Local elections finally over
The nonpartisan election cycle is finally over, but the confusion isn’t. Now the candidates who came out as winners have to bide their time for the next few months — five to be exact — to be seated in their new positions.. Whoever thought of this ditzy election schedule ought to have their heads examined.
In Bibb County there were three runoff elections for two seats on the school board and one county commission seat. It was easy to predict, looking at the early voting turnout numbers (14 days of voting, 569 votes, only 80 votes cast at the Terminal Station downtown), that it was going to be a low-voter turnout affair. The Macon-Bibb County Commission District 6 race that drew 3,003 votes in May dropped to only 556. Come January, Joe Allen will replace Ed DeFore who will have served the people of Macon (and after consolidation Macon-Bibb County) for 45 years.
In school board race for District 5, featuring political newcomer Sundra Woodford, that attracted 3,416 in May, only 808 came to the polls Tuesday. Woodford’s opponent, James Timley, we surmise, thought he could win on name recognition alone and didn’t campaign. It almost worked. In May he was the top vote-getter by 53 votes but was forced into a runoff. Tuesday he lost by 222. In the District 6 school board race, 5,359 people voted in May and 1,264 returned with Bob Easter getting 1,072 of those voters to cast ballots for him.
In Houston County, the runoff pretty much reflected the May turnout in the race for Superior Court judge only with two fewer candidates. Tueday’s vote had 5,664 compared with 5,952 in May. Still, the turnout for the May election in Houston County was a dismal 12.65 percent.
What does all of this show those who make our election laws? It should be plain to them that holding elections near the beginning of summer, at the end of school, is a bad idea. It’s also discouraging to potential candidates. Most candidates — the James Timley type are an exception — spend time and money and effort on their campaigns. They get out and talk with voters and try to get their points across. To know that all that work falls, for the most part, on deaf ears, has got to be
disheartening.
While local elections might be in danger of being swallowed up if held in conjunction with national elections every four years, it would almost guarantee higher voter participation. That is, what those who make the rules say they want, right? Such a move would save time and money.
State Rep. James Beverly brought up that very idea during the last legislative sesssion with House Bill 978, which proposed “Such nonpartisan elections shall take place on the Tuesday next following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years.” Only retiring state Rep. Nikki Randall signed on as a co-sponsor.
Interestingly enough, the initial House Bill 1171 that provided for consolidation of the city and Bibb County contained this language: “The person elected as mayor at such election shall take office on the second Tuesday of January, 2014, for an initial term of three years and until a successor is elected and qualified. Thereafter, each successor to the office of mayor shall be elected at the general election to be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.” Our state folk decided to change everybody to one date, and that’s how we ended up in May and in July for the runoff.
One of the knocks was that any November vote might land a runoff beyond the holiday season. Certainly the brilliant schedulers in Atlanta could figure out a way around that. Besides, the partisan elections come up in November anyway. And while we have no bigtime local partisan races in Middle Georgia, that could and probably will change in the years ahead and that goes for the nonpartisan races, too, because term limits await around the next electoral corner. Robert Reichert will be sworn in for his last term as Macon-Bibb County’s mayor in January. County commissioners are term-limited to three terms and eight of the nine will be entering their second term in office.
This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Local elections finally over."