On June 9, 2011, the City of Southport voted to annex two areas (known as “Area A” and “Area B” into the City. On June 18, 2011, a new state law was passed, SL 2011-173 and SL 2011-177, requiring property owners in certain involuntarily annexed areas to be subject to a petition process to deny the annexation.

On July 20th, the Board of Elections mailed petition forms to all affected property owners using the mailing address listed in the Tax Assessor’s records. To be valid, the petition must be signed by a majority of the owners of the property. For example, if there are three owners, two of the owners must sign the petition. The deadline for those petitions to be received in the Board of Elections office is November 28, 2011, at 5:00 pm.

Valid petitions must be received for at least 60% of the parcels affected for the annexation to be denied.

Procedures

On August 16, 2011, the Board of Elections approved the following procedure for handling petitions as they arrive in the office:

• Staff will open the petitions and make a preliminary determination on the validity of the petition. The petitions will be divided into the following three groups:
• Recommended: The petition will be recommended to the Board of Elections for caucus.
• Undeliverable: The petition was returned undeliverable. A second petition was sent via certified mail and was also returned undeliverable.
• Further Review: The petition was not executed properly. The property owner(s) will be notified by mail of any omissions or variations and given an opportunity to review.
• The Board of Elections will meet on November 30, 2011, at 10:00 am, to appoint 3 observers from the annexation areas and receive the names of observers appointed by the City of Southport.
• The Board of Elections will meet on December 7, 2011, at 10:00 am, to count the petitions and determine results.
• When clerical errors are made in signing the petition (signed on wrong line, etc.), the Board of Elections will consider the intent of the property owner when making a determination.

Frequently Asked Questions

• My property is listed in both mine and my spouse’s name. My spouse is deceased, what do I do?
• If you favor the denial of annexation, sign your name on the petition, attach a copy of your spouse’s death certificate, and return it to the Board of Elections.  If you are in favor of the annexation, do nothing.
• My property is listed as a Trust, how do I execute the petition?
• If you favor the denial of annexation, the Trustee must sign.  If the Trustees name is not on the top of the petition form, they should provide proper documentation showing that they are authorized to sign.  If you are in favor of the annexation, do nothing.
• I cannot find my petition. How do I receive another one?
• Send a written request to the Board of Elections and provide the property owner’s name, the mailing address, and parcel number.
• I signed my petition on the wrong line, what do I do?
• Draw a line through your signature, initial, and sign on the correct line.

Petition Status

Below is a link to view the list of affected property owners along with the status of each returned petition. For a summary of the total number of parcels and the number of petitions that will be recommended, scroll down to the last page in the file.

• Southport Annexation Denial Petition