Model City Charter Revision Project - Eighth Edition
Option Memo
Issue: Signature Requirements for Citizen Initiatives to Add
Ordinances or Amend Charters
Seventh Edition: Appendix B requires that initiative and referendum
petitions for municipal ordinance first be signed, "by registered
voters of the city equal in number to at least 15 percent of
the total number of registered voters registered to vote at the last
regular election." [Emphasis Added]
Section 8.01(d) requires that proposals by voters of the city to amend
the charter "be signed by registered voters of the city
in the number of at least twenty percent of the total number
of registered voters at the last regular city election." [Emphasis
Added]
Background on Issues: According to ICMA's 2001 "Municipal
Form of Government Survey," 57.8 percent of cities have a provision
allowing initiatives for citizens to place charter, ordinance, or home
rule changes on the ballot by collecting a required number of signatures
on a petition.
Professor John Matsusaka, a senior research fellow for the Initiative
and Referendum Institute and a professor at the University of Southern
California, conducted a study of the initiative process in the 20 largest
cities in the U.S. after the 2000 U.S. Census (Table 1 attached). Relevant
findings were as follows:
- 12 cities allow citizens to initiate both charter amendments and
ordinances, 3 allow only charter amendments, and 5 do not provide
for either type of initiative process.
- Of the cities pegging their signature threshold to the number of
registered voters:
- The highest percentage required was 15 percent in the case
of 3 cities (San Diego - charter; San Jose - charter; Milwaukee-
charter and ordinance)
- The lowest percentage required was 5 percent in the case of
3 cities (San Jose-ordinance; Jacksonville-charter and ordinance;
Columbus-ordinance)
- In most cases, the legal authority for ordinance initiatives was
found in the city charter, while charter amendment initiatives were
provided in the state constitution or statutes.
NCL spoke with the president of the Initiative and Referendum Institute,
a Washington D.C. 501(c)(3) non-profit non-partisan research and educational
organization, dedicated to educating citizens about how the initiative
and referendum process has been utilized and to providing information
to the citizens so they understand and know how to utilize the process.
According to the Institute's President, Dane Waters:
- A signature requirement of anything over 10 percent of registered
voters essentially renders the initiative process unusable by all
but the most highly financed campaigns. Mr. Waters mentioned a case
in Illinois where a court found a 25 percent signature requirement
to be unconstitutional.
- Most cities tie the signature requirement to the number of people
who voted in a previous election, not the number of registered voters.
- Pegging the signature threshold requirement to the number of registered
voters can be deceiving because registered voters far outnumber those
actively involved in the political process.
Analysis of Issue: The Model's current signature requirement
for initiatives to add ordinances or amend charters appears too high
in light of current municipal practice and of the implications it has
for citizens of ordinary means to effectively use the process.
Options:
- Reduce the signature requirements for both charter and ordinance
initiatives to 10 percent.
- Peg the signature requirements for both charter and ordinance initiatives
to the number of voters who cast their ballots during the previous
general election.
- Be silent on the issue of signature requirement for charter and
ordinance initiatives and explain in the commentary the considerations
that charter commissions should take into account in determining the
appropriate requirement for their city.
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