Linn County to hold Aug. 1 special election on representation plan

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County voters will take to the polls this fall to determine how future members of the county's Board of Supervisors will be elected.

The board on Monday approved a resolution calling for an Aug. 1 special election on the county's representation plan.

The county Auditor's Office has estimated the election will cost between $225,000 and $250,000.

The resolution comes after a more than 12,800-signature petition calling for such a vote was submitted earlier this month. With at least 11,710 valid signatures on the petition, the board had to call for the election.

The representation plan dictates how voters select their county supervisors.

On the ballot, voters will select from three options:

l The current representation plan, which sees voters in each district voting for a supervisor who lives in that district.

l For voters countywide to vote for supervisors who live within specific districts.

l To have all three supervisors elected at-large, with voters countywide voting on all the candidates and doing away with districts.

The plan selected in August must remain in place for at least six years before it can be changed again.

Last November, county residents voted to reduce the size of the Linn County Board of Supervisors from five members to three.

If the county maintains a representation plan that includes districts, a temporary redistricting committee will need to remap the county into three parcels of similar population.

In November 2018, Linn County voters will select three supervisors to take office Jan. 2, 2019.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com