To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Sally Misare, Town Clerk
Title
Ordinance Amending Chapter 2.01 of the Castle Rock Municipal Code by Adding a New Article VIII Initiative and Referendum and Providing for Procedures for Removal of Signatures from a Referendum or Initiative Petition (Second Reading)
Body
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This Ordinance was approved on first reading on March 15, 2016 with a vote of 6 to 0. Second reading was continued on April 5, 2016 with direction to staff to add language to address several issues identified by Council.
Executive Summary
In November 2015, the Castle Rock voters approved an Amendment to the Town Charter which provided the ability for an elector who had signed an initiative or referendum petition to request his or her name be removed from that initiative or referendum petition on or before that date the petition is filed with the Town Clerk.
It is necessary to establish a procedure to govern the process for the withdrawal of signatures from these petitions. Staff recommends the following:
1) Requests for withdrawal shall be submitted in writing
2) The request shall contain the elector’s name, his or her registration address, the date the request is being made, and should specify that he or she is requesting that the name be removed from the petition
3) Said request must be signed by the elector
4) Said request may be submitted via email, fax, regular mail, or in person and must be submitted to the Town Clerk prior to the petitions being turned in. If submitted by regular mail, it must postmarked on or before the date the petition is submitted to the Town Clerk. No request made via phone will be accepted.
In order to provide additional clarity to the process the following sections have been added to the proposed Ordinance since its approval on first reading:
C. A request to have a signature removed form an initiative or referendum petition may be initiated by contacting the Town Clerk’s office, whether by telephone, email, fax or in person. The Town Clerk will provide the voter instruction as to how to request removal of a signature from a petition, including the specific requirements outlined in subsection A and the standard form for making such request. The Town Clerk shall maintain on the Town’s website a notice informing the public of the right to withdraw a petition signature in accordance with Section 2.01.800 of the Castle Rock Municipal Code, as well as the suggested form for making such request. The website notice shall also provide contact information for the Town Clerk’s office for additional information on the withdrawal process.
D. Prior to removal of a signature, the Town Clerk shall compare the name, address and signature on the request to the information on the initiative or referendum petition for verification purposes.
I have attached a copy of the DRAFT form (Attachment B) to be posted on the website when a petition is in circulation. Please note this form will be customized to reflect the nature of the initiative(s) or referendum(s) in circulation at any given time.
Proposed Motion
I move to approve the Ordinance as introduced by title.
Attachment
Attachment A: Ordinance
Attachment B: Form