Agenda - Council - 01/12/1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I ! I I I I I :1 I I :1 ! I I I I I legislative control. The statutory City Code pro- vides optional forms of government for all other cities to take into account individual differences. The dates of city elections are set at any time by a home rule charge city or in November in odd or even years for statutory cities. The League strongly believes that decisions affecting only local units of government should be made at the local level unless an overriding state interest can be demonstrated. For this reason, the League remains opposed in principle to any uniform local government election day that precludes the present options. If the legislature determines that a uniform local government election day is justifiable, the following features should be considered. 1. Home rule charter cities should retain the option of setting their own election date. 2. A municipal primary election should be optional as it is presently. 11-15. All direct costs of state-mandated changes and additions to present city election duties should be paid by the state. Voting Equipment (C) The League supports present law which allows a city the option of selecting which state-approved equipment it determines will best suit its needs, based on local factors, and opposes any state- mandated system of voting equipment. The League also supports amending state law to allow use of punched cards for absentee ballots. I1-16. Precinct Boundary Changes Experience with the need for reapportioning city wards and county commissioner districts after the 1980 census has shown that there are some barriers in the present law to achieving a desir- able coordinated result. The problem arises be- cause: Current law requires counties to redistrict the commissioner districts within 180 days after receiving final census figures from the Secretary of State (September 21, in 1981). Cities, with some exceptions, are not per- mitted by law to change precinct boun- daries during a five-year period ending January 1, in a year ending in two. -9- In redistricting, counties must follow city ward and precinct lines, but these are the old boundaries which, in many cases, will need to be changed before the 1982 (or 1992) elections. To alleviate the problem, several considerations were addressed. For cities without elections this fall and next spring and for counties which have no elections until 1982, there is no urgency to re- district before January, 1982. The legislature also has no election until 1982, and therefore, it is not obligated to complete its respportionment before lanuary 1 of an even-numbered year. On the basis of these factors, the League recom- mends that the law relating to county redistricting be changed to require reapportionment within 60 days of the completion of legislative redistricting and 120 days before the September state primary election date in even-numbered years. I1-17. Validating Absentee Ballots (A) Current law requires at least two election judges to initial each absentee ballot before it is deposited in the ballot box. In the interest of speeding up the counting on election day, while still providing that only valid absentee ballots are cast, the League supports having the county auditor or municipal clerk affix the official seal to ballots at the time of their delivery to the voters. 11-18. Percentage of Votes to Adopt or Amend Charters (B) Currently, home rule city charters may be a- dopted or amended by a favorable vote of 51% of those voting on the question. In 1981, the legislature considered a bill to raise the percen- tage to 55% of those voting on the question, the percentage in effect before 1969. Returns of a survey of home rule cities showed that a signi- ficant majority of cities chose to retain the pre- sent law. The League, therefore, opposes any change in the required percentage. 11-19. Joint Powers Act (A) The existing Joint Powers Act should be broad- ened to remove the commonality requirement, thus enabling one governmental unit to be able to provide a service or function on behalf of another governmental unit without the require- ment that both have the power to perform the service or function.