Prescott City Council unanimously approves Aug. 5 primary canvas, discusses charter language on majority rule

Prescott City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 18 to approve the official canvas of the Aug. 5, 2025, primary election and spent much of the meeting debating how the city’s charter defines “majority” for primary winners.

The council’s vote to validate the canvass was 7-0. City officials and members of the public discussed an outside legal opinion on whether the city’s charter or state statute governs the calculation of “50% plus 1” and whether the charter’s language should be clarified by amendment.

City Clerk: “Approval of the official canvas of the City of Prescott primary election held on 08/05/2025,” the clerk read to open the single-item meeting, and noted that new state legislation requires the council to act within 20 days of the election. The clerk described the canvass as a “ministerial act” to validate the packet and invoice included in the agenda materials.

City Attorney Joe summarized an outside counsel opinion the council had requested. He said outside counsel considered three issues: whether state statute or the city charter applies; whether the charter’s wording is sufficiently specific about how to calculate a majority; and whether ballots with no votes for a given office should be excluded from the denominator. Joe said the outside opinion concluded that a city charter can prevail over state election rules for local elections, that the charter’s “majority of ballots cast” language has been interpreted and applied consistently since at least 2010, and that practical factors (the county recorder does not supply counts of ballots with zero votes for a given office) supported continuing the city’s existing method. “Our outside counsel recommend we continue with the process that we've used since at least 2010,” Joe said.

Several council members said the council should consider clarifying the charter language. Councilwoman Freeworth highlighted the strength of the city’s recent home-rule proposition, saying Proposition 482 received 76.8% support, and credited an outreach video produced by Yavapai College intern Sara Saldana for helping boost engagement. Freeworth said the video received about 2,900 views, which she estimated represented roughly 17% of voters.

Councilman Montoya, who was a candidate in the Aug. 5 primary and said he lost, urged respect for the rules and certification process: “you agree by the rules before the game starts. And at the end of the game, you accept the results,” he said, noting his intent to certify the results despite wanting a different outcome.

Members of the public urged different responses. Ralph Hess told the council that the problem is not only charter wording but also the interaction between the Prescott charter and the Yavapai County recorder’s reporting, which posts totals by ballot rather than by votes for each office. Howard Mechanic recommended the council consider instant-runoff (ranked-choice) voting to avoid a separate runoff election and the expense of a second vote. Ken Bennett urged retaining the spirit of the current rule—allowing a candidate who receives a majority in the primary to avoid a general election—while clarifying the wording.

After public comment the council president called for a motion. Councilman Montoya moved to approve the official canvas for the Aug. 5, 2025, primary election; a motion was seconded (second not specified in the record). The council voted 7-0 to approve the canvass.

No charter amendment was formally introduced or voted on at the meeting; multiple council members said they would like to place discussion of possible language clarifications on a future agenda so voters could consider any proposed changes.

The meeting lasted a single, focused session on the canvass and related discussion and then adjourned.