Davis needs a charter to change the voting system to choice voting. A charter is a legal document that says we can change certain aspects of our governance in an independent manner as a city. Non-charter cities, known as general law cities, sort of inherit a "template" from the state as to how certain things operate. The difference between chartered and general law cities has mostly been decided by the courts over the years. Voting systems, public financing of campaigns, and things like real estate transfer tax are all things that could go into a charter. However, what the Davis Citizens for Representation suggested and the governance task force suggested was a weak, general charter that basically said: "We are a chartered city. We have Choice Voting for our elections as explained in some ordnance we shall pass."
