§ 9. Conduct of election.

Be it further enacted, that the mayor and city council shall designate one public place for holding the election for mayor and councilmen, or for any election in said city. They shall provide a ballot box in which the votes of the qualified voters shall be deposited; the mayor and city council shall appoint three (3) judges and two (2) clerks to hold any election in said city, who shall be sworn by the mayor or one of the councilmen, faithfully, fairly and impartially to discharge their respective duties, and all laws of this state providing for the punishment of officers of elections for misconduct shall apply to and be enforced against judges and clerks of any election held in said city; all elections shall be by ballot, and shall be ordered by the mayor and city council for the time being, whether the same be a regular election as herein provided for, or an election to fill a vacancy or a special election for any purpose whatever; and notice of all elections shall be given, signed by the mayor, by publication in one or more newspapers published in said city, or by posters posted in not less than three (3) public places in said city, or both, as may be ordered by the mayor and city council, for not less than ten (10) days prior to said election; the person having the highest number of votes cast for mayor shall be elected mayor, and the qualified persons having the highest number of votes cast for councilman of the respective wards, shall be declared elected as councilman from each ward; and they shall respectively receive a certificate thereof, signed by the judges and clerks of such election or a majority of them; the mayor shall be commissioned by the governor on presentation of such certificate to the secretary of state, as mayor and judge of the mayor's court of the City of Columbus.