Bloomfield operates under a Special Charter granted under an Act of the New Jersey Legislature. The township is one of 11 municipalities (of the 565) statewide that operate under a special charter. The township's governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the six-member Township Council. The mayor and three councilmembers are elected at-large, and one member is elected from each of three wards, with all positions chosen on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. Councilmembers are elected to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with the three at-large seats (and the mayoral seat) up for election together and the three ward seats coming up for election two years later and no election in the middle year of the three-year cycle. Bloomfield's charter retains most of the characteristics of the Town form, with additional powers delegated to an administrator.