Mayor Ed Engler - Proposed City Charter Amendment would eliminate unnecessary primary elections

When Laconia voters arrive at their ward polling stations on Tuesday, Nov. 4 they will be handed two ballots. The first (white-paper) ballot will be the expected state election sheet that will include races for governor down through county offices. The second (colored-paper) ballot, perhaps unexpected, will cover several municipal issues.

At the top of the municipal election ballot for voters in Wards 4 and 5 will be (uncontested) elections for school board members. Following, will be a series of 7 "yes" or "no" questions relating to the possible adoption of amendments to the City Charter having to do with voting and elections. Municipal ballots given to voters in the other 4 wards will contain only the seven proposed amendments to the City Charter.

Two of the proposed amendments — numbers 4 and 6— represent substantial changes to our city election procedures and are at the heart of what voters are being asked to consider this year. The other 5 are what could be fairly described as "housekeeping" amendments — primarily things needed to bring charter provisions back in alignment with changes to state law.

Amendment 4 deals with the municipal primary election process. At present, elections for mayor and City Council are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in odd numbered years. A primary election for the purpose of narrowing the field in each race to 2 candidates is held on the second Tuesday in the prior September. The filing period for people who want their names on the ballot is 10 days in early June.

In recent years, instances where 2 or more candidates have filed for any given office have been rare and voter interest in and turnout for the primary elections has been dismal, at best. Turnout since 1997 has averaged 9 percent and the last two primary elections attracted just 3 percent and 6 percent of registered voters to the polls. It costs taxpayers upwards of $10,000 (citywide) to conduct each one of these primary elections, even though there often are not enough candidates on the ballot to actually eliminate anyone.

After the 2013 election, City Clerk Mary Reynolds suggested following the lead of Manchester and Keene — the other two New Hampshire cities to hold municipal primary elections. In those cities, the clerk has the authority to declare a primary election unnecessary if less than 3 people request a place on the ballot. City Council studied the issue and agreed with Mrs. Reynolds that voters should be given the opportunity to amend the charter.

Adoption of Amendment 4, simply put, will do away with September primary elections in any ward in which less than 3 candidates file for a place on the ballot. Similarly, there will be no citywide primary election for mayor if there are fewer than 3 candidates. If 2 or fewer candidates file, we will proceed directly to the November general election.

If a primary election is held in any given ward, or for mayor, there will continue to be a place on the ballot for write-ins. (More on that in a minute.)

Adoption of Amendment 4 will also move the 10-day-long candidate filing period from early June to early August. Why? Because it is reasoned that we don't really need 6-month long campaigns for city office. Having the filing period end roughly a month before primary election day seems quite adequate.

Amendment 6 stipulates that any person receiving write-in votes in a necessary primary election must earn at least 35 of them in order to be declared one of the 2 candidates to have gained a spot on the general election ballot. When City Council originally considered this amendment, the threshold was determined to be a minimum of 15 votes but the Attorney General's Office, which reviews the legality of all ballot measures, recommended the number be changed to 35 and the council concurred. Why the recommendation? Consistency, I guess, because the law having to do with state primary elections (RSA 659:88) dictates that a write-in candidate cannot be consider the winner of a contest for governor right down to state representative or county sheriff unless he/she attracts 35 a minimum of 35 votes.

And why the 35 vote threshold? To give preference to candidates who have actually declared an interest in the position. As opposed to people who have not asked for anyone's vote but are the benefactors of a handful. We had a situation develop last fall where a gentleman's name had to be added to the general election ballot because only one person filed for the office of councilor in his ward and the gentleman received 3 write-in votes in the unnecessary primary.

It is important to note that the adoption of Amendments 4 and 6 will not in any way preclude the possibility of a successful, last-minute, write-in campaign for mayor or councilor. There will remain a spot on the general election ballots where voters may write-in the candidate of their choice.

Sample ballots are available at the clerk's office in City Hall and online at www,cityoflaconianh.org (Under "Departments" in the pulldown menu, select "City Clerk - Records" and then select "Elections". The phone number is 527-1265.

Please take the time to vote on Tuesday. The polls in our city are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

(Edward J. Engler is mayor of Laconia.)