You Own My Vote' banner with no indication of the party the candidate represents. With more details to come, the campaign is expected to release the full list of candidates this weekend and go public Monday. "We want to have a system of government that is nonpartisan," campaign director Daron Hill said. The new rules require a party-primary to get on the ballot. The new system requires candidates to turn in a petition with signatures of at least 4 percent of eligible voters. Candidates will need 1,000 registered voters to sign the petition. The state estimates the ballot will have two candidates with 3 percent and four candidates with 5 percent of eligible voters. That includes independent candidates. For the city to pass the initiative, 51 percent of eligible voters would have to sign the petition. Hill said he hopes to make the ballot but did not have specific numbers as to whether the number will go higher than 51 percent. City officials are expected to release details on the petition later this week. It's the third petition that the city has passed since 1993, when it asked voters to change the way it awards government contracts. In 2004, the city asked voters to change the way it elects the mayor. "These are things that directly effect our voters," said City Clerk Julie Schultz. "This is going to have a lot of people paying attention." Candidates will have three weeks to turn in their petition signatures, meaning the primary election will likely be May 14, Schultz said. The first order of business for the new nonpartisan municipal election would be to elect the city clerk in November. Under the proposed ordinance, the city clerk will have broad powers, including authority over how election campaigns are conducted and how ballot boxes are distributed. Voters will have the option to elect a deputy clerk in the same November election. A majority of city council can also select that person. City Council members will each have the ability to choose a city clerk after they are elected in November. The ordinance also allows the city to hire an outside company to run the city clerk's office, much like the way some local governments contract with private companies to do everything from road maintenance to police. Schultz said the City Council will be expected to work together on the transition as they get input from City Clerk Amy Jerminski. The City Council is the governing body for the city and they oversee the city clerk, who makes laws for the city. Since the city will begin the new system at a new election, they will ask voters to vote for city clerk in November. Schultz said it has taken several attempts for the City Council to approve an ordinance on the charter and the process. The City Council has approved each and every time, despite the costs, which usually involve contracting outside attorneys to draft, vet and pass the ordinance. Some people might think it is odd that local governments need attorneys to vet a document that only a few could understand. It is a practice that stems from local government having a separate role than the state. States run their governments but leave local governments to decide their own policies. State government could then sue a local government, which needs lawyers to defend itself in state courts, Schultz said. Local government attorneys are on retainer and keep in mind the same standard of practice that attorneys for an outside organization would practice. "They will determine what is legal, but the City Council will have to approve that legal advice," Schultz said. The city clerk will likely hire an attorney in the future to write legislation or deal with personnel issues. The City Council will also take control of city departments that fall under its control. The City Council will have its first meeting on the new ordinance in January. The City Council will set a timeline for when the deputy clerk would take over the office and how long it would take to hire a permanent clerk. The ordinance also requires the City Council to appoint a transition committee with the City Clerk. Schultz said the committee would not hire or fire the clerk. They would oversee the transition. The ordinance says if any part of the ordinance is challenged, the City Council would only be able to enforce the part that is not challenged. In other words, if someone were to challenge the portion of the ordinance that deals with the deputy clerk, the City Council would have to hire one deputy clerk. Schultz said the only way that the City Council could not implement the ordinance would be if it is found that the ordinance is unconstitutional. The ordinance would also move to get rid of the at-large voting system that is used for local elections. All local elected officials serve at-large, including city council members, mayor and the school board. The City Council could decide to switch back to a district election system but has never seriously looked into it. In addition, Schultz said it could be time to implement ranked-choice voting for City Council elections. That system, also known as instant runoff voting, would allow voters to rank candidates and the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and those votes are redistributed based on the percentage of those who voted for the eliminated candidate. Schultz said that would give more voters more influence and would likely result in more than two candidates running. The same concept is used in statewide elections, such as the U.S. presidential elections. Schultz said ranked-choice voting is an alternative that could be considered in the future and the change in the charter would be minimal. Schultz said they could decide to include an amendment on the charter to allow the city clerk to hire people to do administrative work. "This would be an important job for city hall that is in part to ensure our community runs smoothly," Hill said. "We're not going to pay city hall to work in city hall." The new municipal charter is more about the future of the city and changes how it operates. One of the changes for the future is the new system for the City Council. "This will make everyone come together as a team," Hill said. "I would like to see us work more collaboratively." The system would likely mean that candidates would work together to get the same goals. "Maybe this new election system will get the City Council to work more together and come up with a unified vision for the community."