Posted on 08/30/2014 5:59:52 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Even after the unrest in Ferguson has subsided, we're left with questions about the tension that built up and exploded in the small St. Louis suburb. Among those questions: How did a city where two-thirds of the residents are black elect an almost entirely white city government? The answer is simple: Ferguson holds its city elections entirely separate from state and national elections, and that can make all the difference.
People rarely think about the timing of elections. But Missouri's election rules set the stage for the discontent that has tormented Ferguson recently. The state requires its cities to hold elections in April, when there are no state or national offices on the ballot to draw voters to the polls. As a result, turnout is low. In Ferguson, turnout in the most recent election was an abysmal 12 percent, and best estimates indicate that white residents participate at much higher rates in the city's elections than black residents. White residents were three times more likely to vote than black residents in the April 2013 municipal election, according to a Washington Post analysis of Catalist data. Suddenly, it is much less surprising that Ferguson has a white mayor, five out of six council members are white, and its 53-member police force has only three black officers.
The pronounced effects of off-cycle election timing extend far beyond Ferguson. Researchers Zoltan Hajnal and Jessica Trounstine have shown that cities with low turnout tend to elect fewer minority city council members.
My own research has found that off-cycle election timing increases the political influence of various groups that are highly motivated and well-equipped to mobilize their supporters, such as teachers unions in school board elections and police officers and firefighters in city elections. For example, in school districts that hold off-cycle elections, teachers are paid significantly higher salaries than in school districts that hold on-cycle elections. Exactly who wins and who loses from off-cycle election timing differs from place to place, but when elections are off-cycle, small groups can have a big impact — and be rewarded handsomely with favorable public policies.
Moreover, the election timing rules of Missouri are not unusual. As of 2012, 21 states required all of their municipal elections to be held off-cycle, and almost all of the remaining states had at least some cities with off-cycle elections. A mere five states required that municipal elections be held on the same day as national elections. Off-cycle timing and low turnout in municipal elections are the norm in the United States — not the exception.
If Ferguson's elections were simply rescheduled to coincide with national elections, turnout in the city's races would more closely mirror the significantly higher turnout of national races. In California, turnout is a whopping 36 percentage points higher in cities that hold elections on the same day as presidential elections than in cities that hold off-cycle elections. In Minnesota, turnout is 22 percentage points higher in on-cycle school board elections than in off-cycle school board elections. Timing is the most important factor in explaining why turnout is low in some cities and high in others.
While rescheduling local elections would attract a broader, more representative slice of the eligible electorate, and drive policies that more closely reflect the preferences of citizens, there are some downsides. Off-cycle local elections became a standard during the early 20th century, when progressive reformers argued that local issues and policymaking are sufficiently different from state and national ones that the elections should be held separately. Combining local, state and national elections also creates significant administrative hurdles and exhaustingly long November ballots in even-numbered years. But the benefits of higher turnout and stronger local democracy far outweigh the costs of dealing with those hassles.
The solution may be simple, but the politics of changing local election timing is anything but. The groups that benefit from low turnout lobby hard to keep off-cycle elections in place — and thus to protect their advantage. And legislators charged with setting election schedules listen to those groups, because those on the other side — those who would benefit from a switch to on-cycle elections — are typically unorganized and inactive.
With the spotlight on Ferguson, people are calling for explanations. Ferguson's warped political structure can be largely explained by a simple electoral rule that locks in low turnout — not just in Ferguson, but in literally thousands of American municipalities and school districts. It is time for that to change.
$48,000.00 as of 2012, not including benefits.
http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2012/university-of-california/anzia-sarah-frances/
What a bunch of BS. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you don’t have the gumption enough to keep up with what is going on in your community and town then you don’t need to be voting in the first place. Our local paper comes out twice a week and costs .50 and it tells you what is going on. Keep up or shut up.
blah...blah...blah. Walk alone in urban utopia at midnight, Sarah. Silly, uppity, white privilege chick.
Blacks don’t need pity from goofy white people, they need black men to stand up and lead—no, not Sharpton or Jackson types.
Until this happens— it’s all going to be the same old same old.
In this state, register to vote is also registration for jury duty. Many people do not want on jury duty.
Tuff chit.
The solution will be “Affirmative voting” in which minority votes count twice. It’s only fair.
That...or hand out gift cards that can be used at any local business (say for $25)...but only for voters who belong to a minority group.
Quite true. I work with an SMI population, they want to vote (most do) but when the jury notice comes, they get their psychiatrist to sign a statement that it would be too much of a (mental) burden on them...
And the beat vote goes on ...
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
Different days?!?! Oh, the huge manatee!
“How did a city where two-thirds of the residents are black elect an almost entirely white city government ... The answer is simple: Ferguson holds its city elections entirely separate from state and national elections”
ROTFLOL!
So her theory is that blacks are too stupid and/or too lazy compared to whites to vote in local elections?
Nothing else makes sense.
These people think black people are stupid.
“Just think, if they would only turn out (their choice entirely) they could have government like Detroit.”
Oh, man, lemme tell ya. I used to work for a company that had branch offices in Chicago and Detroit. For all the talk of “The Chicago Way” (much of it deserved), I’d rather do business in Chicago any day of the week and twice on Sundays than have to deal with the scene in Detroit.
I bet it was like trying to deal with a 3rd world country.
I work with plenty of smart blacks...I figure the Detroit, etc. problem isn’t genetic but the result of the rats wanting to keep that plantation voting block. It’s really immoral what they’ve done.
That is the case in most municipalities. No sense in garbling up elections with too many races national and local at once
Ah, I knew there was a reason those poor blacks just had to be being duped out of electing appropriate representatives in Ferguson - they’re disadvantaged because enough of them can’t understand the political process and think ahead to form coalitions and elect individuals who will do the job they want, and so whites who can, do - certainly not the fault of the blacks.....
So a white female, liberal democrat, say’s most blacks are lazy and won’t learn a damn thing and that’s news?
White liberal democrats have been saying such things for a very long time, they don’t believe that blacks can button their shirt right without their help.
So a white female, liberal democrat, say’s most blacks are lazy and won’t learn a damn thing and that’s news?
White liberal democrats have been saying such things for a very long time, they don’t believe that blacks can button their shirt right without their help.
It’s unfair that blacks have to show up and vote? Maybe they should bring baseball bats to the polling places like they do out east.
She’s just saying that they are too stupid to get out and vote.
Academic blah-blah-blah-blah.
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