August Vote Could Eliminate Need For Runoff Elections

Changes suggested after costly December mayoral runoff race.

On Nov. 6, 2001, following a crowded field of candidates that resulted in Rob Berner being elected mayor with just 20 percent of the “yes” votes, Avon Lake electors opted to change the charter so that no mayoral candidate could be elected with less than a "50 percent plus one" vote. The issue won in a landslide with 81 percent of voters supporting a majority win. Ten years later, the city faced a runoff election when none of the three candidates in a three-way November 2011 mayoral race earned 50 percent of the vote, forcing a December runoff election. Runoff elections will be done away with if a proposed charter amendment passes in the August 2012 election asking voters if they would support a non-partisan Primary Election followed by a …

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