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Q&A
Commissioners discuss prioritizing ballot measures and the optimal number of questions for voters
1:15:09
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138 sec
Commissioner Lisette Nieves adds that moving to even-year elections is also an efficiency issue. Commissioner Anita Laremont emphasizes the need to prioritize and limit the number of proposals on the ballot, suggesting the uncertainty surrounding even-year elections might lower its priority compared to other critical reforms.
This leads to a question from Commissioner Carl Weisbrod about the practical limit on ballot questions to avoid voter confusion.
Executive Director Alec Schierenbeck advises that historically, around five to six proposals have been manageable for voters without significant drop-off in participation down the ballot.
- Laremont stresses that the commission cannot put an excessive number of items before voters and must select the most impactful.
- The inherent uncertainty and external dependencies of the even-year election proposal make it a candidate for lower prioritization for Laremont.
- Weisbrod seeks guidance on how many distinct issues can be effectively presented on a single ballot.
- Schierenbeck suggests that exceeding six questions could risk voter exhaustion, based on past experience.
Lisette Nieves
1:15:09
I'm sorry
Anita Laremont
1:15:09
about gonna say that I you know, hearing this, I'm appreciating how we are going to have to prioritize and limit what we're gonna put on the ballot.
1:15:22
I mean, we're going to have to decide whatever number of things we think we can put on the ballot because we're not gonna put 30 things on the ballot.
1:15:30
And so there's a there's a element here of, you know, uncertainty that weighs to me in putting this a little bit lower.
1:15:40
But I really do think we're going to have to think what are the most important things that we can get through on the ballot that will do what we need to do.
1:15:50
And I think there are things in all three of those categories that we talked about today that are must.
1:15:54
It's just not clear to me at the moment that this one is wins.
1:15:58
Mhmm.
1:15:58
You know?
Carl Weisbrod
1:15:58
And and can I just raise to to that point, to that more general point that Anita's raising?
1:16:05
And this is maybe to you, Alec, and to others who have been on charter commissions before.
1:16:12
Just to I mean, how many resolutions can we really effectively put on the ballot to make with without creating a huge amount of confusion?
1:16:26
Is there to do we have a number in mind?
1:16:30
I know that there's been charter commissions with an infinite almost infinite number of resolutions and others with half a dozen or so or fewer.
1:16:40
And I just don't know if there's a sweet spot.
Alec Schierenbeck
1:16:43
Yes.
1:16:44
There's no formal limit.
1:16:46
My suggestion is the right way to think about it is what have commissions done in the past effectively without seeing, like, drop off down the ballot.
1:16:54
There's a clear indication of of voter exhaustion.
1:16:59
Last year, voters considered six.
1:17:01
That would seem to me to be close to an upper limit.
1:17:05
Last year's Charter Revision Commission put five on the ballot.
1:17:08
There were six on the ballot because of that state constitutional amendment.
1:17:11
The voters proved able to consider and pass on all six of those.
1:17:16
I do think you get into a danger zone.
1:17:18
It's hard to know where it is, but as you get longer but as you have noted, there have been commissions that have put far more than than six on the ballot.
1:17:25
And the more complicated.