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Amarillo City Council has faced criticism over the length of the ballot language for some of the propositions set to appear on the November ballot. Now, technical problems resulting from the length are forcing the city back to the drawing table for two of the measures.
According to the agenda for the council’s upcoming August 27th regular meeting, the city will discuss “reduced ballot language” for the measures relating to the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance and the charter amendment proposal to change recall requirements.
The ballot language for the Sanctuary City for the Unborn measure, labeled Proposition A, is currently 1,951 characters long. The ballot language for the changes to recall requirements, is nearly as long, coming in at 1,945 characters. For context, the other three city ballot measures total 1,444 characters combined.
The city is also expected to take action on an ordinance to reduce the length of Prop D. According to the draft ordinance, the change is due to “operational constraints of the voting machines to be utilized in the election.” The proposed new language is only 823 characters long, less than half the length of the original version.
Original language:
TO AMEND ARTICLE II, SECTION 24 OF THE AMARILLO CITY CHARTER TO CHANGE THE RECALL PROCEDURES TO REDUCE THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF SIGNATURES REQUIRED TO QUALIFY THE RECALL ELECTION OF AN ELECTIVE OFFICER FROM AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO AT LEAST THIRTY (30) PERCENT OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS WITHIN THE CITY WITH AT LEAST ONE-FIFTH (1/5) OF SAME CERTIFYING THAT EACH SIGNOR VOTED FOR THE OFFICER IN THE LAST ELECTION TO AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO AT LEAST THIRTY (30) PERCENT OF THE NUMBER OF VOTES CAST IN THE LAST ELECTION AT WHICH THE OFFICER WAS ELECTED; TO INCREASE THE TIME LIMIT TO SUBMIT RECALL PETITIONS TO THE CITY SECRETARY FROM THIRTY (30) DAYS TO SIXTY (60) DAYS FROM THE FILING OF THE REQUIRED AFFIDAVIT; TO ALLOW A PERIOD OF TWENTY-ONE (21) CALENDAR DAYS IN WHICH THE CITY SECRETARY SHALL VERIFY THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF VALID SIGNATURES ARE CONTAINED ON EACH PETITION; TO REQUIRE THE CITY SECRETARY, WITHIN FIVE (5) CALENDAR DAYS AFTER THE DATE ON WHICH THE VERIFICATION OF SIGNATURES IS COMPLETED, SHALL PRESENT SUCH PETITION TO THE GOVERNING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY AND SHALL NOTIFY THE OFFICER OR OFFICERS SOUGHT TO BE RECALLED OF SUCH ACTION; TO ALLOW FIVE (5) CALENDAR DAYS AFTER SUCH NOTICE IS GIVEN FOR THE OFFICER SOUGHT TO BE RECALLED TO RESIGN AND IF THE OFFICER DOES NOT RESIGN THE GOVERNING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY SHALL THEREUPON ORDER AND FIX A DAY FOR HOLDING A RECALL ELECTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAW AS AMENDED; TO PROVIDE THAT AFTER THE RECALL ELECTION DATE IS ESTABLISHED, THE OFFICER VACATES THEIR POSITION, THE RECALL ELECTION SHALL BE CANCELLED, AND THE VACANCY SHALL BE FILLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARTER AND APPLICABLE STATE LAW; AND TO CHANGE THE REQUIREMENTS THAT NO RECALL AFFIDAVIT OR PETITION SHALL BE FILED AGAINST ANY OFFICER OF THE CITY WITHIN SIX (6) MONTHS AFTER THEY ASSUME OFFICE OR WITHIN SIX (6) MONTHS OF THE END OF THE OFFICER’S TERM, NOR WITHIN SIX (6) MONTHS AFTER AN ELECTION FOR SUCH OFFICER’S RECALL.
Proposed new language:
TO AMEND ARTICLE II, SECTION 24 OF THE AMARILLO CITY CHARTER TO CHANGE THE RECALL PROCEDURES TO REDUCE THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF SIGNATURES REQUIRED TO QUALIFY THE RECALL ELECTION OF AN ELECTIVE OFFICER FROM AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO AT LEAST THIRTY (30) PERCENT OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS WITHIN THE CITY WITH AT LEAST ONE-FIFTH (1/5) OF SAME CERTIFYING THAT EACH SIGNOR VOTED FOR THE OFFICER IN THE LAST ELECTION TO AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO AT LEAST THIRTY (30) PERCENT OF THE NUMBER OF VOTES CAST IN THE LAST ELECTION AT WHICH THE OFFICER WAS ELECTED; TO INCREASE THE TIME LIMIT TO SUBMIT RECALL PETITIONS TO THE CITY SECRETARY FROM THIRTY (30) DAYS TO SIXTY (60) DAYS FROM THE FILING OF THE REQUIRED AFFIDAVIT AND TO PROVIDE FOR A VALIDATION PERIOD AND NOTICE TO THE ELECTED OFFICER AND CITY COUNCIL WITH CORRESPONDING RECALL LIMITATIONS.
If passed, the council plans to finalize the ordinance with a second and final reading during their September 10th meeting.
While the city is set to vote on reducing the length of Prop D’s language, there is no agenda item for reducing the length of Prop A’s language. Prop A’s language has already caused significant controversy. Specifically, an early proposal for the language referred to the ordinance as “establishing a criminal offense.” The group that petitioned for the ordinance took issue with this language, noting that the ordinance was to be solely enforced through private civil action. Mayor Cole Stanley has also previously defended the length of the ballot language, citing the length of the 18-page proposed ordinance, which contains multiple sections.
The Amarillo Pioneer has submitted an open records request with the city for communications with the counties regarding the election. Be sure to regularly check AmarilloPioneer.com for updates as we received more information on this topic.
The meeting is set to begin at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 27th on the third floor of Amarillo City Hall. The full agenda and agenda packet can be found at this link.