Chapter 37 — ELECTIONS

For the purpose of electing the five members of the Council as provided by the Charter of the city, the city is hereby divided into five wards which shall be designated and constituted as described in this subchapter. ('63 Code, § 2-4.101) (Ord. 257-C.S., passed 1-2-76)

The boundaries and the number of each of the five wards for City Council are set forth in Exhibit A, attached to Ordinance No. 866-C.S., including a map of the wards, which is incorporated herein by reference.

(‘63 Code, § 2-4.102) (Ord. 257-C.S., passed 1-2-76; Am. Ord. 866- C.S., passed 11-7-17)

VOTING

• (A) Definitions. For purposes of this subchapter, the following words, terms and phrases have these definitions:

CHOICE. An indication on a ballot of a voter's assigned ranking of candidates (i.e., first choice, second choice, third choice, etc.) for any single office, according to the voter's preference.

CONTINUING BALLOT. A ballot that counts towards a continuing candidate.

CONTINUING CANDIDATE. A candidate that has not been eliminated. In the first round of counting, this means all candidates including write-ins.

EXHAUSTED BALLOT. A ballot whose continuing candidates have all been eliminated shall be declared "exhausted" and shall not count towards any candidate in that round or in subsequent rounds.

FINAL ROUND. The round in which there are only two continuing candidates.

MAJORITY OF VOTES. Fifty percent of the votes plus one.

NEXT RANKED. The highest ranked choice for a continuing candidate.

OVERVOTING. An overvote occurs when an elector has ranked more than one candidate for the same ranking. For example, if an elector selects more than one candidate to be their first (or second, or third, etc.) choice.

RANKED CHOICE VOTING. An election system in which voters rank the candidates for office in order of preference, and the ballots are counted in rounds that simulate a series of runoffs until the final round, whereupon the one of those two candidates with the majority of votes is determined to be the winner. RANKED CHOICE VOTING is also known as "instant runoff voting."

ROUND OF COUNTING or ROUND . A step in the counting process during which votes for all continuing candidates are tabulated for the purpose of determining which candidate has achieved a majority of the votes cast for a particular office, and, if no candidate has achieved a majority, which candidate or candidates must be eliminated.

SKIPPED RANKING. Occurs when an elector leaves a ranking blank and then ranks a candidate in a subsequent ranking. For

example, if an elector selects a first-choice candidate and a third-choice candidate, but does not select a second-choice candidate. UNDERVOTING. A ballot that has not candidates indicated at any ranking shall be declared an "undervote" and shall not count towards any candidate in that round or in subsequent rounds.

VOTE. A ballot choice that is counted toward the election of a candidate. During each round of counting, each continuing ballot contains one vote. All first choices are votes and lower ranked choices are potential runoff votes that may, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter, become votes that are subsequently credited for a continuing candidate. (Ord. 928-C.S., passed 12-7-21; Am. Ord. 955-C.S., passed 7-16-24)

(A) Ranked choice voting elections for the offices of Mayor and City Council member must be conducted according to the procedures in this chapter.

(B) Ranked choice voting will commence not later than the 2024 General Municipal Election and continue thereafter for all general municipal elections.

(C) The City Elections Official must coordinate with the Humboldt County Registrar of Voters to implement ranked choice voting in the 2022 General Municipal Election if that implementation is feasible.

(D) The agreement of the Humboldt County Registrar of Voters is a precondition to the election services that allow the city to use ranked choice voting and to consolidate the city's municipal election with November General Elections prior to the use of ranked choice voting.

(E) Once a candidate receives a majority of the votes, the County's Registrar of Voters is not required to continue counting to determine the candidate ranking beyond first place.

(F) The County's Registrar of Voters will report the results of the first round of tabulations and the final round of tabulations. The County's Registrar of Voters is not required to report every round of tabulations.

(G) In the event that any ballot reaches a ranking with two or more different candidates indicated, that ballot shall immediately be declared an "overvote" and that ballot shall not count as a vote for any candidate in that round or in subsequent rounds.

(Ord. 928-C.S., passed 12-7-21; Am. Ord. 955-C.S., passed 7-16-24)

(A) In any Mayoral or Council member election conducted by ranked choice voting, the ballot must allow voters to rank not less than three candidates, including write-in candidates, in order of preference.

(B) The ballot must not interfere with a voter's ability to rank up to three write-in candidates.

(Ord. 928-C.S., passed 12-7-21; Am. Ord. 955-C.S., passed 7-16-24)

The ballots for each seat must be counted in rounds.

(A) In the first round, every ballot counts as a vote for the first-choice candidate on that ballot.

(B) If no candidate receives a majority in the first or a subsequent round, the candidate receiving the fewest number of votes in that round is eliminated.

(C) Every ballot counting towards the eliminated candidate is then counted again for votes cast for the next-ranked continuing candidate. All the continuing ballots for all continuing candidates are then tabulated in a new round.

(D) Where a skipped ranking situation arises, the elector's votes will be counted as if no skipped ranking had occurred, and the County's Registrar of Voters is directed to count the elector's next-ranked choice in the next round, whether or not the choice is accurately sequentially numbered. In the example above, this means that the elector's third-choice candidate would be counted as the elector's second-choice candidate, and so on.

(E) In the final round, the candidate who receives the majority of votes from the continuing ballots is the winner. If two candidates in the final round are tied, the winner will be the tied candidate who received the higher number of votes in round one.

(F) In the event that there is a tie in any other rank or round besides the top two candidates in the final round, the candidate who is eliminated will be selected by lot (e.g. by a coin flip or other random metric), unless such selection is not necessary because a top candidate has already been determined.

(Ord. 928-C.S., passed 12-7-21; Am. Ord. 955-C.S., passed 7-16-24)

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS; REPORTING

(A) No person shall make and no candidate shall solicit or accept any contribution which would cause the total amount contributed by that person to that candidate, including contributions to all committees controlled by the candidate, to exceed $500 within any single calendar year.

(B) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a candidate’s contribution of his or her personal funds to his or her own campaign. Any such contributions shall be disclosed in accordance with state law.

• (C) Contributions in excess of the maximum amount provided in division (A) of this section shall, within 14 days of receipt,

either be: (1) returned to the donor; or (2) paid to the City Clerk for deposit in the general fund of the city.

(D) A contribution shall not be considered received if it is not negotiated, deposited or utilized, and, in addition, either returned to the donor or paid to the City Clerk for deposit in the general fund of the city within 14 days of receipt.

(E) “Volunteer personal services” covered under Cal. Government Code 84300 as non-monetary contributions are not subject to the contribution limits set out in division (A) above.

(Ord. 752-C.S., passed 6-15-10; Am. Ord. 773-C.S., passed 12-20-11)

(A) No person shall make, and no person or committee shall solicit, contributions within any single calendar year in excess of $500 from any person in any single candidacy period for or to a committee which makes independent expenditures of $500 or more in support of or in opposition to any candidate.

(B) No committee which makes independent expenditures of $500 or more in support of or in opposition to any candidate shall accept any contribution in excess of $500 from any person within any single calendar year.

(Ord. 752-C.S., passed 6-15-10; Am. Ord. 773-C.S., passed 12-20-11)