By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Those wanting to register to run for a city position on the Nephi City Council need to do so between July 1 and July 15.
Up for election are two council seats and the position of mayor.
Blair Painter, city recorder, reviewed Utah Code 20A-9-203 with the Nephi City Council. That code deals with declarations of candidacy for municipal general elections.
“A candidate seeking office must be a U.S. citizen,” said Painter.
Under the law, he said, a person may become a candidate for any municipal office if: the person is a registered voter; and the person has resided within the municipality in which that person seeks to hold elective office for the 12 consecutive months immediately before the date of the election; or if the territory in which the person resides was annexed into the municipality, the person has resided within the annexed territory or the municipality the 12 consecutive months immediately before the date of the election.
In other words, he said, in a municipality that was incorporated less than 12 months before the election, the municipality will be considered to have been incorporated 12 months before the date of the election.
In accordance with Utah Constitution Article IV, Section 6, any mentally incompetent person, any person convicted of a felony, or any person convicted of treason or a crime against the elective franchise may not hold office in this state until the right to hold elective office is restored under Section 20A-2-101.5.
“Oddly enough, you can run for an office if you are a convicted felon but, if you win, you cannot be sworn-in,” said Painter.
Each person seeking to become a candidate for a municipal office needs to: file a declaration of candidacy, in person with the city recorder or town clerk, during office hours and not later than 5 p.m. between July 1 and July 15 of any odd numbered year; and pay the filing fee, if one is required by municipal ordinance.
“Registered voters” means the number of persons registered to vote in the municipality on the January 1 of the municipal election year.
“If there are several people who sign up for a seat,” said Painter, “a primary election will be held to determine which of them will run in the general election.”
That primary would be held on August 15 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“The top four vote getters would run for a council seat and the two top voter getters for the position of mayor would run for that position,” he said.
Candidates must also agree to run a fair campaign.
“We talked about changing the method of voting in the city but the deadline passed without our doing anything so we will not have a partisan election,” said Painter.
Non-partisan means that the elected local government officials do not run as members of a political party but they are not barred from being a member of a political party.
Political parties make nominations for candidates for elections in a partisan election. Non-partisan elections allow any qualified person to run for office.
In a non-partisan election, such as the one held in Nephi, at the local level, there are always some people who are not strong party leaders nor party supporters but who are educated, respectable and capable.
If local government elections were partisan, such people might not get an opportunity to compete for office. Allowing non-partisan elections allows candidates who want the job to run for office and may change the quality of local government for the better.
