Charter Election Proposition M

Shall Section 8.03 “Nominations” of the Charter of the Town of Addison, Texas, be amended to increase to 50, the maximum number of signatures for a petition to place a candidate in nomination for a City Council office?

Impact

The Charter currently imposes a cap on the maximum number of signatures for a petition nominating a candidate to run for Mayor or City Council. The current cap of 15 is lower than the minimum requirements set by state law as explained in Proposition 12. Proposition 13 would increase the maximum cap to 50 signatures. State law says that a person may only sign one petition for mayoral candidate and a petition for only one Council candidate, even though they can vote for up to three Council candidates in each election. A cap prohibits the ability of any one candidate to gather a large number of signatures.

Taken together, Propositions 11, 12 and 13, if approved, would require future residents wanting to run for Mayor or City Council to obtain a petition signed by between 25 and 50 registered voters in order to qualify as a candidate.