Newton’s Programs and Services Committee met Wednesday to discuss moving Newton’s municipal elections to even years due to significantly lower turnouts during other years.
“The research is pretty clear that the turnout is very low, and the turnout is not representative of the community at large,” said Ward 2 Councilor-at-Large Susan Albright.
According to Newton City Clerk Carol Moore, the state and presidential primary typically see at least a 50 percent turnout, which is much higher than the percentages for Newton municipal elections.
“They are typically under 30 percent, sometimes as low as 17 percent,” Moore said. “I think the highest was 33 percent in a special election.”
In addition to potentially promoting higher voter turnout for municipal elections, the city could also save money by moving local elections to even years. According to Moore, Newton could save more than $200,000 if it consolidated elections.
“If we piggybacked on a state election, we are already staffing an election, we’re already paying for the police officers, the election workers, the mailings, the postage,” Moore said.
Some members of the committee, however, expressed a desire to keep local elections separate from state and federal ones.
“The cost savings are definitely there, so I don’t discount those at all,” Ward 7 Councilor R. Lisle Baker said. “But I think the value of having a locally focused election cycle is really an important part of our municipal commission.”
Baker expressed how he would prefer to keep municipal elections away from the partisan nature of state and federal elections.
“I think one of the great strengths of Massachusetts is the fact that all of our local elections are indeed nonpartisan,” Baker said. “I’m not eager to trade into the state election system for an economy of even these significant numbers.”
Ward 5 Councilor Bill Humphrey suggested taking a look at other cities that have merged municipal elections with state and federal ones to gauge whether or not voters engage with municipal races at a higher rate.
“I would be curious to see some examples of places elsewhere in the country that have done this … to know what the level of blank voting is on the lower offices,” Humphrey said. “If the argument is that we want to have more people participate and more turnout … I would also want to make sure that there is a compelling argument there that the turnout is significantly higher.”
Ward 3 Councilor Julia Malakie argued that voters likely turn out based on candidates who are passionate about local issues, rather than elections’ timing.
“Turnout is certainly something to aspire to, but, to me, I think people will turn out when they feel like they have a choice of candidates who are looking to make a difference and when they have enough information inside,” Malakie said.
Ward 8 Councilor Stephen Farrell discussed how the committee should address ways to encourage voting in local elections without switching the election years.
“I think it’s really important for us to understand that the municipal issues are very serious, and they really do focus on our needs and interests and concerns,” Farrell said. “I think it is up to us to generate more enthusiasm among the city voters.”
Albright maintained that switching municipal elections to even years would enhance voter turnout and be more representative of the community.
“From everything that I’ve read and all the research that’s been done about it is that it really does foster democracy,” Albright said. “The turnout represents more of the community, which I think we should all be happy to have that happen.”
According to Albright, the Massachusetts secretary of state is not in favor of cities and towns combining local elections with state and federal ones, which would make implementing this change in Newton difficult.
Despite the secretary of state’s disapproval and his own reservations, Baker feels the issue warrants further discussion.
“Certainly, I think it’s worth investigating,” Baker said. “My views I don’t think are likely to change, even with persuasive data. I think the point is that it’s worth investigating this.”
