EAST LANSING, Mich. — Election day is almost here and in East Lansing, residents will vote yes or no on three amendments to the city charter. Here's what each amendment means.
The first amendment on the ballot is increasing the number of people on council fro five to seven.
The current council voted 4-1 in July to put this amendment up for a vote.
Council members for this proposal said it could increase diversity on council, lower the workload, prevent a group of three from taking council as a majority and bring council size more in line with surrounding municipalities.
Those against the proposal said they don't believe now is the time to make changes to the city charter and want a formal charter review first.
If this amendment passes, it will take place in the November 2025 election.
The second proposal is changing the swearing in date for council members.
The current city council also voted to have this put on the ballot which passed 4-1.
Right now, those elected to council begin their term the Tuesday after election day. This proposal would move the swearing in to the Tuesday following January 1.
Those for the proposal say the January date would fall in line with the state's canvassing procedures. Those against say they believe the verbiage should be changed to "the first Tuesday after canvassing is complete."
The third proposal is to support ranked choice voting and special elections to fill council vacancies.
This amendment was put on the ballot through a petition campaign by RankMIVote.
If passed, this would shift the current voting system to a ranked choice system and allow city council to call for a special election if a seat opens up.
However, according to the city attorney, both of these changes are currently not allowed under state law, so the changes would not take effect for a while if ever.
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