§11-46-96. Ballots; statements of candidacy; withdrawal of candidacy.

(a) In all municipal elections on any subject which may be submitted by law to a vote of the people of the municipality and for commissioners, if paper ballots are used the voting shall be by official ballot printed and distributed as provided in subsections (c) and (d) and no ballot shall be received or counted in any election unless it is provided as prescribed by law.

(b) There shall be but one form of ballot for all the candidates for the board of commissioners, and every ballot provided for use at any polling place in a municipal election shall contain the names of all candidates for any position to be filled at such election who have properly qualified and have not withdrawn, as provided in subsection (g) of this section, together with the number of the position for which they are candidates.

(c) All ballots shall be printed in black ink on clear book paper. At the bottom of each ballot and at a point an equal distance from the sides thereof there shall be printed a one-inch square in which the number of the ballot shall be placed by the inspector when the ballot is cast. The arrangement of the ballot shall in general conform substantially to the plan given in subsection (f) of this section.

(d) Ballots shall be fastened together in convenient numbers in books or blocks in such manner that each ballot may be detached and removed separately and each ballot shall have attached to it a stub of sufficient size to enable one of the inspectors to write or stamp his name or initials thereon and so attached to the ballot that when the same is folded the stub can be detached therefrom without injury to the ballot or exposing the contents thereof.

(e) Absentee ballots shall be in the form prescribed for absentee ballots by Title 17 of this Code.

(f) The ballot shall be arranged in substantially the following form:

________________________
________________________
For Commissioner No. 1
(Vote for one)
( ) John Doe
( ) Richard Roe
( ) James Jones
( ) etc.
________________________
For Commissioner No. 2
(Vote for one)
________________________
( ) Sam Johnson
( ) William Barnes
( ) etc.
________________________
For Commissioner No. 3
(Vote for one)
________________________
( ) J. W. Smith
( ) Carl Williams
( ) etc.
________________________
________________________

(g) The mayor or other chief executive officer of the municipality shall cause to be printed on the ballots the name of any qualified elector who has, by 5:00 P.M. on the third Tuesday in July preceding the date set for the election, filed a statement of candidacy accompanied by an affidavit taken and certified by an officer authorized to take acknowledgments in this state that such person is duly qualified to hold the office for which he desires to become a candidate. Such statement shall be substantially in the following form: "State of Alabama, _____ County. I, the undersigned, being first duly sworn, depose and say that I am a citizen of the city (or town) of _____, in said county, and reside at _____ in said city (or town); that I have been or will have been on the date of the municipal election a resident of said city (or town) for a period of not less than 90 days; that I desire to become a candidate for Place No. _____ on the board of commissioners of said city (or town) for the term of _____ years at the election of such office to be held on the _____ day of _____, 2__; that I am duly qualified or will be so qualified to hold said office if elected thereto and I hereby request that my name be printed upon the official ballot at said election. (signed) _____ Subscribed and sworn to before me by said _____ on this the _____ day of _____, 2__.

_____ (Style of officer.)"

(h) No name shall be printed upon the ballot as a candidate for election except the names of such persons as become candidates in the manner prescribed in subsection (g) of this section nor may any person be a candidate or be permitted to file his declaration for more than one place or position on the board of commissioners.

(i) All statements of candidacy filed with the mayor or other chief executive officer of the city or town within the time prescribed in subsection (g) of this section shall be preserved for six months after the election for which such statements of candidacy were filed.

(j) Any candidate may withdraw as a candidate by giving written notice to the mayor, at any time, prior to the date of the election. If a candidate withdraws, as herein provided, the election officials shall, if paper ballots are used in the election, draw a line in ink through the name of such candidate; the election officials shall, if voting machines are used in the election, paste or otherwise secure a strip of white paper over the name of such candidate.

All written notices of withdrawal filed with the mayor shall be preserved for six months after the election.

(Acts 1961, No. 664, p. 868, §7; Acts 1976, No. 361, p. 426, §4; Acts 1980, No. 80-93, p. 132, §2; Acts 1982, No. 82-459, p. 724, §4; Acts 1987, No. 87-583, p. 945, §3.)