A Smarter Elections Calendar
Nearly eight years ago, lawmakers in Iowa successfully streamlined the elections process in the state to help save taxpayer dollars, increase voter turnout, and reduce confusion at the ballot box. The legislation that was adopted at the time moved school board elections to every other year as opposed to every year and created important limitations on the frequency of special elections that sought voters approval for bond issues or new gaming initiatives. It was a common sense, bipartisan effort and represented an initial step away from an increasingly antiquated elections calendar.
Last week, the Iowa House sought to build on that progress by approving a bill that would create a common date for school and municipal elections. Currently, voters in Iowa head to the polls in September of odd numbered years to select school board members and then again two months later in November to choose mayors and members of the city council. That approach needlessly requires county auditors to manage and finance two separate elections in a relatively short period of time. But even worse, it establishes a voting process that virtually guarantees low turnout.
Take Dallas County as an example. Of the more than 46,000 registered voters in the community, only 7.19% actually voted in the school board elections this past fall. The city elections weren’t much better as only 9.59% of registered voters made it to the polls. Results across the state paint a similar picture.
Unfortunately, the current low turnout levels mean critical decisions at the local level are being made by elected officials who are only earning a fraction of the community’s support. That is a real problem as school boards determine how to allocate funds within their respective districts and develop programs to ensure strong student achievement. Local control in our school districts is a difficult if not impossible proposition without some greater degree of community engagement.
A unified Election Day where city and school board candidates are both turning out their supporters will increase these participation rates. We should make every effort to involve more voices in the political process even if there are challenges involved in doing so. And to be clear there will be issues that need to be addressed.
For example, municipal and school districts do not always match up and ballots will need to reflect those variances. In other words, voters from some areas will need to choose from a particular slate of candidates while their counterparts in other neighborhoods will select from a slightly different one. Others, myself included, have the opportunity of voting only in school board elections but not city elections since we reside outside a municipal area. That will need to be taken into account as well. But those challenges can be addressed through smart planning and technology.
Cerro Gordo County and the Cerro Gordo County Auditor Ken Kline in particular won national recognition for their development of the Precinct Atlas electronic poll book system. Kline and others in the county recognized the reality of elections administration in the 21st Century. Today, the process is simply too complex for anyone, even experts, to administer an election without some type of accessible, user-friendly resource.
Precinct Atlas uses laptop computers to walk precinct officials through every step of the voting process and tailor those instructions to the unique circumstances of each individual voter. If someone is listed as an inactive voter, the system shows the poll worker exactly what to do. If an individual received an absentee ballot but lost it, the system shows the poll worker how to provide a provisional ballot. Electronic poll books can absolutely use a voter’s address, even when same day registration is involved, to help a poll worker provide every voter with the right ballot with the right slate of municipal and school candidates.
Unfortunately, there are some who have an interest in maintaining low turnout elections. More voters means more competition and more unpredictability, which presents a risky set of circumstances for incumbents across the state. It’s ironic we celebrate competition virtually everywhere except politics where there are still far too many local, state, and federal elections where the outcome of the race is never in doubt. Sometimes that is achieved through a reapportionment process that creates overwhelmingly Republican or Democratic districts. In other instances, it’s achieved by working to reduce voter participation, as is the case here. Either way, we should not have to accept low turnout because of possible administrative hurdles or the desire for new school board members to have two months of preparation before taking office rather than only one. This is a matter of balancing priorities and the need for more community involvement should take precedence.
Next up is the Iowa Senate and hopefully they can keep this bill moving forward.
