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