San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones this week requested colleagues on Metropolis Council to contemplate completely transferring municipal elections from Might to November, a transfer specialists say may enhance turnout whereas saving taxpayer cash.
This previous legislative session, the Texas legislature handed a bipartisan invoice that enables municipal governments to shift elections to November. Up to now, a number of Texas cities have taken up the supply, together with Dallas and the North Texas suburb of Mesquite.
“It’s estimated, transferring our Might municipal election to November would save taxpayers roughly $1 million and enhance total voter turnout in these elections,” Jones wrote in a letter to the remainder of council.
To bolster her argument, Jones supplied commentary from Melissa Marschall, Rice College political scientist specializing in native elections, and Zoltan Hajnal, a quantitative social scientist on the College of California, San Diego.
“Turnout doubled there after Mesquite moved native elections from Might to November,” Marschall and Hajnal wrote of their commentary. “Nationwide analysis additionally signifies {that a} transfer from Might to November may double turnout, and numbers for Houston and the opposite Texas cities that maintain November elections are in the identical ballpark.”
Marschall and Hajnal additionally famous that transferring municipal elections to November permits lower-income, working and middle-class voters a higher alternative to take part in native politics. Analysis by the pair reveals that larger turnout amongst aged or well-off voters usually skews Might elections.
Metropolis Council has till Dec. 31 to maneuver the date of municipal elections.
“If we as a council don’t approve transferring the election to November, we lose the chance to take action absent one other change to the laws, which isn’t a given within the foreseeable future,” Jones wrote.
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