Supervisor Jake McGoldrick: Changing the Election Cycle

Did you know that in November 2003, less than half of San Francisco's registered voters elected the offices of the mayor, sheriff, and district attorney? Similarly, a simple plurality in the 2001 and 2005 municipal elections elected the city attorney and city treasurer.

Voter turn-out in the November 2003 municipal election among registered voters was 45.67 percent, as opposed to 74.31 percent in the November 2004 presidential election. Convert that into raw numbers for the November 2003 election and you get 209,723 people deciding the City's future for a population of 739,426.

Voter turn-out for our municipal elections is abysmal. This is one of the reasons I recently proposed a charter amendment that will change the election cycle for local offices to coincide with federal and state elections. Under the proposal, the offices of the mayor, sheriff, and district attorney would run for five-year terms in 2007. Thereafter, beginning in 2012, these offices would continue to be elected every four years.

The city attorney and city treasurer's offices would be elected for five-year terms in November 2009. Beginning in 2014, both offices would be elected every four years.

All of these local offices would coincide with both federal and statewide elections beginning in 2012 and 2014. This proposal will result in the election of local officials by a higher percentage of voters.

It also makes the voting process less burdensome, less time consuming and more convenient for the voters. It saves time and money for the City, making local government more efficient.

Officials Elected By More Voters
Why is it important to increase voter turn out for municipal elections?

First, a democracy is only as good as the participation of its individuals and of its civil society as a whole. Greater participation at the ballot box can lead to greater participation in local government, where the opportunities for civic participation are high. Residents can engage their local officials at local events, such as neighborhood meetings. They can provide public comment at legislative hearings, join a task force to advise policymakers, sit on commissions and boards and weigh-in on issues that affect us all.

Second, greater participation by voters more accurately reflects the will of the people, whereas, a low voter turn-out results in unequal representation. Thus, high voter turn-out for local elections is an important aspect of having our municipal government truly represent the will of its citizens.

With 24 elections over a span of 10 years, voters are expected, on average, to turn up at the polls twice a year. This average includes elections involving all levels of government as well as primary elections. Having so many successive elections can decrease voter turn out.

Voters do balance their civic duty with the demands of everyday life. However, at some point, the time and effort one expends to read and understand the materials, to make decisions and to actually vote may outweigh one's desire to vote. The number of elections may even confuse and discourage voters from voting in some, if not all, of the different types of elections.

Saves Time and Money
According to the office of the legislative analyst, election costs have averaged $8.6 million per year depending on the number of elections. Appropriations for elections were particularly high, $19,098,436, during the 2003-2004 fiscal year due to the four elections that were held during that time period. These costs are associated with developing and mailing voter guides, printing ballot cards, hiring poll workers and renting polling places, to name a few.

Employees at the SF Department of Elections spend most of their time ramping up for each election. Instead, some of these efforts can be focused on voter outreach and registration.

Under my proposal, the City will decrease the number of elections, saving at least $26,233,167 over 10 years. This figure does not take into account ongoing costs, such as employee salaries and fringe benefits, nor does it account for inflation.

In sum, presidential elections have the highest voter turnout. If we want to have our local officials elected by a large portion of our residents, we need to have our local election cycle coincide with federal or statewide elections. If we want to increase voter turn-out, we need to turn the tide of voter burn-out.

San Francisco Supervisor Jake McGoldrick represents District 1.