HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 2488-2010the ✓ey er
KENAI, SKA
CITY OF KENAI
ORDINANCE NO. 2488 -2010
Suggested by: City Clerk
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, AMENDING
KMC CHAPTER 6.05, VOTING QUALIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES, TO CHANGE
THE TIME FOR THE MEETING OF THE CANVASSING BOARD, TO AMEND THE
PROCESS FOR ABSENTEE VOTING BY DIRECTING THE USE OF PRE -PAID
POSTAGE RETURN ENVELOPES AND REDUCING THE NUMBER OF WITNESSES
REQUIRED, TO EXPAND CERTAIN RECORD RETENTION REQUIREMENTS, AND TO
MAKE CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
WHEREAS, the Canvassing Board currently meets on the first Tuesday following every
City election to canvass the returns of the election, and begins its work at 10:00 a.m.;
and,
WHEREAS, over the years, the convenience of absentee voting, which includes voting
absentee in person, by mail, by facsimile transmission, and through a personal
representative has become more popular and, in turn, has increased the workload of
the Board; and,
WHEREAS, the process of canvassing returns is time consuming, involving
confirmation of voter registration, making decisions as to validity of questioned ballots,
counting absentee ballots, reviewing tallies of precinct election boards, and declaring
the results of the election; and,
WHEREAS, because of the increase in absentee and questioned voting, beginning the
canvassing of City elections at an earlier time of the day will assist in the process by
providing more time for the Canvassing Board to perform its work; and,
WHEREAS, State law requires only one witness to attest to the absentee voting in
State elections and it is more clear to the public to keep the procedures for City and
State elections consistent where possible to ease the voting process; and,
WHEREAS, because of the general increase in the absentee voting process, it is
desirable to look at ways to help promote voting in City elections and assist the voters
in expressing their views; and,
WHEREAS, the use of pre -paid postage for the return envelops for ballots will save
voters money and encourage voting.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI,
ALASKA, as follows:
Section 1. Form: This is a Code ordinance.
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Ordinance No. 2488 -2010
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Section 2. Amendment of Section 6.05.120 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai
Municipal Code, Section 6.05.120, Establishment of Canvassing Board and
Procedures, is hereby amended as follows:
6.05.120 Establishment of Canvassing Board and procedures.
(a) Pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 -9 of the Charter of the City of Kenai,
there is hereby established a Canvassing Board for the canvassing of all City elections;
regular and special, and to ascertain and declare the results thereof, as follows:
(1) The City Clerk is hereby designated as the Chair of the Canvassing
Board.
(2) The Canvassing Board shall consist of the City Clerk, Chair of each
precinct election board within the City, and up to five additional judges selected from
among the qualified voters of the City. In the event any such appointed member of the
Board is absent from the City, ill, or otherwise unable to attend at the time set for
canvassing the ballot, the City Clerk is hereby authorized to appoint another election
judge from the same precinct to substitute for the appointed member.
(b) The Canvassing Board shall meet in public session on the Tuesday following
every City election, regular or special, at [10:00 A.M.] 8:30 a.m. and, if necessary,
continue through the following day and shall promptly proceed to canvass the returns
of said election, making decisions as to validity of questioned ballots, counting
absentee ballots, and ascertaining and declaring the results of said election. The
canvass of the ballot vote counted by the precinct election boards shall be
accomplished by reviewing the tallies of the recorded vote to check for mathematical
error by comparing totals with the precinct's certificate of results. All obvious errors
found by the election canvass in the transfer of totals from the precinct tally sheets to
the precinct certificate of results shall be corrected by the Canvassing Board. A
mistake which has been made in precinct returns that is not clearly an error in the
transfer of the results from the tallies to the certificate of results empowers the
Canvassing Board to recommend a recount of the results of the precinct or precincts
for that portion of the returns in question.
(c) In order to be counted, absentee ballots which are mailed must be mailed on or
before the date of the election, and if the envelope containing the ballot is postmarked,
the post mark date must be on or before the date of election, and said ballot must be
received in the City of Kenai's mail by noon on the seventh (7th) day after the election.
(d) The City Clerk, as Chair of the Canvassing Board, shall report the results of the
election to the City Council as the first order of business following the roll call at the
next regular Council meeting following the meeting of the Canvassing Board.
