Citizens Union reports concludes even-year elections would benefit NYC

In addition to voting for a new mayor in November, New Yorkers will also have a chance to weigh in on a controversial proposal for the city to move its municipal elections to even-numbered years to coincide with state and federal elections. And Citizens Union is out with a new report explaining why top concerns from the proposal’s opponents are largely unfounded, even as a similar change to municipal elections in other parts of the state continues to face opposition.

On the back of the ballot for New York City voters in November is Proposal 6, which pitches a change to the City Charter to move city elections from odd-numbered years (2023, 2025, etc.) to even-numbered years (2024, 2026, etc.). The change would align local elections with higher-profile federal races, when overall turnout tends to be higher. To actually enact the shift, state lawmakers and voters would still need to approve a state constitutional amendment. But the results of the ballot referendum this year would offer insight into how popular the idea is. 

One major concern with consolidation is that crowded ballots could lead to ballot dropoff – with the contests at the top of the ticket getting the most votes and the numbers dwindling the further down one goes to less high-profile races that may have received less attention or that voters care less about. In an odd-year election, the mayoral contest tops the ballot in New York City as the biggest election. If the city moved its elections to even-numbered years, then the mayoral election would appear much lower on the ballot, beneath federal and state races – which could lead to fewer voters bothering to vote for mayor or in other city races

The new report from Citizens Union analyzed voter data and concluded that those worries are overblown. It looked at votes cast for ballot proposals in even years, the items that tend to see the highest levels of dropoff rates, and compared them to those cast for mayoral races in odd years. The ballot in the city had six proposals included last year. The first ballot proposal received 2.4 million votes, which the report pointed out is more than double the 1.1 million votes cast for mayor in 2021. Even the proposal at the very bottom of the back of the ballot in 2024 received more votes than those cast for mayor in 2021.

Of course, not every even-year election includes an incredibly contentious presidential contest. But according to the report, the first ballot proposal to appear on an even-year ballot has on average received a higher percent turnout than contests for mayor over the last 15 years. “Odd-year elections are a relic of the 19th century that keep turnout low and make our electorate less representative,” said Grace Rauh, executive director of Citizens Union. “While critics claim consolidating elections will overwhelm voters and suppress participation, the evidence tells a very different story.”

The report also examined the impacts of consolidating local and federal elections in even-numbered years in other cities around the country. It found some evidence of ballot drop-off – with more raw votes for ballot-topping races than for the final contest on the ballot – but in these cases, the overall voter turnout increased to such a degree that the drop-off was ultimately insignificant. 

The Citizens Union report focused on overall turnout to dismiss concerns about federal and state issues overshadowing local ones, which is one of the key arguments against consolidating races in even-numbered years. But those numbers only tell part of the story. The report doesn’t examine what drove voters to the polls, nor the degree of knowledge they had about races lower on the ballot. Opponents of consolidation like the New York State Association of Counties remain worried that more voters doesn’t equate to a better informed electorate, and that the kinds of pressing local issues that often take the spotlight in odd-year elections would be pushed to the side as voters focus more on partisan politics at the state and federal levels.

Election consolidation has also received criticism from Republicans, who see it as a ploy to boost Democratic candidates in election years that usually have higher Democratic turnout. The GOP sued over a 2023 law to move most town and county elections around the state to even-numbered years – a case attorneys recently argued before the state Court of Appeals. The outcome of that lawsuit may have impacts on additional efforts to shift all elections around the state to even years. 

Changes to elections in the state’s cities will require a state constitutional amendment, so New York City is still a long ways off from ending odd-year elections, even if this year’s ballot referendum passes. A state constitutional amendment would take multiple years to get approved, since the potential amendment must pass the state Legislature in two conservative sessions and then be ratified in a binding statewide voter referendum. So far, an amendment to change the city’s elections has not passed in both chambers even once.