HomeMy WebLinkAboutgr00090_000051_pg249Page 2 December 5, 1979
Pursuant to the Minnesota Statutes 410.11 a
Charter proposition to be considered adopted
must pass by 51% of the votes cast on the
proposition. A determination was made by
the Clerk- Administrator that the proposition
passed. The City Attorney advised that a
determination of the undervotes should be
made. The City's Finance Director explained
the undervote to some detail to the Canvassing
Board. The City Attorney said when deter-
mining what duties the Council as the
Canvassing Board had included the authority
to correct obvious errors. Certification
of the elections results by the Canvassing
Board commences the timing for an election
contest.
The issues before the Canvassing Board are;
(1) Whether or not to exclude or include
the Seven (7) "undervotes" to determine
the election results. (2) The Canvassing
Board must then certify the election results.
Mayor McCarty moved that the seven undervotes
be excluded from the election results since
they were not votes cast on the proposition.
The definition of an undervote as described
by the Secretary of State's office in its
regulations was taken into consideration.
Councilmember Forslund seconded the motion.
4 ayes
0 nays
The City Attorney advised that legal precedent
has held that blank ballots and defective
ballots would not be counted as votes cast
on the proposition. Previous court decisions,
the statutes and attorney general's opinions
have indicated that blank ballots and possible
defective ballots do not count in determination
of the percentage needed for passage of an issue.
Forslund moved to accept the results of the
December 4, 1979, Charter proposition which was
adopted by 1,031 yes, 985 no, for a total votes
cast of 2,016 votes. The proposition passes by
51.14% in favor of the proposed Charter.
Ziebarth seconded the motion which carried.