Charter Amendments 1-5 Proposed Ballot Titles

The Auditor's Office has released the proposed ballot titles for the nine Charter Amendments on the ballot in November. The titles for Amendments 1-5 are listed below.

1) The Pierce County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Pierce County Charter establishing an elected Pierce County Sheriff beginning in 2008, and providing for transition from the current appointed sheriff to a sheriff elected by the voters.

Shall this Charter Amendment be approved?

2) The Pierce County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Pierce County Charter concerning the County's performance audit requirements. This amendment would require ongoing performance audits in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, annual reports by the Council on the highlights, free copies of the reports available to the public, and evening public hearings regarding the audits.

Shall this Charter Amendment be approved?

3) The Pierce County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Pierce County Charter implementing instant runoff voting for County elected officials except judges and Prosecuting Attorney. Voters will rank candidates in order of preference at the general election. No primary election will be held. Candidates for partisan office must obtain 25 voter signatures to qualify for the ballot. Major political parties may determine which candidate may use the party label.

Shall this Charter Amendment be approved?

4) The Pierce County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Pierce County Charter reducing the number of signatures required to validate an initiative. Currently, to validate an initiative, a petitioner must collect valid signatures equal in number to not less than 10% of the number of votes cast in the County in the last executive election. This proposed amendment decreases the number of signatures required to validate to 8% of the votes cast.

Shall this Charter Amendment be approved?

5) The Pierce County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Pierce County Charter reducing the number of signatures required to qualify a referendum for the ballot. Currently, a referendum must collect valid signatures equal in number to not less than 8% of the number of votes cast in the County in the last Executive election. The proposed amendment would decrease the number of signatures to 4% of the votes cast.

Shall this Charter Amendment be approved?