City Clerk Madelene C. Medina has announced that nominating petitions for the May 12, 2026, Municipal Election will be available in the City Clerk’s Office at the Municipal Building, 630 Avenue C, Bayonne, NJ, beginning Friday, January 16, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Voters will select a mayor, two council members at-large, and one council member in each of the city’s three wards for four-year terms to commence July 1, 2026.

Candidates for election to municipal office must be registered voters and residents for at least one year and may only run for one office. Ward council candidates must have been residents of the ward in which they live for at least one year. Each candidate must submit a nominating petition that consists of separate petition certificates signed by a number equal to five percent of the voters by whom he or she is to be elected. The number of voters needed for each petition was calculated based on the voter turnout in Bayonne in the General Election that took place on November 4, 2025. Mayor and council member at-large candidates must obtain 870 valid signatures. First Ward council candidates need 300 signatures. Second Ward nominees will require 260 signatures. Third Ward candidates must submit 315. The filing date for the signature certificates and additional documents (Designation of Campaign Manager, Acceptance of Nomination, Request for Ballot Designation, etc.) is Wednesday, February 26, at 4:00 p.m. Signatures will be verified by the City Clerk’s Office, after which a ballot position drawing will be held.

Municipal elections in the City of Bayonne are “nonpartisan” by law. Candidates may submit a ballot designation not to exceed six words that may not include political party references (Democrat, Republican, Democratic, GOP, etc.) Candidates who run as a group or slate may not be included in the same row or column on the ballot. However, two candidates for Council Member at-Large may request that their names be listed on the ballot together with the same ballot designation.

Candidates will be supplied with more certificates than the number required to get on the ballot. Requests for petition packages must be made by candidates, who may authorize a third party to pick up the package. The request, however, must be signed by the actual candidate. Candidates may duplicate the materials at their own expense, in order to facilitate signature gathering or to file more petitions than the number supplied. “In the past, some candidates have had several people pick up nominating materials, apparently as a means to file a large number of nominating petitions. This practice can cause shortages in the number of available certificates, and delays while additional petition forms are printed, and additional expense to the taxpayers,” Ms. Medina said. Candidates desiring nominating petitions or their representatives should contact the City Clerk to request a package of petition papers. Application forms for nominating petition packages are available at the City Clerk’s Office between 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM Monday through Friday, except holidays. The petition papers should be available to requesters immediately, or within 24 hours if supplies have run out.