Another city election, another poor turnout.
Dallas City Council and school board elections attracted few eligible voters, a decadeslong trend that has voting advocates trying to figure out how to make local contests more appealing.
According to the county’s elections department, Dallas County municipal elections attracted only 8.4% of 1.4 million ed voters.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, whose term expires in 2027, was not up for reelection and that helped keep turnout extremely low. Just over 70,000 residents voted early. And only 47,300 turned out to the polls on a beautiful May Saturday that featured Kentucky Derby parties and early Cinco de Mayo events.
The low participation rate is concerning because local elections feature leaders that most impact the daily lives of residents, from basic services like public safety and trash pickup, to tax rates and attracting businesses and amenities.
Most Texas residents have tuned out local elections, with reasons ranging from fatigue over too many elections, poor outreach by candidates and general apathy.
Just in the past 14 months, voters have been asked to go to the polls at least seven times in Dallas County.
“People are unfortunately fatigued with all the elections,” said state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. “We need to reduce the number of elections that we are having and make them more meaningful when we have them.”
Solutions are elusive, but Texas legislators are trying to address the problem.
The Senate in April approved a bill authored by Sens. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, and West that would move Dallas council elections from May to November in odd years. ers hope the change will lead to greater voter turnout because residents are more familiar with November elections.
Houston has its elections in November of odd years, as do cities that include Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Pittsburgh.
Municipal election turnout in Harris County is usually about double that of Dallas County. Harris County’s November 2023 t elections attracted 17.4% of eligible voters.
“The idea is to have those kinds of elections decided by a large number of people,” Johnson said.
Along with the Senate activity, a House bill on moving the election to November in odd years is expected to be heard in the Elections Committee this week. State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, authored the legislation.
“The bill has a ton of momentum and I think it will help increase turnout,” Anchia said. “You look at similarly situated cities that have moved their elections to November of odd-numbered years and the turnout has increased.”
Last November, Dallas voters approved moving elections to November in odd-numbered years. If the Legislature gives the OK, the Dallas City Council will have the final decision.
Moving the local elections to November has attracted bipartisan .
The Senate approved a bill authored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, that would move municipal elections across Texas to November to the same date as partisan general elections. The legislation would get rid of May elections, except in the case of runoffs and emergencies.
Hughes’ bill would give cities the option of staging elections in odd- or even-numbered years.
That option is significant because simply moving Dallas City Council elections to November of odd years won‘t be enough to boost turnout to the level of November partisan elections.
Many Dallas officials are wary of having November elections in even years and at the same time as partisan elections for president or governor. Still, that’s where you would get the biggest uptick in voter participation.
Johnson is against Hughes’ bill.
“Let local governments be the laboratories,” he said.
Moving Dallas elections to November in odd-numbered years could increase turnout and keep nonpartisan elections separate from partisan contests.
Council elections in isolation may not attract a large number of new voters, so ers of moving the election date would also like to see school and college district elections also held in November.
“It’s really about election consolidation,” said David de la Fuente, a former Dallas Charter Review Commission member who s moving the election date. “For a lot of folks showing up to vote on only one thing is just asking them for too much.”
No matter the election date, elected leaders concede that politicians need to do a better job of connecting with voters. It can be difficult in local races, where candidates don‘t have the money and resources of their partisan counterparts to mount effective media campaigns.
“We still have to figure out a way to incentivize elections and motivate people to vote,” West said. “We need to do what we need to do from a grassroots standpoint to encourage people to vote.”