WaPo on three green-card holders elected to “nonpartisan, unpaid positions in D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions,” whose eligibility to hold office is tied to their eligibility to vote in local elections. DC law currently allows noncitizens to vote in local elections, but the House has voted to repeal that permission.
Tag Archives: local elections
“Delaware County borough official sentenced for attempt to steal mayoral election”
The Pennsylvania Capital-Star covers the sentence, delivered to the final co-conspirator of a scheme to submit fraudulent write-in votes in a 2021 municipal election.
(These sorts of schemes are rare, but when they do occur, they’re almost always in local elections. That is, of course, not an excuse — and doesn’t make it OK. That’s just where it’s possible for relatively few votes to change an outcome.)
“Miami approves delay of election to 2026, setting up legal battle with state”
Florida Politics reports on the Miami commissioners’ vote — against stern advice from the Florida Attorney General — to postpone city elections from 2025 to 2026. The move moves the elections to a higher-turnout occasion, but also prolongs existing officers’ terms … and may not comport with the city charter, which apparently requires voter approval for such a change.
“With $25 Million, Pro-Cuomo Super PAC Shatters Outside Spending Records”
The NYT reports on the largest super PAC in a NYC mayoral election. (So far.)
“High Turnover with Low Accountability: Local School Board Elections in 16 States”
An intriguing new paper by Vladimir Kogan, Stéphane Lavertu, and Zachary Peskowitz:
We analyze the most comprehensive dataset on U.S. school board elections. We find that nearly half of races go uncontested and that incumbents are reelected more than 80 percent of the time when they run. Because many incumbents retire instead of running for another term, however, turnover is high (with 53 percent of incumbents replaced in a typical election cycle). School board turnover is also only weakly related to student learning rates. These dynamics–high turnover disconnected from school performance challenges–occur across both urban and non-urban districts, regardless of student demographics and local media environments. Together, these results suggest that local democracy produces high leadership churn and minimal incentives to improve student learning, two findings that can inform debates regarding the benefits and costs of local democratic governance.
“School Choice and Household Participation in School District Politics”
A fascinating new Annenberg Institute paper from three MSU researchers on the connection between school choice and voter turnout in local bond elections. Theoretically, I can understand why sending your kid to a different school might change incentives to vote for or against a local bond, but it’s a more interesting question why it might change the incentive to vote at all.
“Big Cities – Tiny Votes? America’s Urban Voter Turnout”
More from the Yankelovich Center, this time on urban turnout, comparing presidential turnout (promising!) to mayoral turnout (sad trombone), and also noting the skew that comes with a different electorate.
“Hochul signs legislation shifting more local elections to even-numbered years”
WGRZ:
More town, city, and county elections will be held during even-numbered years, after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed new legislation on Friday.
The Democratic governor said in a statement that the move will “expand access to the ballot box and make it easier for New Yorkers to vote in local elections that impact their lives.” Hochul added that it will save taxpayers money by reducing administrative costs for communities. . . .
New York State Senate GOP Leader Rob Ortt swiftly voiced his opposition to the legislation.
“With total disregard for the bipartisan opposition to this proposal, Governor Hochul shamefully signed a bill that effectively ends local elections in New York State,” the North Tonawanda Republican said. “The touted benefits of this bill are a total sham concocted to hide the Democrat’s goal of expanding one-party control to every level of government.”
. . . Voter apathy was a concern addressed with this legislation, according to the governor’s office, which stated that 64 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2020 election, compared to just 25 percent in 2021.
Voting Rights Groups Settle Racial Gerrymandering Case in Florida
Voting rights groups reach a settlement with Jacksonville City Council, which agreed to continue using maps ordered by a federal court that provide fair representation to Black communities through the next redistricting cycle after the 2030 Census. This largely settles the case Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP vs. City of Jacksonville, which sued the Jacksonville City Council for drawing maps that “packed” together Black communities and denied them a fair voice in local government. The case was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU-FL) and the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School on behalf of local organizations including the Jacksonville NAACP Branch, the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, the Northeast Chapter of the ACLU of Florida, Florida Rising and 10 individual residents.