Information For Candidates For City Offices

Qualifications for Office:

Nominating Petitions and Filing Information:

Campaign Finance Inormation:

Financial Disclosure

Petition Circulation

Petition Circulators

Additional Filling Requirements

Information regarding running for City Council will be available in early 2021.Pursuant to Section 5.1 of the City Charter, candidates for office must be qualified and registered electors of the City prior to the last day for filing petitions for such office and shall not have been found guilty of a felony.Petitions and Affidavits must contain the office for which the candidate is filing.Nominating petitions shall be in the form approved and designated by the Secretary of State for the nomination of non-partisan offices. These forms are available at the City Clerk’s Office.Pursuant to Section 3.18 of the City Charter, it shall be necessary to obtain at least 100 and not more than 200 qualified signatures or in lieu thereof, a candidate may in writing notify the Clerk that he/she is a candidate for a designated office, giving his/her legal name and address, and pay One Hundred ($100) Dollars.Persons signing petitions must be registered to vote in the City of Novi and must fill in all information requested on the petition.No person shall sign the petition of more than one (1) person for the Office of Mayor – Two (2) Year Term, more than three (3) petitions for the Office of Council member - Four (4) Year Term, and more than one (1) petition for the Office of Council member – Two (2) Year Term.AFFIDAVIT OF IDENTITY, declaring that the candidate is properly qualified to seek the office and will serve if elected, must be submitted along with each set of petitions as required by Section 3.18 of the Novi City Charter and Public Act 394 of 1984, Section 168.558. These forms are available at the City Clerk’s Office.If a candidate has had a name change, an AFFIDAVIT OF CHANGE OF NAME must be filed with each set of petitions. This form is available at the Office of the County Clerk.Nominating petitions shall be open to the public for inspection in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with Michigan Law 168.555.Campaign finance is under the jurisdiction of the County Clerk. Candidates should check with the County Clerk regarding Campaign Finance, Act P.A. 388 of 1976 as soon as nominating petitions are filed. County Clerk’s Phone Number:248-858-0564. Cortney Hanson , CMC, CMMCCity ClerkPhone: 248-347-0456Fax: 248-347-0577State and local candidates are required to comply with the financial disclosure requirements provided under Michigan’s Campaign Finance Act, P.A. 388 of 1976. Candidates who seek a school board position in a primary or fourth class school district and candidates who seek a precinct delegate position are exempt from the Act’s filing requirements. For further information contact your local county clerk or the Michigan Department of State’s Bureau of Elections in Lansing.Candidates who seek a federal office should contact the Federal Election Commission, 999 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463 for information on their financial disclosure requirements. Toll free line (800) 424-9530.Before circulating a city/township, village, school or precinct delegate petition sheet, the circulator must enter the county and the city, township or village of circulation in the space provided at the top of the sheet. The signers of the sheet must reside within the listed city, township or village. No more than one county and one city, township or village can be listed on a sheet. If listing a city or a township that shares a name with another city or township in the county, the circulator must indicate whether the jurisdiction listed is the “city” or the “township”. The circulator’s failure to make this distinction will invalidate the sheet.The circulator must complete and date the certificate at the bottom of the sheet after gathering the last signature he or she intends to collect on the sheet. Signatures on a petition sheet that are dated after the date on the circulator’s certificate are invalid.A petition sheet cannot be circulated by more than one person.Petition circulators must check state law and local regulations for requirements.A candidate who seeks a public office in Michigan must submit an Affidavit of Identity (two copies) when filing for the office. This requirement does not apply to a candidate seeking a precinct delegate position.Any candidate who has changed his or her name under Michigan law within the last 12 years must submit a Change of Name Affidavit when filing for office. This requirement does not apply to a candidate who has experienced a name change through marriage.Any candidate who has changed his or her name through naturalization within the last 10 years must submit a Change of Name Affidavit when filing for office.