Election Timing is Critical for Voter Turnout
The timing of these elections plays a substantial role in voter turnout, high costs, and the ability to staff elections.
Every four years, Americans make their voices heard by going to the polls to fill out their ballot for President. Some will return two years later to vote in mid-term elections, yet America’s democratic process never fully rests: elections of one kind or another take place every year. Despite this, a staggering 73% of eligible voters stay home during off-cycle elections. These overlooked contests, covering local government positions, off-cycle state positions, ballot issues, or special elections, carry significant implications for American life. The timing of these elections plays a substantial role in voter turnout, high costs, and the ability to staff elections.
ALEC has studied the effects of election timing, specifically on school board elections, and adopted The School Board Election Act model policy, which is featured in ALEC’s Essential Policy Solutions for 2025. This model requires local school board elections to occur in even years in conjunction with the general election, citing low voter turnout as the primary reason the change.
Low voter turnout means fewer voices are heard. Those who consistently vote in off-cycle elections are often more entrenched members of a political party, impacting the election results. Higher voter turnout means the will of the people can be heard and executed.
Elections are expensive to administer, and localities bear the brunt in most states. Elections require designing ballots, printing them, and counting them. There are machines to be purchased, software licenses to secure, information to mail out, staff to pay, space to obtain, electricity to run, and on and on. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that local governments spent a combined $2 trillion to administer the 2018 election. These costs change very little based on the number of races in a cycle. It would be far more cost-effective for a local government to conduct elections only in even years.
Off-cycle elections can be notoriously hard to staff. During the 2025 Democratic Primary in Virginia, 2534 polling locations were active on election day, not including the locations in every locality required to be open for all 45 days of early voting. Each location must be staffed by certified volunteers who are responsible for administering the election fairly. Finding enough volunteers, training them, certifying them, and scheduling them is a massive undertaking. It is significantly harder to do in off-cycle elections because volunteer numbers mimic voter turnout. Without staff, polls either close or operate without the number of people necessary to monitor for voter fraud.
Additionally, off-cycle elections are more likely to go uncontested. Ballotpedia has published a live national tracker of uncontested elections in 2025. To date, they have found that 89% of Virginia’s over 200 races are uncontested, with New York following closely with 84% uncontested.
Consolidating elections to even years would clearly benefit states, and Virginia is considering just that. The General Assembly has tasked a joint subcommittee with studying the impact of consolidating election days, a good first step in taking the principles of ALEC’s School Board Election Act and applying the benefits across all elections. Election day consolidation leads to higher voter turnout, saves localities money, and helps ensure polling places are appropriately staffed.