Section 11-46-25 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 any municipal officers, 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 municipal office and every ballot provided for use at any polling place in a municipal election shall contain the names of all candidates who have properly qualified and have not withdrawn, as provided in subsection (g), together with the title of the office for which they are candidates.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). (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 or her 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. (f) The ballot shall be arranged in substantially the following form: For Mayor Vote for One ( ) John Doe ( ) Richard Roe For City Council Place Number One ( ) _____________________ ( ) _____________________ For City Council Place Number Two ( )_____________________ ( ) _____________________ Etc. (g) Upon confirmation from the Alabama Ethics Commission that a candidate has complied with the filing requirements under Section 36-25-15, the clerk shall cause to be printed on the ballots the name of any qualified elector who, by 5:00 P.M. on the fourth Tuesday in June preceding the date set for the election, has filed a statement of candidacy, accompanied by an affidavit taken and certified by an officer authorized to take acknowledgments in this state that the individual is duly qualified to hold the office for which the individual desires to become a candidate. The 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 the county, and reside at _____, in the city (or town); that I have been or will have been on the date of the municipal election a resident of the city (or town) for a period of not less than 90 days; that I desire to become a candidate for the office of _____ in the city (or town) for the term of _____ years at the election for the office to be held on the _____ day of _____ , 2__; that I am presently a qualified elector of the city (or town) of_____; and I hereby request that my name be printed upon the official ballot at the election. ”(Signed) ________________ “Subscribed and sworn to before me by the _____ on this ___ day of ___, 2__ ”(Style of Officer) ________” (h) No names shall be printed upon the ballot as candidates for election except the names of individuals who have become candidates in the manner prescribed in subsection (g) nor may any individual be a candidate or be permitted to file a declaration for more than one place or position in a group of offices of the same name when the offices have been designated by number as authorized in Section 11-46-22. (i) All statements of candidacy filed with the mayor within the time prescribed in subsection (g) shall be preserved for six months after the election for which the 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 the candidate and if electronic voting tabulators are used in the election, the name of the candidate shall be removed from the ballot in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines or instructions. All written notices of withdrawal filed with the mayor shall be preserved for six months after the election.