Section 3. Amendment of Section 6.05.140 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai
Municipal Code, Section 6.05.140, Absentee Voting, is hereby amended as follows:
6.05.140 Absentee voting
Any qualified voter who may secure and cast an absentee ballot in a State election
may secure and cast an absentee ballot in a City election. The City Clerk shall
supervise absentee voting, and shall issue necessary instructions regarding the
procedure for absentee voting to qualified applicants for absentee ballots. The City
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Ordinance No. 2488 -2010
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Clerk shall provide the absentee ballots, the [INNER] secrecy envelopes for the ballots,
and [OUTER] the postage -paid return envelopes therefor, and any other forms and
supplies required for the use of absentee voters.
Section 4. Amendment of Section 6.05.160 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai
Municipal Code, Section 6.05.160, Absentee Voting Ballots, is hereby amended as
follows:
6.05.160 Absentee voting Ballots.
Voters casting absentee ballots shall mark the ballot, place the ballot in the [INNER]
secrecy envelope and [OUTER] then place the secrecy envelope with the marked ballot
inside the postage -paid return envelope[S], and return the[M] documents to the City
Clerk in the same manner and under the same regulations, as nearly as may be, as
required by law in State elections.
Section 5. Amendment of Chapter 6.05 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The City of
Kenai Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding a new section, Absentee voting
By Mail, to be numbered 6.05.170 which shall read as follows:
6.05.170 Absentee voting —By Mail.
(a) A qualified voter may apply for an absentee ballot by mail if postmarked not
earlier than the first of the year in which the election is to be held nor less than seven
days before an election. A voter may request his name be placed on permanent
absentee by mail status. The application shall include the address to which the
absentee ballot is to be returned, the applicant's full Alaska residence address, and
the applicant's signature.
lb) After receipt of an application by mail, the City Clerk shall send the absentee
ballot and other absentee voting material to the applicant by first class mail. The
materials shall be sent as soon as they are ready for distribution. The postage paid
return envelope sent with the materials shall be addressed to the City Clerk.
(c) Upon receipt of an absentee ballot by mail, the voter, in the presence of a notary
public, commissioned officer of the armed forces including the National Guard, district
judge or magistrate, United States postal official, or other person qualified to
administer oaths, may proceed to mark the ballot in secret, to place the ballot in the
secrecy envelope, to place the secrecy envelope in the postage paid envelope, and to
sign the voter's certificate on the back of the postage -paid return envelope in the
presence of an official listed in this subsection who shall sign as attesting official and
shall date his signature. if none of the officials listed in this subjection are reasonably
accessible, an absentee voter shall have the ballot witnessed by a person over the age
of 18 years.
(d) An absentee ballot must be marked and attested on or before the date of the
election. If the voter returns the ballot by mail, he shall use the most expeditious mail
service and mail the ballot not later than the day of the election to the City Clerk. It
must be postmarked on or before midnight of election day and received by the City
Clerk no later than the Tuesday following the election. Ballot envelopes received after
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Ordinance No. 2488 -2010
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that time shall not be opened but shall be marked "invalid," with the date of receipt
noted thereon, and shall be preserved with other ballots of the election.
(e) The City Clerk may require a voter casting an absentee ballot by mail to provide
proof of identification or other information to aid in the establishment of his identity.
(f1 The City Clerk shall maintain a record of the name of each voter to whom an
absentee ballot it sent by mail. The record must list the date on which the ballot is
mailed and the date on which the ballot is received by the City Clerk and the dates on
which the ballot was executed and postmarked.
Section 6. Amendment of Section 6.05.280 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai
Municipal Code, Section 6.05.280, Record retention, is hereby amended as follows:
6.05.280 Record retention.
a) The certificate of returns of the Canvass Board shall be maintained
permanently, and descriptions of election boundaries, precincts, and polling places
shall be maintained until they are revised.
(b) Other election records shall be maintained for the period set forth below:
Conflict of Interest Six years
Candidate Affidavit of expense
and contributions Five years
Election Registers Four years
Nominating Petitions. [THREE] Four years
Declaration of Candidacy [ONE YEAR, UNLESS
ELECTION CONTESTED] Four years
Rejected Ballots One year, unless
election contested
Certificates of Election
Return Reports One year after
recorded in minutes
c) The City Clerk shall inform the City Council prior to destruction of any records,
specifying the type of record and the date of the election in which it was involved.
