Consolidating Elections: Katie Thompson on NPR
"Personnel is really important to the security of elections, which I think we can all agree is an important factor. We want the polls to be adequately staffed"
This fall, New York City is considering a plan to place local races on the same ballot as presidential and midterm races, part of a broader push to consolidate election dates. ALEC Process and Procedures Task Force Director Katie Thompson discussed this growing trend with Ashley Lopez of NPR’s Morning Edition.
In recent years, efforts to boost turnout have been typically associated with the political left. But some conservative groups, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, agree with consolidating elections.
Though ALEC has called for some restrictions on voting, such as strict voter ID laws, the organization wants more eligible voters to participate, said Katie Thompson, a director at ALEC.
Thompson said ALEC is recommending GOP-led states move their local races to on-cycle elections as a cost-saving measure as well. She noted that local governments have to spend a lot of money on local elections on things like paper, electricity and staffing.
“Even when you’re looking at the volunteers required to staff elections, it is way harder to get the personnel you need during off-cycle years,” she said. “And personnel is really important to the security of elections, which I think we can all agree is an important factor. We want the polls to be adequately staffed.”
This year 29 states introduced legislation aimed at consolidating election dates in some way or another, including Democratic-run states such as Washington and Republican-run states like Indiana. And so far, 12 states have enacted these laws.
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There are concerns, however, about consolidated elections leading to longer ballots, which cost more and can cause longer lines at polling signs or overwhelm voters.
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Thompson said the longer ballot would probably be worth it to voters.
“The extra few minutes it would take to fill out the next two or three races on the ballot is still less time than knowing that there’s an election, driving to the polls, voting, driving all the way home,” she said. “It would just be more convenient for people to have those elections on one ballot in a consolidated place versus having to go to all this extra time and expense and effort to go for a whole separate election cycle.”