A report released today entitled MassForward recommends, among other things moving local elections to even numbered years, in other words hold them at the same time that we’re electing our presidents, senators, governors and other state and federal leaders.
This report from Commonwealth explains that the the recommended change aims to address “low voter participation rate, especially in municipal races, which occur on off-years.”
The study recommends shifting the electoral calendar so that municipal elections would occur on even years – when state lawmakers and members of Congress are up for re-election. Every other even-year election in Massachusetts is either a presidential or gubernatorial election as well.
Less than 20 percent of Boston’s adult residents voted in the 2017 mayoral election and, according to the study, political scientists have established that low turnout elections are are dominated by people who are plugged-in to the movers and shakers, while young people and the disadvantaged are under-represented. In town meetings, the way smaller municipalities govern themselves, only two percent of eligible adults participated.
Would this move be good for Newton? Would it help achieve the report’s stated goal of engaging more young voters and minority representation in our elections?
We did look at this on Charter Commission. I do not remember the details specifically, but I do believe it would require a change in state law to permit municipal elections at the same time as state elections. Those municipalities that hold their elections in even numbered years do so in the Spring.
No. Keep as is. Otherwise what interest by the local public there currently is in Newton electoral politics will be overwhelmed by state and federal elections. Focusing on local Newton electoral politics in the odd years is of great benefit to voters and candidates alike, as well as to administration of City Government.
Even years-odd years, doesn’t really matter. If you want to increase voter turnout, give the people something to vote FOR and they’ll show up at the polls…
When many local elections are essentially pre-determined, people are not inspired to vote. We also have a serious problem in Newton with the City Council ignoring ballot box decisions made by the electorate. The 2016 cannabis law was not the first time the Council blocked a decision by the voters. They did it with the 2012 medical marijuana vote, and before that with votes to reduce the size of that board. It’s not “democracy” when a clique of entrenched local officials actively work to undermine the expressed will of their constituents.
Keep it as is. There will be too many races to focus on if moved.
Mike,
You’re absolutely correct that many local elections (e.g., virtually all School Committee) are pre-determined. And beyond that, all City Council candidates (except the sole Republican now defeated) are lefties — that is, Trump-haters, open/unenforced borders, welcoming illegals, build more housing to combat climate change and bring in, or replace more affluent with, less affluent residents, etc. etc.
But as I’ve said, Newton is so wealthy and prime geographically, that a complete lefty City Government can’t really ruin the city, at least for now or the immediate future.
So voters are left with miniscule differences between candidates; but IMHO still leave elections in odd years, at least for voting on those miniscule differences, or perhaps differences in candidate personalities or backgrounds.
@Jim– Let’s be serious. Do you really think Newton has a “lefty” government??? The same elected “leaders” who voted without a single dissenting vote to ban marijuana in the city??? Don’t attach a political philosophy to random acts of stupidity.
Chris is right, it’s presently against state law for municipalities to hold elections on the same day as statewide elections.
As to whether it should be legal…in 2017, a mayoral election, ~24,500 residents voted for mayor, but city council races only received 50-60% of the available votes. Similarly, people showing up for statewide elections still might not vote on local races. But the vote tally was definitely higher, in 2017 Albright (~13,100, an outlier) and Crossley (~11,100) got the most votes, while in 2019 the highest vote tallies went to Kelley (~8,200) and Crossley (~7,900). So the 66% more voters led to 25% more votes for council with a turnout of 15,432.
For me, I’m not sure a city or town is made stronger by more uninformed votes. When people don’t vote in local elections because they don’t know the candidates or the issues, will we be better off if they fill out circles just because they’re already at the polls?
@Rhanna
That’s an awfully condescending point of view. Who are you to decide who is “uninformed”?
The reality is, at minimum, people will vote for incumbents if they are generally happy with the City government, and vote for challengers if they’re not. There is real value in getting that sense of direction from a broader electorate.
I’m stunned that you both think so little of your fellow citizens, and we’re actually comfortable writing it on the Internet for posterity. Scary arrogance.
