SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- The decision was anything but unanimous but the city council has approved a measure raising the vote percentage required to win a spot on the City Council from 34% to 50% + 1.
Tuesday's discussion and vote was part of a larger ordinance updating election practices and procedures for the city. Councilor Rex Rolfing drafted an amendment raising the bar for victory by 16 percent, and opening the door for more run-off elections to be held in the future.
Rolfing said the heart of the ordinance comes from his own feelings after he won his first election. "The night in 2010 when I was elected, I realized I wasn't going to get elected by more than 50% and I felt sick. I didn't really feel like I was elected." He says that feeling stuck with him until 2014 when he won 65% of the vote in his re-election bid. Councilor Michelle Erpenbach echoed those comments by saying "Think about the math involved in a 34% win. That means 66% of the people voted against you and you won anyway."
Previously if no one candidate received the 34% required to win a seat, a run-off would be scheduled between the top 2 candidates or top candidate and any second-place ties. The new ordinance requires a run-off in any race where no candidate reaches the 50% threshold. That run-off will feature the top two candidates or top candidate and any second-place ties, and will be scheduled for three weeks after the previous election.
The win didn't come without resistance, both from those on the council and residents who provided public input. Some questioned the timing of the measure, saying why are the current councilors changing the rules now that they are elected? Others went so far as to speculate that outgoing councilor Rolfing was trying to help a current declared candidate for the 2018 election find an easier path to city hall. Rolfing and others on the council were quick to tear down those accusations. "I apologize if some people think that I made money at this. I didn't. This has been a labor of love, and a labor of love that can move things better by having each individual candidate elected by a 50% + 1 [majority]," said Rolfing.
Vice Chair Christine Erickson called the dialog "unfortunate, because I don't think this is for your friend or against a particular councilor. It's not personal, it's just your policy idea, or ideas that feel this way, and that's OK. That's democracy, that's why we sit here, that's why we vote."
Others called the measure a solution looking for a problem or feared that the move would open the door for special interest groups to have a strong influence on upcoming elections. It was also pointed out more than once by both public input speakers and the councilors themselves that under the new system, many of those currently serving on the council would not have won their elections.
Councilor Greg Neitzert expressed concerns about how the new process would draw out the election process, and possibly make it too expensive for the common candidate to participate in the process. "More run-off elections will cost the taxpayers more money, and all candidates more money. If you think that we will have to send out more postcards and spend more money, that you're just going to knock on doors, it's just fantasy." He went on to say that run-offs just promote voter fatigue and make the election cycle last longer.
"There is no problem, we already require 34% and that's more than a plurality," added Neitzert
The final vote on Rolfing's amendment was a 4-4 draw with Mayor Mike Huether casting the tie-breaking yes vote. The ordinance as a whole passed on a 5-3 vote, with Neitzert, Pat Starr, and Theresa Stehly voting against.
Councilor Stehly did provide a counter-amendment that would have kept council elections at a 34% plurality and moved the mayor's election from a majority to that same standard, however that measure failed 5-3.