§ Art. 49Special provisions on municipal elections

Special provisions on municipal elections.
Representatives on municipal councils shall be elected by secret ballot in general elections,
which may take two forms:
a. Restricted elections by proportional representation, where the election is limited to
candidates on electoral lists and representatives on each list are elected in proportion to the
quantity of votes cast for the list. The provisions of Articles 36, 37 and 39–48 shall apply to
candidature arrangements.
b. Unrestricted elections, where the election is not limited to declared candidates as all
electors are eligible for election with the exception of those legally exempt from the
obligation to serve who have in advance declared their refusal to serve.
Municipal elections shall as a rule be by restricted proportional representation.
In the event that no list of candidates is submitted prior to the expiry of the deadline for
submitting candidatures, or so few names are on candidate lists that the municipal council will
not be fully constituted through a restricted election, the election shall be unrestricted.
Anyone eligible to stand for election, of sound mind and body and younger than 65 years of
age, is obliged to serve if elected to a municipal council.
A person who has served on a municipal council for one electoral term or longer is not
obliged to serve until an amount of time equal to his or her last continuous term of service has
elapsed, provided that he or she notifies the senior electoral commission of the municipality of
refusal of re-election prior to the expiry of the deadline for submitting candidatures.