Election Information

Any citizen who is a qualified elector of Miami-Dade County and has resided continuously in the City of Aventura for at least one year preceding the date of qualifying is eligible to be a candidate for the office of the City Commission. The City is divided by the William Lehman Causeway into two residential areas. Section 2.03 of the City Charter requires that two Commissioners reside in the Northern Area (Seats 1 and 2), two Commissioners reside in the Southern Area (Seats 3 and 4) and two Commissioners shall be elected without regard to residence in any particular Residential Area (Seats 5 and 6). Candidates for the office of Mayor are also elected without regard to residence in a particular Residential Area. A person may not be a candidate for Commissioner and Mayor in the same election. Persons running from a particular Residential Area must be a resident of the Residential Area which they propose to represent on the Commission at the time of qualifying, at the time of his/her election and must continue to reside in such Residential Area during his/her term of office.

You may become a candidate for office at any time by opening a campaign account, designating a campaign treasurer (Form DS-DE 9) and filing a Statement of Candidate with the Office of the City Clerk. You may not accept campaign contributions or make expenditures until after the Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository form is filed with the City Clerk. To qualify for office, the following documents must be filed with the Office of the City Clerk during the week of qualifying*:

Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository Form (DS-DE9) (if not already on file) [FSS 106.021(1)(a)]
Statement of Candidate Form (DS-DE84)- must be filed within 10 days of filing DS-DE 9 (if not already on file) [FSS 106.023]
Mandatory Declaration of Ethical Campaign Practices
Loyalty Oath [FSS 876.05]
Oath of Candidate [FSS 99.021]
Notice of Candidacy [City Code Sec. 26-31]
Statement of Financial Interests [FSS 99.061(4)]
Voter Registration Card [City Charter Sec. 2.04]
$100 Qualifying Fee - Paid by check made payable to the City of Aventura drawn from campaign account. No personal checks will be accepted. Only candidates who withdraw prior to the end of qualifying will be refunded their qualifying fee. Anyone who withdraws after that time will not have their qualifying fee refunded. [City Charter Sec. 2.04]
State Elections Assessment Fee in the amount of 1% of the annual salary of the office sought (Mayor - $100; Commissioner - $75) [FSS 99.093(1)]
Resign to Run, if applicable; Must resign from elective or appointive office not less than 10 days prior to the first day of qualifying. [FSS 99.012]

* The qualifying period commences on the first Monday which is no earlier than thirty-one (31) days and no later than twenty-five (25) days before the date of the regular election. The duration of the qualifying period shall be for a period of five (5) consecutive days commencing on Monday at 8:30 A.M. and terminating on Friday at 4:30 P.M. and shall run from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. of each successive day between and including Monday through Friday.

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Election Information