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Charter panel lowers petition threshold for citizen referendums from 8% to 4%
Summary
The Charter Revision Commission voted to reduce the signature threshold required to place a citizen-initiated referendum on the ballot from 8% to 4% of registered Norwalk electors and approved a related change to reduce the number of initial petitioners required from five to four.
The Norwalk City Charter Revision Commission on April 1 approved a change to Section 4‑10 reducing the signatures required to place a citizen referendum on the ballot from 8% of registered electors to 4%. The motion was introduced by Commissioner John Levin and passed in a roll-call vote.
Commissioners said the change is intended to make a citizen referendum more feasible while leaving other safeguards in place. Levin told the commission that, based on the city's registrations, 8% translated to roughly 5,239 voter signatures and addresses and that 4% would require about 2,619 signatures. "I cannot envision it happening anytime soon," Levin said, but argued the 8% threshold was an "insult" and an "impossible barrier."
Nut graf: The commission limited its action to lowering the petition threshold…
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