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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Election Code Committee - 03/07/2022 - City of Fort Collins Page 1 March 7, 2022 ELECTION CODE COMMITTEE MEETING 12:00 PM COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Arndt, Canonico, Ohlson STAFF PRESENT: Rita Knoll, Ryan Malarky, Tammi Pusheck, Carrie Daggett, Anissa Hollingshead CITIZENS PRESENT: Robbie Moreland, Jan Kok, Eric Fried, Kathleen Schmidt, Sonya Ketting, Nick Armstrong, Michelle Haefele 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Robbie Moreland encouraged the Committee to refer ranked choice voting to the ballot. Jan Kok supported replacing the current plurality voting system with an improved system, approval voting. He discussed the system which involves utilizing the current type of ballot while allowing voters to vote for as many candidates as they would like. He stated Fargo, North Dakota and Saint Louis, Missouri have adopted the system. Eric Fried supported ranked choice voting and opposed plurality voting. He noted Maine, Alaska, and New York City use ranked choice voting. Kathleen Schmidt discussed the disadvantages of plurality voting and the advantages of ranked choice voting. Sonya Ketting expressed support for ranked choice voting. Nick Armstrong expressed support for ranked choice voting. Michelle Haefele expressed support for ranked choice voting. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT FOLLOW-UP Mayor Arndt thanked Mr. Fried for discussing a new voting system. Members thanked the speakers. 5. ELECTION TIMING AND ADMINISTRATIVE OPTIONS DISCUSSION Mayor Arndt commented on the possibility of prioritizing changes, such as referring ranked choice voting to the ballot first then considering changing elections to November. Chair Canonico noted considering changing the election to November was a priority for the Committee; however, ranked choice voting was not. Councilmember Ohlson stated his first priority is campaign finance reform and he believes all changes could be made at the same time. He stated he could support odd year November elections over even year. He also stated if ranked choice voting is approved by voters in November, it would not necessarily need to be implemented in an April 2023 election. He expressed personal support for ranked choice voting and supported placing both items on the November ballot. Mayor Arndt stated her first preference is also to put both items on the November ballot. Members discussed wording for dealing with the possibility that ranked choice voting passes and moving to November elections does not. City of Fort Collins Page 2 Chair Canonico asked when counties will be required to be prepared to hold ranked choice elections. City Clerk Hollingshead replied the Secretary of State is recommending counties be prepared by November of 2023; however, there is some discretionary language involved. Chief Deputy City Clerk Knoll noted the issue is whether Larimer County will have the equipment that is ultimately certified by the Secretary of State. If it does not have that equipment, it is not required to replace equipment per the legislation related to ranked choice voting. Chair Canonico asked if the City could be ready to do a ranked choice election in April of 2023 should the ballot initiative to move the elections to November fail. City Clerk Hollingshead replied the most challenging aspect would be dealing with contingencies through election day. City Attorney Daggett stated there would still be an option to have a local April 2023 election even if voters approve the change to November elections. Mayor Arndt stated that would be difficult for the electorate. City Attorney Daggett noted the work session agenda materials will go to print prior to the next Committee meeting. Members discussed the topics to be included in the work session materials. Councilmember Ohlson commented on his desire for all donors to any type of committee to be made public. Members discussed concerns with donors being required to provide addresses which become public information. City Attorney Daggett discussed independent expenditures and requirements for small scale issue committees, which are consistent with state law. She suggested changing the requirements for small scale issue committees to be such that they would automatically switch to a full committee with regular reporting requirements after reaching a certain threshold for independent expenditures. Councilmember Ohlson stated he wants to see as much transparency and disclosure as possible. City Attorney Daggett noted anyone who is receiving contributions for a political activity must register as a committee. Any type of existing group, such as the Sierra Club for example, that happens to be spending money in a City election is currently not required to disclose where the money came from; therefore, addressing independent expenditures is likely the best way to ensure additional transparency in those types of situations. 6. PROPOSED TIMELINE City Clerk Hollingshead noted the next Committee meeting will be the day prior to the work session and stated future meetings will focus more on campaign finance as well as redistricting. Councilmember Ohlson asked about the scale of change in the Council districts that will result from the redistricting. Chief Deputy City Clerk Knoll suggested an entire reconfiguration of the districts could be a possibility. She asked members to discuss whether that would be acceptable, or whether they would prefer to keep the current district layout with additional balance. She noted the districts need to be as balanced as possible population-wise, among other requirements in the Charter. 7. OTHER BUSINESS 8. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned by unanimous consent at 1:18 PM MINUTES APPROVED AT THE MARCH 21, 2022 ELECTION CODE COMMITTEE MEETING