The DeKalb County Election Commission is offering a proposal to the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen that would hopefully make the election process go smoother for city property rights voters in the November
election.
Voters county wide, at all sixteen precincts, will be casting ballots for candidates in the Presidential election along with U.S. Senate and State Representative races in November. But in the City of Smithville, which includes the Courthouse, Middle School, County Complex, and Church of Christ Annex precincts, city voters will also be voting in a referendum on
whether to allow liquor stores in the City of Smithville. Only voters residing inside the city limits and property rights voters, who own property in the city but who live outside the city in DeKalb County and are qualified to vote, will be allowed to cast ballots in this referendum.
Unless the board acts to make the change proposed by the election commission office, approximately 160 property rights voters would likely have to go to two places to vote on election day in November. They would vote at their regular precinct by machine in the county-wide election, and then would have to come to one of the four precincts in Smithville to vote just in the referendum. That referendum vote would likely be on a paper ballot. This process will only apply to property rights voters, those who live outside the city in DeKalb County but who have property inside the
city and are qualified to vote in a city election.
If city property rights voters choose to cast ballots during early voting, they would likely have to come to the courthouse and vote in the county-wide election by machine and then go through the line again to vote by paper ballot just in the city referendum. Again, this process will only apply to property rights voters, those who live outside the city in DeKalb
County but who have property inside the city and are qualified to vote in a city election.
Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections, told the mayor and aldermen Monday night that under state law, the city could adopt an ordinance which would allow property rights voters to cast ballots in city elections or city referendums only by paper ballot through the mail. Such an ordinance would have to be adopted on two separate readings, like any ordinance, but this one would have to be approved by September 7 in order for it to go into effect by the November election this year.
Stanley said the city could choose to make this process binding for all future city elections for property rights voters, or it could only be made to apply for this one and only referendum issue in November.
Since no ordinance making such a change has yet been prepared by City Attorney Vester Parsley, the mayor and aldermen have decided to wait until the next meeting to act. If approved on first reading at the August 20th
meeting, a second and final reading would be scheduled following a public hearing at a special meeting the following week.
State law on this issue states that” In the case of individuals who are registered to vote in a municipality as non-resident property owners, the municipal legislative body may, by ordinance, direct such voters to cast the municipal ballots as absentee by mail ballots. Any municipal ordinance adopted pursuant to this section must be adopted and filed with the county election commission office no later than sixty days before the election.”
“Upon the filing of the municipal ordinance, a non-resident property owner may not thereafter vote in the election except by absentee ballot. No later than forty five days before the election, the election commission shall mail a notice to each voter registered as a non-resident property owner of the municipality advising the voter of the voting process and
include an application for ballot for the municipal election.”
“The election commission shall maintain a record of the municipal ordinance and shall not require a municipality to adopt subsequent ordinances, unless the municipality has repealed such ordinance since the last election”.
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