55A - RESO GEN ELECTION & BY-WARD ELECTIONS

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2018 General Municipal Election and Charter Amendment June 5, 2018 Page 2 Pursuant to Section 10403 of the California Elections Code, the City Council is required to formally request consolidation of the City's General Municipal Election with the Statewide Election. The subject resolution fulfills this requirement by requesting that the Board of Supervisors of Orange County consolidate the general elections for the purpose of electing a Mayor and Councilmembers for Wards 2, 4 and 6 and proposed City Charter Amendment on Ward Based Elections to be held on November 6, 2018 and authorizes the Board of Supervisors to canvass the election returns. Also, candidates for Mayor and the City Council may choose to have a candidate's statement mailed to each voter as part of the Voter Information Pamphlet. As an added option, the County of Orange Registrar of Voters Office offers a 200 and 400 word option and further have the option to print or simply post an electronic copy of the statement on their website. Candidate statements are produced at the candidates' option, not mandated, and the election code allows the Council to establish a charge to be levied against candidates in order to recover the cost of printing, handling and mailing these statements. The Orange County Registrar of Voters estimated cost for the Candidate Statement as follow: Print in voters pamphlet and electronic copy of Candidate Statement in Registrar of Voter's Office website in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese: • 200 Words $1,546.00 400 Words $2,775.00 Electronic copy of Candidate Statement in Registrar of Voter's Office website in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese: • 200 Words $494.55 • 400 Words $672.55 Additionally, the City Council directed staff to bring forth a Charter Amendment regarding ward - based elections. Said matter has been discussed recently by the City Council on February 20, 2018, and March 6, 2018. In summary, the City of Santa Ana currently utilizes an at -large election system, which allows electors from the entire City to elect each of the six (6) Councilmembers and the Mayor; the councilmembers must be nominated by electors in their respective ward. The proposed Charter Amendment proposes a Ward -Based Election System in which councilmember are both nominated and elected by electors in that Ward. The California Elections Code requires the adoption of the attached resolutions in order to place a ballot measure before the voters at a special municipal election and must be submitted to the Registrar of Voters at least 88 days in advance of the election (refer to Exhibit 1). In addition to calling for the election, a resolution may be approved to permit the filing of written arguments in favor of or against such measure by members of the City Council, any individual voter eligible to vote on the measure, a bona fide association of such citizens or any combination thereof, and establishes deadlines for submission of such arguments to the Clerk of the Council. The Elections Code specifies that members of the Council would be given preference and priority, if authorized by the City Council. The subject resolution would give that authorization to any member of the Council desiring to submit an argument. 55A-2