It's Time to Move School Elections to November
Michael M. Shapiro is an attorney who resides in new Providence, NJ. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press, New Jersey's all-online daily hyperlocal newspaper covering Berkeley Heights, Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Livingston, Madison, Millburn/Short Hills, New Providence, Summit and Westfield.
Elections for the Board of Education and to vote on school budgets should be moved from April to November. The monetary and time savings would be significant. In addition, since November elections have higher voter turnout, more people would decide who sits on the Board of Education and whether the school budget should be approved.
Paying poll workers, subsidizing the upkeep of voting machines and their transport, and publishing the ballots mailed to homes are a few costs involved when holding school elections. Some municipalities spend upwards of $60,000.
Meanwhile, the amount of time and energy spent on running school balloting in April is also exorbitant. Man hours are expended when recruiting poll workers, obtaining voting locations, booking voting machines and publicizing the elections.
Voter turnout in April is dismal. In most municipalities, barely a quarter of registered voters participate - - sometimes that number is as low as 10%. The vote that takes place in April is not necessarily representative of the population of a given township.
By moving school elections to November, there will be considerable cost savings at a time when every municipality needs to tighten its belt. Nearly all of the costs of running an election in April are duplicated in November. By combining the two elections, the savings will be significant. In addition, with only one election, a great deal of time and energy will be conserved that can be used in other ways, possibly including community service.
Finally, by moving school elections to November, a much larger segment of the voting population will be deciding who sits on the Board of Education and whether the school budget passes or fails. Voters in November are far more representative of the municipality as a whole and since most of them fund the educational system by paying taxes, their voices have a right to be heard. This change would be a favorable demonstration of democracy in action.
As for the argument that moving school elections to November will “politicize” them, many school elections are heavily politicized already. Moving them to November will not change this. For those few school systems where these elections are not politicized, they are not likely to change either, given the tradition of a particular school district.
All in all, moving school elections to November will save time and money and enable a more representative vote to take place. It is time to move school elections to November - - if not now, when?