Santa Fe voters would have an easier time taking advantage of three little-used democratic processes if changes to the city charter are approved in this spring's municipal election.

Current laws require thousands of voters to sign petitions for:

• Recall, removing officials from elected positions.

• Referendum, repealing new city laws.

• Initiative, creating new city laws.

But the fact that those rules call for signatures from more than half of those who typically vote in elections has "rendered it extremely difficult as a practical matter for citizens to exercise these forms of direct democracy," according to a group of city residents who reviewed the 1997 charter and suggested changes.

Before the charter's adoption, referendum, recall and initiative were not an option for city voters, and since then, no one has tried to get sufficient signatures on such petitions, said City Clerk Yolanda Vigil.

The charter now calls for signatures from 20 percent of the city's approximately 50,000 registered voters for referendum and initiative, which amounts to nearly 10,000 signatures, or about 60 percent of the number of people who vote in a typical city election.

Among the seven amendments on the March 4 election ballot are some that would change that requirement to about 3,000 signatures because it would be based on a third of the actual number of people who voted in the last election.

For recall of the mayor, the amendment does not effectively reduce the threshold by as much but would lower the number required to about 5,000 based on the turnout from the last election. For a city councilor, the number varies by district but would drop from about 3,000 to about 1,500 required signatures.

The amendments also would change the time for gathering signatures from 60 days to 90 days.

Making it easier to pass laws could have negative consequences, especially for members of minority groups. Todd McElroy, a gay Santa Fean, said some communities have used initiative to narrowly restrict the rights of same-sex couples, immigrants and others. "By lowering the threshold by which referendum and initiative could be accomplished, minority rights are imperiled," he said.

McElroy said he is likely to work with Santa Fe's Human Rights Alliance — a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy group — to oppose the amendment.

Marcella Diaz, executive director of the immigrant-rights advocacy group Somos un Pueblo Unido, said the group has not taken a formal position on the charter amendments. However, she said other communities have initiated several anti-immigrant proposals that could be harmful here.

"I am not saying that would happen here, because we feel like there is a lot of strong support for minority communities in Santa Fe. We don't really fear that would happen in Santa Fe, but it is something to consider," she said.

The League of Women Voters wrote a letter to the City Council supporting signature thresholds high enough to prevent frivolous petitions but low enough to be attainable.

President Jody Larson said the group didn't determine whether the ballot proposal meets that criterion but supports having voters weigh in on the amendments. "We don't have consensus on whether these are the right thresholds," she said.

Petition drives have large margins of error for organizers who typically need a cushion to make up for people whose signatures are rejected. Signatures are not valid if the accompanying printed information is illegible, if the person is not a registered voter, if the address provided does not match county records or if they are not dated.

State thresholds in effect for Santa Fe County require just short of 5,000 signatures since they call for 5 percent of registered voters for a referendum. Two years ago, residents failed to get enough valid signatures on a petition that would have turned back a proposed gross receipt tax.

The ballot questions will separately address amendments dealing with the signatures required for referendum, recall and initiative.

Note: This is the third of a series about proposed amendments to the city charter that will be before voters in the March 4 municipal election.

Tuesday: Rank-choice voting

Wednesday: Public financing of campaigns

Today: Fewer signatures required for direct democracy measures

Friday: Municipal judges required to have law license

Saturday: Mayor to vote more often

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.