Section 63. Elections of state officers and city officers shall be called by the aldermen, and the city clerk shall, under their direction, cause notice of such elections to be conspicuously posted in the office of the city clerk or on the principal official bulletin board of such city and any other public building they deem necessary. Before every city election, the clerk shall make available a list of all candidates. He shall also print with said list the form of any question to be submitted to the voters. Such lists shall be public records and one copy shall be sent to every newspaper in said city listed in the Directory of New England Newspapers and Periodicals, to be used at the discretion of said newspapers. Such notices shall be in lieu of the notices or warrants for election required in any city by special statutes. Elections of state officers and town officers shall be called in towns as provided in section ten of chapter thirty-nine. The biennial state and the annual or biennial city and town elections shall be called at least seven days before the day prescribed for the holding thereof.