Palm Springs Considers Changes In City Election
The Palm Springs City Council tonight directed staff to prepare an ordinance that would require council and mayoral candidates to show a proof of residency, obtain more signatures and pay a filing fee.
A City Council subcommittee of Ginny Foat and Chris Mills recommended in a report that candidates for city council or mayor must show a proof of residency in the form of a California driver license, a California ID card, passport, utility bill, mortgage statement, lease agreement or a combination of the documents.
Currently, residents seeking election must be a registered voter of Palm Springs to qualify.
Because Palm Springs has many seasonal residents, the subcommittee found that voter registration may not be the most effective way to determine residency.
The conclusion came about partly because of alleged election fraud by Eloise Garcia-Mohsin, who ran for the council in 2009.
Garcia-Mohsin, 46, claimed she resided in Palm Springs when she actually lived in Glendale, Ariz. She faces charges of two counts of voter fraud, three counts of perjury and four counts of falsely filing election documents.
Garcia-Mohsin allegedly listed her address in election documents as 3200 E. Baristo Road — an apartment complex for senior and disabled people, according to court documents.
The man living at the apartment told investigators that Garcia-Mohsin asked to use his address so she could run for city council, the documents state.
The report also recommends that candidates obtain at least 200, but no more than 250, signatures of registered voters to run for public office.
The city currently requires only 20 signatures, according to the report, which adds the change would ensure that the candidate has a “base of community support.”
The proposed changes also include the adoption of a filing fee for candidates to cover the cost of verifying the validity of the additional signatures.
The candidates would also be required to provide a biographical statement that would be posted on the city’s website. In addition, a candidate statement would be required for publication in sample ballots.
