Charter Amendment Approved for Birmingham's November Ballot

It's barely spring but already the November general election is on the minds of Birmingham city leaders, who voted Monday night to place an amendment to the city's charter on the November ballot. 

The amendment wouldn't change much: according to City Clerk Laura Broski, Michigan recently changed its filing deadline to 15 weeks prior to an election, a law that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2014. 

That means Birmingham's City Charter has to be amended to adhere to state law, and according to a memo from Broski addressed to the Birmingham City Commission, "any changes to the charter must go before the voters." 

Birmingham has voted for something like this before. In 2010, Michigan moved the filing deadline to 12 weeks before an election, a change that was soon after reflected in the Birmingham City Charter after receiving approval from voters in November 2010.

By voting yes this November, Birmingham's revised City Charter wouldn't specify any dates, instead only noting that filing deadlines are on the date "specified in accordance with Michigan Election Law." 

The new election law will not impact those running for office this fall. The filing deadline for those running during the November 2013 elections — including those running for Birmingham City Commission and the Baldwin Library Board — is still Aug. 13.