INDIANAPOLIS — Barely 1 in 5 Indiana voters living in a municipality with a contested election last year bothered to cast a ballot, according to the secretary of state.
State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron, believes that low voter turnout is due in part to Hoosiers not knowing it was an election year because only local offices were up for grabs.
But, Aylesworth reasons, if municipal elections took place in even-numbered years — at the same time as higher profile contests for U.S. president, U.S. senator or Indiana governor — turnout would be much higher, and localities could save money by not having to pay their share of staffing and administrative costs for an off-year election.
"Low voter turnout in small towns is not getting better, it's getting worse," Aylesworth said. "We need to have a larger turnout."
To that end, Aylesworth is hoping state lawmakers will approve his House Bill 1061, which encourages municipalities to move to even-year elections by requiring them pay the full cost of an off-year election instead of sharing it with their county.
His proposal was debated Wednesday by the House Elections Committee. Lawmakers seemed intrigued by the idea, but did not consider action on it to be particularly urgent since the soonest it could be implemented is 2019.
Under the plan, municipalities would elect officeholders to either a one- or three-year term in 2019, and then would hold future elections in even-numbered years.
State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, was among the committee members not entirely on board with Aylesworth's plan, suggesting it doesn't really give municipalities a choice since they'd be socked with the full costs of an election if they maintain odd-year voting.
Moseley also said local races could get lost on an even-year ballot loaded with numerous other contests. Or, voters might leave without finishing their ballot if there are too many races, especially if Indiana gets rid of straight-ticket voting which automatically selects all the nominees of a political party.
Aylesworth's proposal must win committee approval by Thursday to advance to the full House for a vote to send it to the Senate.