A.  Within thirty days after the date of issuance by the secretary of state of a certificate of organization of a soil and water conservation district, nomination petitions may be filed with the state soil and water conservation commission to nominate candidates for supervisors of the district.  The commission shall have authority to extend the time within which nominating petitions may be filed.  No nominating petition shall be accepted by the board, unless it shall be subscribed by twenty-five or more qualified voters within the district who are qualified to vote under the constitution and law of this state.  Qualified voters may sign more than one such nominating petition to nominate more than one candidate for supervisor.  The commission shall give due notice of an election to be held for the election of three supervisors for the district.  The names of all nominees on behalf of whom nominating petitions have been filed within the time herein designated shall be printed, arranged in the alphabetical order of the surnames, upon ballots, with a square before each name and a direction to insert an X mark in the square before any three names to indicate the voter’s preference.  All qualified voters within the district who are qualified to vote under the constitution and laws of this state shall be eligible to vote in the election.  Only qualified voters shall be eligible to vote.  The three candidates who shall receive the largest number, respectively, of the votes cast in such election shall be the elected supervisors for such district.  The state commission shall pay all the expenses of such election, shall supervise the conduct thereof, shall prescribe regulations governing the conduct of such election, and shall publish the results thereof.

B.  If the total number of candidates duly presented in nominating petitions does not exceed the number of supervisor places to be filled by election, then and in that event, the state commission is authorized and empowered to dispense with the election procedure outlined above and to declare each of said candidates duly qualified as a supervisor without the requirement of an election the same as if his name had been presented to the qualified voters in an election.  Candidates so qualified shall be considered for all purposes “elected supervisors” wherever such term appears in this Part.

Amended by Acts 1956, No. 10, §4; Acts 1958, No. 231, §2; Acts 2008, No. 920, §1, eff. July 14, 2008.