Voting in “off” year elections

The only thing with a lower turnout than an off-year election is a runoff election in an off-year - typically around 3% or less. This year's pilot program in a few municipalities including Cary & High Point should help. Instant runoff elections may not improve turnout for the original vote count, but at least they ensure that the final selection is made by at least the number of original voters, not just the select few who go to the polls twice. Hopefully instant runoff elections will go statewide in 2009.

I'm a grad student at Duke, and despite years of education and having lived in many states, I have a hard time figuring out how to vote, when to vote, where to vote, and for whom I would like to vote. I've done some research and found a few websites that were helpful last year, but I remember it took me quite awhile to figure out what elections were happening for my town and how to get information to make an educated decision on who to vote for. Perhaps if the Conservation Network wrote a "Local Voting 101" page (and sent it with the "register to vote now" email), or directed us toward a link or two that provide very basic information on these issues, that would be very helpful.

Thanks.

Getting information on all the candidates and issues is not always easy. There several sources I'd recommend: - find out what offices you're voting for by going to your county board of election website and viewing a sample ballot: http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/about/directors.asp - if the website isn't helpful, call them and ask what offices will be on your ballot. (I called this year because it wasn't clear to me and they answered my questions in 2 minutes.) - research the candidates: one of the best resources are the candidates and parties themselves.(the two major party websites are NC Democrats: www.ncdp.org and the NC Republicans: www.ncgop.org) - Next you might try media such as local newspapers who report on the campaigns and sometimes endorse candidates on the editorial page. Here's a list of NC news media: www.usnpl.com/ncnews.php - You might also look at who else has endorsed the candidates. Sometimes it is helpful to see who is financing the campaigns (i.e. if a special interest group is heavily behind a campaign you have a good sense of that candidate's values). Often the media write stories about campaign financing before election day. - Is there one great place for non-partisan information about candidates? not really. Especially for local elections - you have to do a little more work sometimes. Ususally the biggest difference between local candidates is their position on growth and development. Here are a couple of good websites for information on statewide, Presidential, and Congressional campaigns: - http://www.cqpolitics.com/ - http://www.vote-smart.org/

Also - contact the campaigns for literature or even ask to talk with the candidate. I even had my state representative come to my house to meet and talk after I called her camapign a few years ago.

Good luck!

Tuesday's "off year" municipal election changed direction of growth in Cary, N. C. It is not an exaggeration to say that the voters in Cary took back the town from developers.

Mayor Ernie McAlister, supported by developers and real estate interests, was defeated by Harold Weinbrecht, a supporter of managing and controlling growth. Weinbrecht won by 58 percent, even though McAlister out spent Weinbrecht by about 5 to1. Most of McAlister's contributions came from developers, many who lived out of town (even out of state).

What made the difference was the large grass roots support for Harold Weinbrecht. The Weinbrecht volunteers vastly outnumbered the volunteers for the incumbent mayor. They included members of Weinbrecht's campaign committee, members of the Davis-High House organization (organized to fight a development at that intersection), and volunteers for the Democratic party (which endorsed Weinbrecht even though this was a non-partisan election). The Sierra Club’s local group endorsed Weinbrecht and helped in the campaign.

Erv Portman, an incumbent at-large council member who received support from the same groups, easily beat off a challenger who had developer support.

Had this been an even year election, many of the large number of volunteers would have also been volunteering for "up ballot" national and state candidates. Many of them would not have been able to spend the time that they were able to spend in the municipal only election. However, the expensive mailings and TV ads by the developer funded candidates would have continued. These were people primarily involved in funding local elections in order to obtain easy rezoning and site plan approval.

An even year election would have seen a higher turnout, but it is very likely that the voters (particularly those who only vote in even years) would have paid little attention to the important local issue of slowing the conversion of farms and forests into housing developments and shopping centers.

Let's continue to keep municipal elections on odd years. This year Cary showed that strong grass roots campaigning on important issues will improve voter turnout.

John Shaw Cary, NC