Section 5. Nomination and Election of Certain Officers.
(1) Procedure for holding elections. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, all elections shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the Elections Code of the State of California, as the same now exist or may hereafter be amended, for the holding of elections in general law cities.
(2) Posting of Notices. All notices and other matters which are now or may hereafter be required to be published by the Elections Code, may be publicized in the manner determined by the Council.
(3) Youth Voting.
(a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Charter, the City Council may, by ordinance, provide for the voting by persons aged 16 and 17 years old who would otherwise be eligible to be electors under the Elections Code, for the office of School Director, subject to all of the following conditions.
(1) No City of Berkeley funds may be used, directly or indirectly, to pay any cost related to voting by persons aged 16 and 17 years old pursuant to this Section, including litigation costs and attorneys’ fees, nor shall City of Berkeley funds be used to replace funds used for these purposes by any other public agency or private entity.
(2) Equipment, software, systems, and procedures for voter registration and voting are technically ready to handle voting by persons aged 16 and 17 years old.
(3) Voting by persons aged 16 and 17 years old will not preclude the City from consolidating its municipal elections with the County.
(4) Voting by persons aged 16 and 17 years old will not result in additional election costs that will be paid directly or indirectly by the City of Berkeley.
(b) Any program for allowing voting by persons aged 16 and 17 years may specify the manner in which, method by which, and times at which, votes by such persons may be cast. The manner, method and time of voting for persons aged 16 and 17 years old need not be the same as for other persons.
(4 through 9) (repealed)
(10) Canvass of returns and declaration of results. The City Council shall meet at its usual place of meeting as soon as practicable after the election, including any runoff election, to receive the certification of results prepared by the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall canvass the results of the election in accordance with procedures established in the State of California Elections Code. The persons having the number of votes required by this Charter for each elective office shall be declared elected.
(11) Use of voting machines, voting devices or vote tabulating devices. If the use of voting machines, voting devices or vote tabulating devices at a municipal election is authorized by the City Council, any of the provisions of this Section 5 may be modified by the City Council to the extent necessary to permit the use of such voting machines, voting devices or vote tabulating devices.
(12) Use of instant runoff voting in lieu of runoff elections. For purposes of this charter "instant runoff voting" shall refer to a voting system which, in a single election, determines the candidate supported by the voters. Notwithstanding any section of this Charter to the contrary, upon a determination by the City Council of all of the following, that: a) the voting equipment and procedures are technically ready to handle instant runoff voting in municipal elections; b) instant runoff voting will not preclude the City from consolidating its municipal elections with the County; and c) instant runoff elections will not result in additional City election costs, the Council may by ordinance establish a system of instant runoff voting for the offices of Mayor, City Council, and Auditor in any manner permitted by the State of California Elections Code. Once the Council institutes a system of instant runoff voting, future elections shall be conducted as instant runoff voting elections, unless the Council finds that circumstances have changed such that one or more of the prior Council findings required by this section are no longer valid. In such case, the Council shall articulate the specific basis therefore in order to suspend an existing system of instant runoff voting. Subdivision (e) of Section 9 of Article V relating to the percentage threshold to trigger a runoff election shall have no application to a system of instant runoff voting. The City Clerk shall conduct voter and community education to familiarize voters with instant runoff voting.