DEPARTMENT: Office of the City Clerk
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Leticia M. Vacek, City Clerk
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Certification of the results of three Petitions submitted to amend the City Charter.
SUMMARY:
On Wednesday, April 11, 2018; three Petitions were submitted to me to amend the City Charter as follows:
1) Petition for a City of San Antonio Charter Amendment to Set a Limit on the Appointment, Term of Appointment, and Salary of a City Manager
2) Petition for a City of San Antonio Charter Amendment to Facilitate Voter Use of Referendum Process
3) Petition for a City of San Antonio Charter Amendment to Require Arbitration, in Lieu of Litigation, in the Event of Impasse in Collective Bargaining
Pursuant to Chapter 9.004 of the Local Government Code, a total of 20,000 petition signatures from qualified voters of the City of San Antonio are required to be submitted for each petition to initiate a Charter Amendment Election.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Upon submission of the Petition Pages, the Office of the City Clerk began the process of reviewing Petition Signatures in accordance with Chapter 277.002 of Texas Election Code (TEC) - Validity of Petition Signatures:
(a) For a petition signature to be valid, a petition must:
(1) contain in addition to the signature:
(A) the signer's printed name;
(B) the signer's:
(i) date of birth; or
(ii) voter registration number and, if the territory from which signatures must be obtained is situated in more than one county, the county of registration;
(C) the signer's residence address; and
(D) the date of signing; and
(2) comply with any other applicable requirements prescribed by law.
(b) The signature is the only information that is required to appear on the petition in the signer's own handwriting.
(c) The use of ditto marks or abbreviations does not invalidate a signature if the required information is reasonably ascertainable.
(d) The omission of the state from the signer's residence address does not invalidate a signature unless the political subdivision from which the signature is obtained is situated in more than one state. The omission of the zip code from the address does not invalidate a signature.
(e) A petition signature is invalid if the signer signed the petition earlier than the 180th day before the date the petition is filed.
On Friday, April 13, 2018; we met at Bexar County to receive training on the use of their software. The Office of the City Clerk staff utilized the Votec Elections Management And Compliance System (VEMACS) at Bexar County Elections Office to verify the three petitions in accordance with the law.
ISSUE:
N/A
ALTERNATIVES:
N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Office of the City Clerk hired temporary employees as well as utilized existing staff to verify the petitions. The total cost for the temporary employees was $7,255.61.
RECOMMENDATION:
As a result of our verification, utilizing TEC 277.002 parameters which were set into the VEMACS System, the three petitions are signed by a sufficient number of qualified electors.