@William Berkman,
And I’m equally stunned that you would call me arrogant and condescending and thinking “so little” of my fellow citizens…on the internet for posterity.
It is sadly uncontroversial to say that a large percentage of (most?) Newton residents are not informed about local issues and elected officials/candidates for office. I don’t think “so little” of any of those people, and they would not be offended by the suggestion that they don’t’ follow local politics.
As I collected thousands of signatures for the charter commission petition, after explaining the kinds of things a charter commission could look at, the most common question I got was “Well, how many city councilors do we have now?” 2/3 of people polled 2 years ago could not name one of the 3 councilors from their ward. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have said to me in the last year, “Did you see there’s something going up across the street from the Star Market? Wonder what it’s going to be.”
In a time of many controversial, high-profile local issues, 75% of voters did not feel strongly enough about anything to vote last week. I once voted against an incumbent because I was unhappy about aspects of the status quo, albeit not necessarily well-informed about those aspects and many other issues. In the subsequent years I was *horrified* to realize that the person I’d help to elect was dysfunctional and not suited for public office, and not at all able to address the things I’d wanted changed. It’s all part of democracy, but voting for change or the status quo does not necessarily equate to being informed.
I agree with Rhanna, and then, plus some. Why would we want people to vote who can’t bother to show up to the polls on odd years? How are they going to decide who to vote for? Listen to their friends? Walk in the voting booth with a printed email from an incumbent SC member or city councilor that encourages them to vote for incumbents? Are these people are going to conduct serious research about candidates in even years?
Mike Striar,
Marijuana shops restriction is merely NIMBY. The entire elected city government remains progressive left.
Rhanna’s comments regarding the level of understanding and insight that the majority of Newton voters have about local issues is unfortunately quite accurate. I have come to a similar conclusion from my own canvassing experiences. When I first ran for city council in 2013 one woman asked me what an alderman was. I also found that the majority of Newton voters do not know who their ward councilors are or even name any councilors. I do not think any less of them for this. I understand that people have busy lives and it is very difficult to keep up with all that is going on in the City. It’s become even harder without a newspaper dedicated to reporting on local issues. It is my job to help keep people informed and to represent their interests.
@William Berkman, your rebuke of Rhanna who was simply sharing her extensive experiences, was completely out of line. It was an ignorant and unwarranted personal attack. You owe her an apology.
No one should ever justify the idea that it’s good certain people don’t vote because they are perceived as “uninformed.” No one is in a position to be judging others. Assuming your position is “right” and being OK with positions that make it harder for people to vote is simply not acceptable.
I think we should keep our local campaigns in the off years because National and state campaigns and referendum are certain to suck all the oxygen out of the political air and it might easily cause additional intrusion of contentious national issues into local campaigns.
I’m also convinced also that one reason participation rates are so low is the decline of neighborhood cohesion and effective, and inexpensive ways of communicating with almost every voter in Newton. There are many high tech tools that are available to almost anyone, but collectively they are overwhelming the patience of prospective voters and turning them off to everyone’s message.
When I was supporting local candidates even 25 years ago, I could:
1. Telephone voters from a sheet of numbers and they would pick up the phone and talk to me because they were not being overwhelmed with innumerable solicitations and fake calls.
2. Write a carefully crafted letter to the TAB and before that to the Newton Graphic, place a single stamp on the envelope and be reasonably assured that it would be printed and that literally thousands of people would at least give it a glance.
3. Go door to door and be reasonably certain that there would be someone at home who would take time to hear what I had to say. Many would even be pleased that I knocked on their door.
4. The campaign I was involved in could also have raised sufficient funds to do, at least, a single mailing before election day, and it was highly likely that most voters would read what it had to say. Today, most campaign literature simply never gets read because it gets delivered along with reams of ads, solicitations, catalogues and junk mail that go straight into the recycling bag. I know that’s what happens in the Burke family.
5. On occasion, I also wrote personal letters to people I knew in my neighborhood. I know from feedback that these were extremely effective because people actually read them. The audience was limited, but very across the board politically. Now, even personal letters can wind up in the recycling bag before they are read.