ABQ to Start Planning Special Election on Runoffs

City Clerk Amy Bailey says supporters of the petition to change Albuquerque’s system of runoff elections have indeed met the signature requirement to trigger a special election.

Bailey said her office just this afternoon determined that at least 12,091 valid signatures from voters had been submitted. Her staff stopped counting at around 12,325.

Under the City Charter, that means a special election must be held within 90 days — by March 11, in this case.

So it sounds like Albuquerque voters will weigh in on the proposal, which calls for requiring runoff elections anytime a candidate fails to get 50 percent of the vote in the first round of voting. The current requirement is 40 percent.

I’ll have more in tomorrow’s paper.