§ 168.646aElection of local officer; nomination; certification of ballot wording;

applicability of provisions.
 Sec. 646a.
    (1) If a local officer is to be elected at a general November election, candidates for the local
 office must be nominated in the manner provided by law or charter, subject to sections 641
 and 642. If candidates for the local office are to be nominated at caucuses, the caucuses must
 be held on a date before the date set for the primary election or on the Saturday before the day
 of the primary election as determined by the local legislative body at least 20 days before the
 date of the caucus. If candidates are nominated by filing petitions or affidavits, the candidate
 filing deadline is 4 p.m. on the fifteenth Tuesday before the general November election.
 Except as provided in section 642, the local primary election must be held on the same day as
 a state or county primary election. If a state or county primary is being held on the same day,
 the last day for local candidates to file nominating petitions is the same as the last date to file
 petitions for state and county offices. The names of all local candidates and titles of office
 must be certified to the county clerk by the local clerk within 5 days after the last day for filing



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 petitions, and certification of nominees must be made to that clerk within 5 days after the date
 on which the primary or caucus was held.
    (2) If a ballot question of a political subdivision of this state including, but not limited to, a
 county, city, village, township, school district, special use district, or other district is to be
 voted on at a regular election date or special election, the ballot wording of the ballot question
 must be certified to the proper local or county clerk not later than 4 p.m. on the twelfth
 Tuesday before the election. If the wording is certified to a clerk other than the county clerk,
 the clerk shall certify the ballot wording to the county clerk at least 82 days before the
 election. Petitions to place a county or local ballot question on the ballot at the election must
 be filed with the clerk at least 14 days before the date the ballot wording must be certified to
 the local clerk.
    (3) The provisions of this section apply to and control the filing deadlines for candidates for
 local office to be elected at the general November election and for all ballot questions of a
 political subdivision of this state at any regular election, primary election, or special election
 notwithstanding any provisions of law or charter to the contrary.