(May 19, 2016) Balancing the need for free and open elections with an expense estimated to be between $6,000-$7,000 in advertising and equipment fees, the Snow Hill Council voted last week to amend the charter to revise the time a person has to mount a write-in candidacy.
Mayor Charlie Dorman said the town’s code had already been modified some time ago to change the declaration date to the end of March, but those changes never made it into the charter proper.
The new regulations impose a drop dead filing date of March 31, no matter the type of campaign a candidate intends to run. If an incumbent is unopposed following that deadline, the election will be cancelled, as it was this year.
Previously, a write-in effort was allowed up until one week before the election, which brought significant costs — voting machines would need to be rented and judges would need to be assigned, among other expense factors.
Other municipalities in the area, Dorman said, had already made similar moves.
“Everyone has the right to file,” Dorman said. “If there are two candidates, we’re having an election.”
Mayor Charlie Dorman said the town’s code had already been modified some time ago to change the declaration date to the end of March, but those changes never made it into the charter proper.
The new regulations impose a drop dead filing date of March 31, no matter the type of campaign a candidate intends to run. If an incumbent is unopposed following that deadline, the election will be cancelled, as it was this year.
Previously, a write-in effort was allowed up until one week before the election, which brought significant costs — voting machines would need to be rented and judges would need to be assigned, among other expense factors.
Other municipalities in the area, Dorman said, had already made similar moves.
“Everyone has the right to file,” Dorman said. “If there are two candidates, we’re having an election.”