Referendum November 3, 2015

On July 7, Council adopted Ordinance 2015-029, forwarding a proposed Charter amendment concerning the number of council districts to the ballot. On July 21, Council adopted Ordinance 2015-032, forwarding a second proposed amendment to the ballot. This ordinance proposed requiring a supermajority of councilmembers or charter review commissioners to vote in favor of submitting a proposed amendment to voters. 

The 2015 Charter Review Commission proposed eight amendments, all of which were approved by voters. 

Charter After 2015 Amendments 

Amendment Number
Amendment Text 
Vote Totals
Outcome
Amendment 1 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter concerning the method of electing County Council members. This measure would amend Charter Section 2.13 to provide for election of County Council members by voters only from within the council district from which the candidate was nominated, except for the at-large position which would continue to be selected by voters from the entire county. Should this proposal be approved or rejected?
Yes 31,003 (53.06%)
No 27,426 (46.94%)		Passed 
Amendment 2 The Whatcom County Council Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter limiting the power of the Council to propose Charter amendments. This measure would amend Charter Section 8.23 to prohibit the County Council from proposing Charter amendments to previous Charter amendments that have been approved by a 2/3 majority of voters, except if the Council adopts a proposal for such amendment by a 7-0 vote. Should this proposal be approved or rejected?
Yes 29,636 (51.6%)
No 27,800 (48.4%)		Passed 
Amendment 3 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter limiting the power of the Council to propose Charter amendments. This measure would amend Charter Section 8.23 to prohibit the County Council from proposing any Charter amendment to Charter Section 2.12 or 2.13, which pertain to the method of nominating and electing County Council members, except if the Council adopts a proposal for such amendment by a 7-0 vote. Should this proposal be approved or rejected? 
Yes 29,486 (51.58%)
No 27,683 (48.42%) 		Passed
Amendment 4 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter to provide greater consistency with state law regarding the wording of initiatives and referenda. This measure would amend Charter Sections 5.40 and 5.60 pertaining to initiatives and referenda and increase the word limit for ballot questions from 20 to 40 words. Should this proposal be approved or rejected?
Yes 47,448 (84.22%)
No 8,890 (15.78%) 		Passed 
Amendment 5 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter lowering the number of signatures required to place initiatives and referenda on the ballot. This measure would amend Sections 5.40 and 5.60 to lower the threshold of signatures required to place an initiative or referendum on the ballot from 15% of the number of votes cast in the last general election to 8% of the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Should this proposal be approved or rejected? 
Yes 28,766 (50.84%)
No 27,819 (49.16%)		Passed
Amendment 6 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter reducing signatures required to place citizen-proposed Charter amendments on the ballot. This measure would amend Charter Section 8.22 to lower the number of signatures required for placement upon the ballot of proposed Whatcom County Charter changes by citizen initiative from 20% to 15% of the number of votes cast in the County in the last gubernatorial election. Should this proposal be approved or rejected? 
Yes 34,643 (61.29%)
No 21,883 (38.71%)		Passed 
Amendment 7 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter to place term limits upon the County Executive and County Council members. This measure would amend Charter Sections 2.14 and 3.21 to apply a term limit of no more than three consecutive full terms to the County Executive and County Council members, to be applied prospectively only, beginning with the 2017 and 2019 elections. Should this proposal be approved or rejected?
Yes 39,430 (69.38%)
No 17,406 (30.62%)		Passed
Amendment 8 The Whatcom County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter to alter the requirements for composition of the Districting Commission. This measure would amend Charter Section 4.41 to include representation on the districting committee from each political party with a candidate who receives at least 15% of the vote cast in the County in the last gubernatorial primary or presidential election, with a second representative on the committee assigned to each party of which a candidate for those same elections received at least 33% of the vote. Should this proposal be approved or rejected?
Yes 24,869 (46.38%)
No 28,749 (53.62%)		Passed
Amendment 9The Whatcom County Council has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter concerning the number of council districts. This measure would amend Charter Section 2.11 and 2.12 to create five equal districts that preserve communities of interest and are as compact as possible. There shall be one council position in each of the five districts plus two at-large who shall be nominated without regard to district. Should this proposal be approved or rejected? 
Yes 31,096 (54.03%)
No 26,460 (45.97%)		Passed
Amendment 10 The Whatcom County Council has proposed an amendment to the Whatcom County Charter concerning equal standards to submit Charter amendments. This measure would amend 8.21 and 8.23 of the Whatcom County Charter to require any amendment proposed by the County Council or the Charter Review Commission to have a supermajority vote of the Commission or Council. If passed, this amendment will supersede Ballot Propositions No. 2 and No. 3. Should this proposal be approved or rejected?
Yes 29,584 (52.50%)
No 26,763 (47.50%) 		Passed 


Charter After Amendments

Copy of charter after the approved amendments in that year (and as documented below) were incorporated

Refer to the History and Proposed Amendments by Date for more information on each revision date.

Strike Version

Strike version of the charter sections that had amendments so you can see what changed

Proposed Amendments

March 2017 issues found in Charter

November 2017 Unintroduced Proposed Charter Amendments (no amendments made to Charter)

List of the proposed amendments with a notation of whether that amendment was passed or not, and including vote counts if available

Ordinances Resolutions and Memos

Supporting ordinances, resolutions, memos, and other publications that support or discuss the changes in that year

Ballots and Election Results

Election documentation and results if applicable