To be eligible to become a candidate for a political party nomination in a municipality's partisan primary election, or an independent candidate in such municipality's general election, a person must for at least six (6) months prior to filing a declaration of candidacy be a registered voter at an address within the municipality or in the ward if an office is from a ward. To become a candidate, a declaration of candidacy must be filed with the county election board no earlier than 8:00 a.m. on the first Monday in December and no later than 5:00 p.m. on the next succeeding Wednesday.