By Arnold Adler
Contributing Writer
PARAMOUNT — Voters who cast their ballots for the City Council in March 2020 will jump to a June vote in 2022 but switch back to March in 2024.
That’s because the City Council Sept. 7 agreed to reword the election ordinance to state the municipal election would coincide with the state’s primary election instead of specifically designating a March election.
A recent state law moves the primary to March in presidential election years and back to June in years where there is no presidential race.
The ordinance change, approved 3-0, is set for final action Sept. 21, City Clerk Heide Luce said.
Terms of office for the two council members set to expire in March 2022, Laurie Guillen and Peggy Lemons, will be extended to June 2022, Luce said.
“In December 2017, the city’s election date was changed to March of even-numbered years to coincide with the statewide primary election as a result of the requirements of Senate Bill 415, the California Voter Participation Rights Act,” Luce said in a report to the council.
SB 415 required cities throughout the state to hold their regular municipal election in conjunction with a statewide election. At the time SB 415 was implemented, statewide elections dates were held in June or November of even-numbered years.
However, Senate Bill 970 in 2018 changed the date of the statewide primary election to June in years where there is no presidential election and March in years with a presidential election.
