MALIBU : Date of City Elections Moved to Head Off Voter Confusion

The Malibu City Council, hoping to avoid voter confusion and an administrative burden for the county, has opted to change next year’s municipal election date from April 9 to June 12.

The move, approved on a 3-2 vote, was prompted by the state Legislature’s rescheduling of the 1996 California presidential primary from June to March 26, leaving only two weeks between the primary and Malibu’s election.

City staff recommended that the date be changed, arguing that having two elections so close together would confuse some voters. They also said the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office “would be swamped” with election results if Malibu and other small cities were to proceed with elections so close to the state primary.

The decision to reschedule the city’s election was opposed by Councilman John Harlow, who originally proposed holding the election in November, 1996, to avoid voter confusion. Harlow voted against the June date because he said state legislators are unlikely to pass a special law fast enough to allow adoption of the June date. Harlow said if the new date is not adopted early enough--sometime in June, according to the city clerk--then the election would automatically be held in April, 1996, a date Harlow said would surely cause voter confusion.

Councilman Jeffrey D. Jennings also dissented but could not be reached for comment. Mayor Jeffrey W. Kramer and Councilwomen Carolyn Van Horn and Joan House, whose terms all will be lengthened slightly by the change, voted for the June, 1996, date.

The city’s staff is working with Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl and Sen. Tom Hayden, both Democrats from Santa Monica, to pass a law that would allow the city to adopt June 12 as its official date for municipal elections.