Section 7. Amendment of Section 6.05.300 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai
Municipal Code, Section 6.05.300, Voting by mail, ballots, ballot review, ballot
envelopes, is hereby amended as follows:
6.05.300 Voting by mail, ballots, ballot review, ballot envelopes.
(a) The City Clerk may conduct a special election by mail.
(b) When the Clerk conducts a special election by mail, the Clerk shall send a
ballot to each person whose name appears on the official voter registration list
prepared under AS 15.07.125 for that election. The Clerk shall send the ballot [SHALL
BE SENT] to the address stated on the official registration list unless the voter has
notified the Clerk in writing of a different address to which the ballot should be sent.
The Clerk shall send ballots by first class, nonforwardable mail on or before the
twenty- second (22nd) day before the election.
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Ordinance No. 2488 -2010
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(c) The Clerk shall review ballots voted under this section under procedures
established for the review of absentee ballots.
(d) There shall be a small blank envelope and a postage paid return envelope
supplied to each by -mail voter. The postage -paid return envelope shall have printed
on it an affidavit by which the voter shall declare [HIS] the voter's qualification to vote,
followed by provision for attestation by [TWO (2)] one (1) attesting witness[ES], who
[ARE] is at least eighteen (1 years of age. Specific instructions for voting a by -mail
ballot and a list of the appointed absentee voting officials, their hours and locations,
[WILL] shall be mailed to each voter with the ballot.
Section 8. Severability: If any part or provision of this ordinance or application
thereof to any person or circumstances is adjudged invalid by any court of competent
jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part, provision, or
application directly involved in all controversy in which this judgment shall have been
rendered, and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this title or
application thereof to other persons or circumstances. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have enacted the remainder of this ordinance even without such
part, provision, or application.
Section 9. Effective Date: Pursuant to KMC 1.15.0700, this ordinance shall take
effect one month after adoption and upon approval of the United States Department of
Justice.
PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA this second day of
June, 2010.
ATTEST:
Carol L. Freas, Cit' Clerk
PAT PORTER, MAYOR
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Introduced: May 19, 2010
Adopted: June 2, 2010
Effective: July 19, 2010
RE:
KENAI, ALASKA
Mayor and Council Members
TO
FROM: Carol L. Freas, Cit Clerk
DATE: May 27, 2010
Ordinance No. 2488 -2010 Amending KMC Chapter 6.05, Voting
Qualifications and Procedures, to Change the Time for the Meeting of the
Canvassing Board, to Amend the Process for Absentee Voting by Directing
the Use of Pre -Paid Postage Return Envelopes and Reducing the Number of
Witnesses Required, to Expand Certain Record Retention Requirements,
and to Make Conforming Amendments.
The amendments proposed in Ordinance No. 2488 -2010, if adopted, will do the following:
Update our present elections code to allow for additional work time for the
Canvassing Board.
Direct that pre -paid return envelopes be provided for City of Kenai absentee by-
mail voters.
Reduce the number of witnesses required related to by -mail absentee voting.
Update the retention requirements of election documents to correspond with the
City of Kenai Records Retention Schedule.
Include more defined direction with regard to absentee voting by mail.
These amendments, if adopted, will affect voting rights and because they will affect voting
rights, will require the review of the Department of Justice /Attorney General. Upon adoption of
the ordinance, a copy of the ordinance, along with required back -up documents will be
promptly forwarded to the Attorney General for review. The Attorney General has 60 days to
conduct its review and, if there is no additional information requested, will forward a non-
objection letter back to this office. If the 60 days runs and no letter of non objection has been
received, the failure of the Attorney General to make a written response constitutes
preclearance of the submitted change.
Upon receipt of the non objection letter (or at the end of the 60 -day period and no letter is
received) from the Attorney General, the ordinance will become effective and that date will be
added to the ordinance. (Council will be notified of the receipt of the letter and the effective
date.)
If you have any questions, please contact me.
clf
aVillay'e with a Past, C# with a Future»
210 Fidalgo Avenue, Kenai, Alaska 99611 -7794
Telephone: (907) 283 -7535 FAX: (907) 283 -3014
www.ci.kenai.ak.us
MEMO •;,NDUM