Section 24. Regular Elections. Regular City elections shall be held at the same times and places as biennial general state elections, in accordance with the applicable state election laws.

Section 25. Notice of Regular Elections. The recorder, pursuant to directions from the council, shall give at least 10 days notice to each regular City election by posting notice thereof at a conspicuous place in the City Hall and in one public place in each voting precinct of the City. The notice shall state the officers to be elected at, the ballot title of each measure to be voted upon, and the time and place of the election.

Section 26. Special Election. The council shall provide the times, manner and means for holding any special election. The recorder shall give at least 10 days notice of each special election in the manner provided by the action of the council ordering the election.

Section 27. Regulation of Elections. Except as this charter provides otherwise and as the council provides otherwise and as the council provides otherwise by ordinances relating to elections, the general laws of the state apply to the conduct of all City elections, recounts of the returns therefrom, and contests thereof.

Section 28. Canvass of Returns. In all elections held in conjunction with state and county elections, the state laws governing the filing of returns by the county clerk shall apply. On or before noon of the day following each special City election, the returns therefrom shall be filed with the recorder, and not later than five days after the election the council shall meet and canvass the returns. The results of all elections shall be made a matter of record in the journal of the proceedings of the council, which shall contain a statement of the total number of votes cast at each election, the votes cast for each person and for and against each proposition, the name of each person elected to office, the office to which he has been elected, and a reference to each measure enacted or approved. Immediately after the canvass is completed, the recorder shall make and sign a certificate of election of each person elected and deliver the certificate to him within one day after the canvass. A certificate so made and delivered shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of the statements contained in it, except that the council shall be the final judge of the qualifications and election of its own members, subject, however, to review by any court of competent jurisdiction. In the event of a tie vote for candidates for any elective office, the successful candidate shall be determined by a public drawing of lots in manager prescribed by the council.

Section 29. Commencement of Terms of Office. The term of office of a person elected to an office at a regular City election shall commence the first of the year immediately following the election.

Section 30. Oath of Office. Before entering upon the duties of his office, each officer shall take an oath that he will support the constitutions and laws of the United States and of Oregon and that he will faithfully perform the duties of his office.

Section 31. Nominations. Any qualified elector may be nominated to be a candidate for election to the council, if he has resided in the City for one year immediately preceding the time that his name is submitted to the voters. The name of such an elector shall be printed upon the ballot whenever a petition and a written acceptance of nomination, both in substantially such form as the council prescribes, have been filed in his behalf with the recorder. Such a petition shall be signed by not fewer than 20 electors. No elector shall sign more than one such petition for the same office. If he signs two or more of them for the same office, his signature shall be valid only on the first petition filed. The signatures to a nomination petition need not all be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper of the petition shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, indicating the number of signers of the paper and stating that each signature appended thereto was made in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. With each signature shall be stated the place of residence of the signer, identified by its street and number or other description sufficient to identify it. All nomination papers comprising a petition shall be assemble and filed with the recorder as one instrument not earlier than 90 nor later than 70 days before the election. The recorder shall make a record of the exact time at which each petition is filed and shall take and preserve the name and address of the person by whom it is filed. Within five days after the filing, the recorder shall notify the candidate and the person who filed the petition whether or not it is found to be signed by the required numbers of qualified electors. If it is found insufficient, the recorder shall return it immediately to the person who filed it, with a statement certifying wherein the petition is insufficient. Within the regular time allowed for the filing of nomination petitions, such a petition may be amended and filed again as a new petition, or a different petition may be filed for the same candidate. Any eligible person placed in nomination as hereinbefore provided shall have his name printed on the ballots for the election if, within five days after notification to him by the recorder of the nomination, an acceptance of nomination is filed with the recorder on his behalf. The nomination petition for a successful candidate for election to the council shall be preserved in the office for which the candidate is elected.