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Brooklyn Park council unanimously adopts charter amendment requiring birth-year field on petition forms
Summary
The City Council approved Ordinance 2026 on second reading to add columns, including year of birth, to candidate and referendum petition forms to confirm signatories are qualified voters, passing 7-0 after brief questions on the state rule prompting the change.
The Brooklyn Park City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 2026 on second reading, amending the Home Rule Charter to add signature columns — including a space for a signatory’s year of birth — to nomination and referendum petition forms so the city can confirm signers are qualified voters.
Barbara Bora, vice chair of the city’s Charter Commission, said the change is administrative and called it "relatively straightforward" as a way to align the charter with a state rule and statute. She told the council the commission presented the amendment after the League of Minnesota Cities asked charter cities to ensure compliance.
Councilmember Mary Tran asked when the cited state rule took effect. City legal counsel and the Charter Commission representative said the rule has been in effect for some years and offered to follow up with the precise effective date; Bora said the action is meant to bring the city’s charter language into alignment with state requirements.
A motion to waive the reading and adopt the ordinance passed on a roll-call vote of 7-0. The council then approved a motion, also 7-0, finding that the ordinance summary clearly informs the public of its intent and effect.
The ordinance amends Chapter 4 (sec. 4.07) and Chapter 6 (secs. 6.04 and 6.12) of the Home Rule Charter to add year-of-birth and related signature fields to nomination petitions, regular petitions and referendum signature papers. City staff and legal counsel characterized the change as an administrative compliance measure rather than a substantive change to ballot access.
Next steps specified in the meeting: the ordinance was adopted and the council approved the summary; staff were expected to implement updated petition forms consistent with the amended charter.
