(1) This section applies to a first class school district only if the question under section 410 is not approved in the first class school district.

    (2) In the next November general election after the question under section 410 is presented to the school electors of the first class school district, 7 members of the board of a first class school district shall be elected by voting districts for an initial term of 2 years. At the November general election held 2 years after that election and every 4 years thereafter, 7 members of the board shall be elected by voting districts for a term of 4 years. Each member shall represent a voting district described in section 404b.

    (3) The members shall be nominated and elected by the registered school electors of each voting district in the manner provided by law for the nomination and election of the first class school board members elected at large, except that the number of signatures required on nominating petitions of a candidate for election as a representative of a voting district shall be not less than 250 or more than 500. A signature on a nominating petition is not valid unless the petitioner is a registered school elector of the voting district in which the candidate is running for election. Not more than 2 candidates shall be nominated at the primary election for each voting district.

    (4) Candidates shall be nominated at a primary held in conjunction with the preceding primary election conducted pursuant to section 534 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.534. Nominating petitions shall meet the requirements of section 544c of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.544c, and shall be filed with the clerk of the city in which the first class school district is located on or before 4 p.m. of the twelfth Tuesday preceding the primary election. The city clerk may compare the signatures on the petitions with the signatures appearing on the registration records, or in some other proper manner determine whether the signatures appearing on the petitions are genuine and comply with the requirements of this section. With the petitions, a candidate shall file an affidavit as provided in section 558 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.558.

    (5) The 7 board members elected to represent the voting districts shall commence their terms of office on January 1 following the election.

    (6) A candidate for the office of board member representing a voting district or a person appointed to fill a vacancy pursuant to subsection (7) shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of his or her election or appointment and shall be a registered school elector residing in the voting district in which the person becomes a candidate or which the person is appointed to represent. If a voting district member’s residence is moved from the voting district during the voting district member’s term of office, this constitutes a vacating of office.

    (7) If a vacancy occurs on the first class school district board from among the voting district members, the vacancy shall be filled from among registered school electors of the voting district by majority vote of the remaining first class school district board members. If a person is appointed to fill a vacancy in a voting district for which the unexpired term is more than 1 year and 8 months, that person shall serve until January 1 following the next general election. At that next general election the vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term. A vacancy shall not be filled later than 60 days before a primary election at which voting district board members are to be nominated.