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Q&A
The trade-offs of consolidating special elections
1:03:02
·
108 sec
Commissioner Diane Savino questions Sophie Sharps of the Campaign Finance Board about the recommendation to combine special elections with regularly scheduled ones.
Savino expresses concern that delaying a special election could leave a district without representation during crucial periods like budget negotiations.
Sharps acknowledges the concern but argues that the extremely low turnout in special elections (averaging 2-8%) means voters are already not getting adequate representation, and aligning the elections would increase participation.
- Savino raises the issue that aligning special elections with regular ones could leave districts unrepresented at key moments.
- Sharps counters that special election turnout is so low that representation is already a concern, and consolidation would lead to higher, more representative turnout.
Diane Savino
1:03:02
Thank you for your testimony.
1:03:04
I just wanna make sure I understand.
1:03:05
On the issue of combining special elections with, I guess, it would be the next upcoming primary.
1:03:10
Mhmm.
1:03:10
Right?
1:03:11
So but because no one can predict when an elected official is gonna leave office, sometimes they leave voluntarily, sometimes they move on to better things, sometimes they move on to, you know, their next life.
1:03:20
So if you you know, and and none of us there's no way to predict that.
1:03:25
But if you simply move the election forward to the next regularly scheduled election, you could potentially leave a district without representation during a very important part.
1:03:34
So if in Albany, if you were if you are no longer in office after February, then your district doesn't have a voice in the budget process, which is the most important part of what happens in the legislative terms.
1:03:47
So, I mean, is there any concern about that?
1:03:49
I mean, there's a reason why they do them sooner within a certain number of days.
1:03:51
You have to declare a special election.
Sophie Sharps
1:03:53
Yep.
1:03:53
Absolutely.
1:03:54
Thank you for raising that.
1:03:55
And, you know, at every level at city, state, and federal, the laws look different.
1:03:59
There are a certain number of sixty days, ninety days, whatever that looks like.
1:04:03
And I think that that is very valid, but I will also say, you know, looking at special election turnout, we see that over the past number of years, it's averaged between 28%.
1:04:11
That's incredibly low, and there is concern around voter representation and voters actually not turning up to to choose who's representing them anyway.
1:04:19
So we believe that having a slightly longer period is really important to increase voter turnout and ultimately representation.
Diane Savino
1:04:26
That might be possibly true, but when you look at the turnout in in regularly scheduled elections, it's not much bigger than 10% anyways.
1:04:34
You get to 20 20%, 21%.
1:04:36
I just think, you know, there is a concern about leaving a district without an elected representative to be their voice in an incredibly important time frame, whether it's in the state budget process, the city's budget process, or even the legislative term.
1:04:49
Thank you, though.
1:04:49
Thank you for your testimony.