CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. 44

A CHARTER ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS, EXEMPTING THE CITY FROM THE PROVISIONS OF K.S.A 2015 SUPP. 25-2108a, AND AMENDMENTS THERETO, PERTAINING TO PRIMARY ELECTIONS, AND PROVIDING SUBSTITUTE AND ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS:

SECTION 1. Pursuant to Section 5(c)(2) of Article 12 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, the City of Lawrence, Kansas (“the City”) hereby elects to exempt itself from, and to make inapplicable to it, K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 25-2108a, and amendments thereto, pertaining to primary elections, which applies to the City, but is part of an enactment that does not apply uniformly to all cities.

SECTION 2. There shall be a primary election of city officers on the first Tuesday in August of each odd-numbered year of every year that the City has a city election, except as otherwise provided in Section 3.

SECTION 3.  No primary election of city officers shall be held unless by holding such primary election one (1) or more persons will be eliminated as candidates for office.  In the event there are not more than two (2) candidates for any one office, the names of the candidates for such office shall not appear on the primary election ballots, and there shall be no primary election for such office, but the names of such candidates shall be placed on the general city election ballot.   

SECTION 4.  In the event of a primary election, the persons who receive the most votes, equal in number to twice the number of offices open for election, shall have their names placed on the ballot of the general election.

SECTION 5.  On the ballots in general city elections, blank lines for the names of write-in candidates shall be printed at the end of the list of candidates for each different office.  The number of blank lines for each elected office shall be equal to the number of candidates to be elected thereto.  No lines for write-in candidates shall appear on primary city election ballots. 

SECTION 6. This Charter Ordinance shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks as provided by law.

SECTION 7. This Charter Ordinance shall take effect sixty-one days after final publication unless a sufficient petition for a referendum is filed and a referendum held as provided in Section 5(c)(3) of Article 12 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, in which case the Charter Ordinance shall only be effective if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon.

SECTION 8. Upon this Charter Ordinance becoming effective, the City Clerk shall record the Charter Ordinance, with a statement describing the manner of passage, in the City Ordinance book and shall forward to the Kansas Secretary of State a certified copy of this Charter Ordinance.

PASSED by the Governing Body of the City of Lawrence, Kansas, with not less than two-thirds of the members of the Governing Body voting in favor thereof, this ____ day of May, 2016.

APPROVED:

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Mike Amyx

Mayor

ATTEST:

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Brandon McGuire

Acting City Clerk

APPROVED AS TO FORM:                   

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Toni R. Wheeler

City Attorney

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NOTICE TO PUBLISHER

Publish once each week for two consecutive weeks and return one Proof of Publication to the City Clerk and to the City Attorney.