Crawford AuSable School District

CASD Board of Education
2006 Candidates Guide

How to become a candidate
 

Local school board elections are held annually on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May.
   

Information on this topic came primarily from the MASB 2006 Candidates Guide to School Board Elections. For more information, go to the Michigan Association of School Boards site at www.masb.org, write to 1001 Centennial Way, Suite 400, Lansing, MI, 48917, call at 517-327-5900 or 800-968-4627 or fax to 517-327-0775.
The full guide can be purchased from the MASB.
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Eligibility
To be eligible, a person must be a qualified school elector. This means that the candidate must be a registered voter in the Crawford AuSable School District.

A candidate must be at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, a resident of the State of Michigan for a least 30 days and a resident of the CASD on or before the 30th day prior to the date of the election. Property ownership is not a requirement for candidacy.

 

 

 

Filing Fees
Board of education candidates have the option of paying a nonrefundable filing fee of $100 to the school district filing official instead of filing a nominating petition. If paid by the appropriate due date, the fee has the same effect as filing a nomination petition.

 

Nominating Petitions
 
1. Filing

The consolidated elections law requires nominating petitions (or the $100 fee) and the affidavit of identity to be filed with the "school district filing official." For CASD, which has territory in more than one city or township, Sandra Moore, Crawford County Clerk, is the school district filing official. 
 
2. Signatures

Because the population of the CASD is 10,000 or more, a nominating petition must be signed by a minimum of 40 electors (registered voters) of the school district and a maximum of 100.

If nominating petitions contain more than the necessary number of signatures, the excess signatures are not counted.

Note: An elector may only sign multiple petitions equal to the number of board members that will be elected in the school district. Thus, if two positions are up for election to the board of education, an elector in the school district could sign two petitions.

 
3. Term

If a candidate is running for a partial term, which resulted from a previous vacancy on the board, the candidate must specify that term and its expiration in the heading of his or her petition. Likewise, candidates running for a regular term would specify four or six years and the respective expiration date in the heading.

 
4. Circulator

A petition sheet cannot be circulated by more than one person.

A person who circulates nominating petitions for a school board election must be registered to vote in Michigan. The circulator must complete and date the certificate at the bottom of the petition after gathering the last signature he or she intends to collect on the petition. Signatures on a petition sheet which are dated after the date on the circulator's certificate are invalid.

A petition sheet cannot be circulated in nor signed by electors residing in more than one township or city. Only those electors residing in the township or city identified in the petition heading are eligible to sign that petition sheet.

All signatures on a petition sheet must be affixed in a face-to-face exchange with the petition circulator. A circulator is not permitted to leave a petition unattended.

 

 

 

 

Filing Deadlines
Nominating petitions or filing fees for local school board candidates must be filed no later than 4 p.m. on the 12th Tuesday preceding the date of the election. For the CASD election on May 2, 2006, the 12th Tuesday filing deadline is February 7, 2006.

 

 

Affidavits of Identity
A candidate for election to a local  school board must file two copies of an affidavit of identity. The affidavit is filed with the candidate's filing fee or nominating petitions at the same office where the fees or nominating petitions are filed. Candidates who fail to file an affidavit are ineligible to appear on the ballot.

The affidavit must be a written document, signed and sworn before a person having authority to administer an oath, such as a notary public.

The affidavit of identity must contain:
  1. the candidate's name.
  2. the candidate's address.
  3. the candidate's ward and precinct where he or she is registered as a voter.
  4. a statement that the candidate is a citizen of the United States.
  5. the number of years the candidate has resided in the state and county.
  6. the manner in which the candidate wishes to have his or her name appear on the ballot.
  7. a statement that the candidate either is or is not using a name that he or she was given at birth. If a candidate is using a name that he or she was not given at birth, the candidate is required to include a full former name on the affidavit of identity. (There are some exceptions to this requirement. See below.)
  8. a statement that, as of the date of the affidavit, all statements, reports, late filing fees and fines required of the candidate or any candidate committee organized to support the candidate's election under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act have been filed or paid. (This does not apply to candidates who are exempt from the filing requirements of Michigan's Campaign Finance Act.)
  9. a statement that the candidate acknowledges that making a false statement in the affidavit is perjury, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

The requirement to indicate a name change on the affidavit of identity does not apply to name changes that occurred under the following circumstances:

  • Changing your name because of marriage.
  • Changing your name as a result of divorce, but only if to a legal name by which you were previously known.
  • The change occurred at least ten years before you filed as a candidate.
  • A name that was changed in a certificate of naturalization issued by a federal district court a the time you became a naturalized citizen at least ten years before filing as a candidate.

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Information
For additional information on subjects such as Withdrawal of Nomination, Write-in Candidates, Campaign Activities, Certification of the Election, Acceptance of Office, Post-Election Campaign Statement, Oath of Office and Term of Office, please consult the MASB 2006 Candidates Guide to School Board Elections.
 
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Oath
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of this state, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the board of education according to the best of my ability.