Voter turnout is significantly lower in off-cycle municipal elections
than in general elections. Need we say more? One of the overriding
problems with Asbury is an appalling lack of citizen involvement;
which results in a sort of Russian roulette electoral contest, an
elected that owes its existence more to fate than process and the sort
of secrecy and back room deal making that today's norm. 1700, 2500
who cares; it's too few for a city of 17,000.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>
> Asbury Park ..............May 2000 election............. only about
1,700
> residents voted. Each A P city council person were able to win
their seat with
> less than 600 votes.
> Will the voting minority disenfranchised thousands of residents
again?
>
> Monday Letters to the Press
>
> Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/21/05
> May elections lower turnout
> Jackson's Charter Study Commission officially sits with a fact-finding
> mission before it: To recommend a change, or no change, to the
municipal charter.
> If a change is recommended, the commission will have to decide on
the timing
> of the municipal election. The only options are to include municipal
offices
> on the general election ballot in November or a special municipal
election in
> May.
>
> Based upon an extensive review of data derived from a variety of
sources
> including the county clerk's office, Board of Elections, Department
of Planning
> and the U.S. Census Bureau, I ask the commission to rule out holding
> municipal elections in May.
>
> I reviewed voter turnout data for the six municipalities in Ocean
County
> operating under nonpartisan forms of government with May elections
and compared
> that data to the 27 municipalities with local elections held in
November. I
> contrasted May election voter turnout against county-wide turnout
results for
> 2002, 2003 and 2004.
>
> Voter turnout is significantly lower in off-cycle municipal
elections as
> compared with those in the general election. For example, the 2004
general
> election turnout for Ocean County as a whole was about 73 percent.
That same year,
> the combined average voter turnout in all May municipal elections
was 8
> percent. In 2002, the turnouts were 47 percent in November and
about 30 percent
> in May.
>
> With municipal elections in May, thousands of voters will be
disenfranchised
> and the "informed minority" will be able to exert undue and imbalanced
> influence over elections, elected officials and public policy.
> Curtis M. Briggs
> JACKSON
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