Canton charter has conflicting sections on elections – The Cherokee Ledger-News: Top Stories

A runoff for two races is set for Dec. 3 in Canton, but the city’s governing document has wording that says otherwise.

The city’s charter — it’s governing document — lists in two separate places how officials should be elected. Sec. 2.12, under government structure, says “The council member for each ward and the mayor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the city at large, and each candidate for City Council receiving a majority of the votes cast from the city at large shall be declared elected as City Council.”

And, Sec. 5.13, under elections and removal, says, “The person receiving a plurality of the votes cast for any city office shall be elected.” Election by plurality means the candidate with the most votes wins the seat.

Both sections in the city charter, according to the document, were updated on Sept. 1, 2005. However, the update wasn’t done properly, according to City Attorney Bobby Dyer.

via Canton charter has conflicting sections on elections – The Cherokee Ledger-News: Top Stories.