HomeMy WebLinkAbout173 - 12/16/2014 - AMENDING VARIOUS PROVISIONS IN CHAPTER 7 OF CITY CODE RELATING TO ELECTIONS ORDINANCE NO. 173, 2014
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING VARIOUS PROVISIONS IN CHAPTER 7 OF THE
CODE OF THE CITYOF FORT COLLINS RELATING TO ELECTIONS
WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins is a Colorado home rule municipality and, as such,
is authorized under Article XX, Section 6 of the Colorado Constitution to exercise certain
specific powers, including the power to legislate upon, provide, regulate, coordinate and control
all matters pertaining to municipal elections; and
WHEREAS, on November 7, 2006, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 165, 2006,
establishing Chapter 7, Article"VII of the City Code, its own provisions for conducting local mail
ballot elections; and
WHEREAS, currently, the City's conducts registration of municipal electors in
accordance with the provisions of the Colorado Municipal Election Code; and
WHEREAS, with House Bill 13-1303, the Colorado legislature passed legislation
intended to remove barriers to participation in the electoral process by making both voting and
voter registration more convenient and accessible, by allowing voter registration to take place
through election day and by eliminating the voter status "inactive-failed to vote," and further
directing the Secretary to mark those voters as "active;" and
WHEREAS, in 2014, the Colorado legislature also passed legislation that, among other
things, amended the Colorado Municipal Election Code to reflect the same changes to voter
registration that were made to the Uniform Election Code pursuant to HB 13-1303 and enacted
changes to mail ballot provisions for municipalities similar to those addressed in the Uniform
Election Code; and
WHEREAS, City staff has recommended that the Council correct the definition of
"absentee ballot" so as to clarify that an absentee'ballot should be mailed to an eligible elector at
an address or location other than the residential or mailing address of the elector;
WHEREAS, City staff has further recommended that the Council amend provisions of
the City Code related to registration of municipal electors, mailing of ballots, on-site polling
place, replacement ballots and absentee voting so as to align with recent changes made by the
Colorado legislature to the Uniform Election Code and the Municipal Election Code; and
WHEREAS, amendments to the disclosure requirements that allow reports to be filed
electronically by candidate committees, issue committees, and political committees are beneficial
because filing electronically will be more convenient than filing reports by paper as currently
required; and
WHEREAS, the City Council believes that it would be in the best interests of the citizens
of the City to amend Chapter 7 of the Code as described above.
_ 1 _
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That Section 7-101 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7-101. Registration of municipal electors.
(a) Registration of municipal electors shall be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of the Uniform Election Code of 1992, Section 1-2-201 et seq., C.R.S.
(b) No person shall be entitled to vote in a City election who is not registered as an
elector residing in the City, regardless of the fact that such person may be duly registered
as an elector of the County.
Section 2. That the definition of "Absentee ballot" contained in Section 7-181 of the
Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7-181. Definitions.
Absentee ballot shall mean a ballot transmitted to an eligible elector at an address or
location other than the residential or mail address of the elector as shown in the County's
voter registration records.
Section 3. That Section7-186(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7-186. Mailing of ballots; exception.
(a) No sooner than twenty-two (22) days before an election, and no later than fifteen
(15) days before an election, the City Clerk shall mail to each active registered elector, at
the last mailing address appearing in the registration records and in accordance with
United States postal service regulations, a mail ballot packet marked "Do not forward.
Address correction requested.", or other similar statement that is in accordance with
United States postal service regulations.
Section 4. That Section 7-187 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7-187. On-site polling place.
No sooner than twenty-two (22) days prior to election day and no later than 7:00 p.m. on
election day, mail ballots shall be made available at the office of the City Clerk, or such
other location as may be established by the City Clerk, for each eligible electors who
requests a ballot.
- 2 -
Section 5. That Section 7-188(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7-188. Replacement ballots.
(a) An eligible elector may obtain a replacement ballot if:
(1) The ballot was destroyed, spoiled, lost or for some other reason not
received by the eligible elector;
(2) A mail ballot packet was not sent to the elector because the eligibility of
the elector could not be determined at the time the mail ballot packets were
mailed; or
(3) The eligible elector presents any other credible evidence that he or she is
entitled to receive a replacement ballot.
Section 6. That Section 7-189(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7-189. Absentee voting.
(a) Any eligible elector, or a family member related by blood, marriage, civil union,
or adoption, may request that an absentee ballot be transmitted to a place other than the
elector's address listed in the voter registration records. Requests for absentee ballots
must be made in writing and shall include the elector's name, residence address, date of
birth and address where the absentee ballot should be mailed.
Section 7. That Section 7-136(f) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins, is amended
to read as follows: ^
Sec. 7-136. Disclosure; filing of reports.
(f) A report required to be filed by this Article is timely if the paper report is received
by the City Clerk not later than the close of business on the date due or if the report is
filed electronically not later than midnight Mountain Standard Time on the date due.
- 3 -
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 2nd day of
ZIS
nt for final passage on the 16th day of December, A.D.
F FORT :r4 • z ayor
RADO :
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on this 16th day of December, A.D. 2014.
Ma or
ATTEST:
City Clerk
-4 -