The full charter is available online. This version has no formatting. there is also a version with standard formatting.
In Section 600 of the Charter, remove the words "at large" from the second paragraph previously reading: "...shall be elected from the City at large at the times and in the manner provided in this Charter"
In Section 600 of the Charter, remove the third paragraph reading "The person receiving the most votes cast for a particular City office shall be declared duly elected. Ties shall be broken as provided from time to time by ordinance."
In Section 600 of the Charter, remove the last sentence previously reading "Except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this Charter, no incumbent member of the City Council while serving in such office with an unexpired term of more than six months shall be a candidate for any numbered Council seat other than the one which he or she holds."
Section 700.1 of the Charter is repealed and replaced. It previously read: "
Sec. 700.1 Elections - City elected officers.
For purposes of City Council elections, each Council office shall be designated by an appropriate descriptive designation, as follows: The Council seat which on the effective date of this Section is occupied by the Mayor shall continue to be designated as “Mayor”; each of the other six seats, respectively, shall be designated as “Council Member Seat No. 2,” “Council Member Seat No. 3,” “Council Member Seat No. 4,” “Council Member Seat No. 5,” “Council Member Seat No. 6” and “Council Member Seat No. 7” respectively, and shall continue to be designated by the respective designation. The designation so given to each such office shall thereafter be used in all election, nomination papers, certificates of election, and other election papers pertaining or referring to such office, and to designate incumbency in such office."
A new Section 700.1 is added, now reading: "
Sec. 700.1 Elections - City Council
Members of the City Council shall be elected out of a single multi-member election. Six Council Members shall be selected and seated."
A new Section 700.2 is added, now reading: "
Sec. 700.2 Elections - Methods of Election
The city shall use ranked-choice balloting in all elections for Mayor, Police Chief, City Clerk, and City Council.
Voters can rank, in order of preference, as many or few of the candidates running for office as they like.
The City Council can adopt a privileged ordinance to define vote counting procedures in light of the current capacities of the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
Unless modified by privileged ordinance, counting shall be done by the Meek method, as defined in March 1994 Edition of Voting matters by McDougall Trust. "
A new Section 700.3 is added, now reading: "
Sec. 700.3 Elections - Transitional Periods
Upon amendment to the City Charter of a modification that requires a transitional period, the City Council shall, by Ordinance, adopt a procedure that respects the prior practices of the city while efficiently transitioning to the newly adopted system.
For the November 2022 Election, the City Council shall adopt a transitional procedure that involves electing open seats for a partial, 2 year term."
A new Section 808.1 is added, now reading: "
Sec. 808.1 Privileged Ordinance
A Privileged Ordinance is one that, in additional to all other requirements, may only adopted upon a four-fifths (4/5) majority vote."