Amendment Two on Metro Ballot Could Reduce Need for Future Special Elections

The sponsor of the second charter amendment on the Metro ballot this month says it could reduce the need for special elections in the future.

The primary change made by the amendment would be reducing the number of signatures needed to mount a voter-led charter revision. A petition would need one percent of the registered voters in Davidson County. Currently the figure is a moving target, requiring the signatures of 10 percent of the number who turned out in the previous general election. Turnout could be high or low.

The 10 percent figure has historically been far more than one-percent of all Davidson County voters, but at times following low-turnout elections the number has been lower.

Sponsor Jim Roberts says his amendment also keeps the city from being forced to hold costly special elections like the one going on now for his own proposal.

“If someone in this room puts out a charter amendment and costs me $350,000, I promise you I’m going to vote against it and take six people to the poll. This amendment will prevent that. We will, hopefully, never ever, ever have to have another special election.”

However, the language does allow for one special election each year. But it opens any general election to an unlimited number of charter revisions. The current limit on voter-led revisions is once every two years.