Local, state election dates must now match

Low voter turnout here necessitates consolidation beginning in 2022; officials say action has pros, cons

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors approved a motion that determined that the City of Yuma has to match its election dates with statewide election dates starting in 2022 because of low voter turnout in 2018.

“Having received the 2018 general election and 2019 city election voter turnout (numbers),” the deliberated language for the motion read, “The board has determined that the city is required, pursuant to (Arizona Revised Statutes) 16-204.01E to consolidate its election dates effective for 2022.”

The revised statute the county referred to comes from a 2018 Arizona House bill that now requires counties to monitor voter turnout for their political subdivisions for odd-number years. If the election in that odd year for a political subdivision like the City of Yuma shows a lower voter turnout than it would have had it been a statewide election, the political subdivision has to have its elections at the same time as statewide elections, starting three years from the time the voter turnout decrease occurred.

Mary Fontes, the Yuma County Election Services Director, presented before the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday the numbers from the 2018 general election, which was a statewide election. The numbers for that year were a voter turnout of 73.92%. The voter turnout for the 2019 City of Yuma election was 18.44%.

The difference in voter turnout between the statewide election and the city of Yuma elections was 55.48%, and the Arizona Revised Statute defines the decrease that prompts a consolidated election as more than 25%.

“Traditionally, statewide elections have a higher turnout,” Fontes said. “So it makes sense that states would want to have elections held this way.”

Fontes also said that this may help the City of Yuma save the money they’d otherwise have to spend to conduct their own elections.

For the 2019 city elections in November, Fontes estimated that the city spent somewhere between $40,000 to $50,000. By doing their elections in tandem with the state, the City of Yuma will get to share the cost with them. Fontes said that the city also gets partial reimbursement from the state.

Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi, whose district includes the city, said that the main effect of the change will simply be a boost in voter turnout.

“It’ll increase turnout that’s for sure. I’m not sure it’ll make much of a difference except turnout,” she said. “It’ll help them with the cost of elections like Mary (Fontes) said.”

Pancrazi said that the elections have plenty of costs that can be reduced by combining elections with statewide elections.

“They have to pay for polling stations, getting ballot boxes and getting ballots out. And the people counting the ballots, you have to pay poll workers too,” she said. “I think it’ll be a beneficial thing.”

Dave Nash, the public affairs coordinator for the City of Yuma, said that it’s still too early to know exactly what a change in election years will do to the city’s elections, but he raised a concern that instead of having a ballot all about city issues, the city will be in the back of a ballot full of issues.

“Opinions are still going around as to whether this will benefit us or hurt us. It’s true we don’t get a high turnout in our odd number years, but now we’ll be on the last page of a multi-page ballot,” he said. “People do their research to decide how to vote on their ballots, and I don’t know if people will make it that far.”

Nash said that instead of having decisions like voting for local officials, municipal judges and city ballot initiatives narrowed to a smaller ballot, those issues will be “one of a gillion” issues sharing space with statewide questions. Still, Nash said, it’s too early to know exactly how a condensed ballot will affect city elections.

Nash said that to meet the requirement of a consolidated election, the city will have to lengthen the terms of some of its elected officials and municipal judges to switch their elections to even number years and match the statewide election calendars.