ballot with a bracket indicating that the candidates are seeking election together. The candidates will determine the order in which their names appear on the ballot by filing the Request for Ballot Grouping with their names listed in the order desired. Voters must vote for each candidate individually since each will have his or her own touch space on the voting machine (or box on by-mail, emergency, and provisional ballots.) Ballot positions for all candidates will be determined by a drawing for such position to be held after the determination of which candidates have qualified. All candidates and campaign managers will be notified in writing in advance of the ballot drawing. It is presently anticipated that the ballot will be arranged in a staggered layout so that names of candidates for any office will not appear on the same row or in the same column as the names of candidates for any other office. This is to insure that
Page 6 groups or slates of candidates will not appear in the same row or column. The number of candidates filing for the election may, however, require that the ballot be arranged in a different fashion. VII. ELECTION MAJORITY RUNOFF Candidates for Mayor and Ward Council Member will be elected if they receive a majority of the votes cast for that office. If no candidate receives a majority, the two candidates with the highest vote will be the candidates in a runoff election. In the case of Council Member at Large candidates, if one candidate receives a statutory majority, he or she is elected and the candidate with the next highest total vote is also elected. For Council Member at Large, a majority is determined by taking the number of voters who have voted for at least one candidate for Council Member at Large, dividing by two and adding one. If no candidate for Council Member at Large receives a majority, the four candidates with the highest number of votes received will compete in the runoff. The current electronic voting machines are equipped with a counter to keep a tally of the number of voters who cast at least one vote for Council Member at Large. Half the number of such voters plus one will determine the number needed to get a majority of votes. If the machine fails to calculate the number of voters who voted for a least one council member at large, the number constituting a majority of the votes case shall be computed by adding all the votes cast for each candidate, dividing that total by 4 (twice the number of Council Members at Large to be elected) and then adding 1. NJSA 40:45-18. VIII. DATES The following are some of the dates that should be important to candidates and campaign managers: March 5, 2018 - Last day to file nominating petitions and related documents. March 8, 2018 - Last day to correct deficiencies in nominating petitions as noted by the City Clerk. April 17, 2018 - Last day to register in order to vote at. (Tuesday) April 22, 2018 - Last day to file for challengers. Application is made to the Hudson
Page 7 County Board of Elections. NJSA 19:7-3 May 8, 2018 - Day. May 22, 2018 - Last day to register in order to vote at Runoff Election. (Tuesday) June 12, 2018 - Municipal Runoff Election (if needed.) IX. VOTER REGISTRATION In addition to the regular office hours of 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. in the City Clerk s Office, prospective voters may register to vote, transfer registrations, etc. until 9:00 P.M. on Tuesday April 17, 2018 for the, and until 9:00 P.M. on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 for the Runoff Election. The Hudson County Superintendent of Elections and Commissioner of Registration s Office has also established additional hours and places for voter registration at the County Plaza Building, 257 Cornelison Avenue, Jersey City 07302. Voter registration forms are available for download at the county s website at www.hudsoncountynj.org and the State of New Jersey s website at www.njelections.org. X. VOTE BY MAIL The laws governing absentee ballot voting have been replaced by the Vote By Mail law, NJSA 19:63-1, et seq. Some of the more important provisions of the new law are: No requirements to qualify for a mail-in ballot, such as disability, out of state, or work conflicts. Anyone can vote by mail. Voters can opt to receive all GENERAL (November) Election ballots by mail, and will continue to receive them until they opt out, in writing. Voters can apply for mail-in ballots for a specific election or for all elections in a particular year. ONLY General Election ballots will be sent to voters automatically. Voters must apply for municipal, primary, and school election ballots on a per election basis, unless they ask for all ballots for the SPECIFIC year. Overseas voters can apply and vote by e-mail. There is no longer a distinction between Military and Civilian mail ballots. The same seven day by-mail application rule remains. Within seven days of election day, the voter must apply in person for the mail-in ballot.
Page 8 Messengers picking up and delivering ballots will be limited to TEN voters whom they can assist. The county clerk s staff will enter the messenger s name and number of applications when they deliver them. The computer will flag them at ten. Voters who have signed up for automatic general election ballots who do not use them for FOUR general elections in a row will be notified that they are being taken off the automatic ballot list. PERMANENTLY DISABLED voters who currently receive absentee ballot applications by mail will only receive GENERAL ELECTION ballots automatically by mail. They will have to apply for mail-in ballots for all other elections, either by individual election or on a per year basis. For purposes of the, it is important to note that voters who have signed up as permanently disabled voters will not automatically receive a ballot. They must request a vote by mail ballot for the and any Runoff Election. Copies of the vote by mail application form are available for download on the Hudson County Clerk s website, www.hudsoncountyclerk.org, by clicking on the ELECTIONS tab. XI. OTHER INFORMATION Candidates and campaign managers should contact the Hudson County Board of Elections, Hudson County Plaza, 257 Cornelison Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07302, for information regarding the appointment of challengers for Election Day. Candidates are allowed to designate challengers to be present within the individual polling places, but they are not allowed to conduct electioneering within the polling place or within 100 feet of the entrance to any polling place. NJSA 19:24-15. The Board of Elections telephone number is 201-369-3435. Candidates and campaign managers should be aware that there are a number of legal requirements for the conduct of election campaigns, particularly in terms of campaign advertising, election finance reporting, the conduct of campaigns, and the conduct of election day activities. The state website has a large amount of information that is useful to candidates and voters. Finally, the information contained in this memorandum is intended to be of a general nature and, hopefully, will assist you as a candidate in complying with the applicable election laws. You are urged to seek legal counsel to advise you on any questions you may have regarding the election process. The City Clerk s Office does not advise candidates or their campaigns on legal issues that may arise or on how a campaign can or should be conducted. We do wish you the best of luck in your campaign as you take an active part in one of the most fundamental of the freedoms we enjoy. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in the nomination and election process.
Page 9 Robert F. Sloan City Clerk Enclosures
CITY OF BAYONNE MUNICIPAL ELECTION MAY 8, 2018 APPLICATION FOR NOMINATING PETITIONS TO: Robert F. Sloan City Clerk Municipal Building 630 Avenue C Bayonne, New Jersey 07002 Dear sir: I, the undersigned, hereby request nominating petitions for the following office to be voted for at the in the City of Bayonne, to be held Tuesday, May 13, 2014 (CHECK ONE ONLY): Mayor Council Member(s) at Large Council Member - First Ward Council Member - Second Ward Council Member - Third Ward I am aware that I may file nominating petitions as a candidate for only ONE office. I authorize to pick up my petition package. I acknowledge receipt of a Compliance Manual Request Form from the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission either in person or through my designee. Dated: Signature Print Name OF CANDIDATE Address Telephone Number: Business phone
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