Lexington, Cayce move to odd-year elections. How could that affect voter turnout?

Just three Lexington County municipalities held local elections on even years, when most people are tuned to larger state and federal races. That changed in recent weeks, when Lexington and Cayce council members voted to move their respective local elections to odd-numbered years.

The Lexington County Board of Voter Registration and Elections recommended the two municipalities switch years, director Mary Brack said, because of confusion that multiple elections wrought at the polls. If local elections were separate from state and federal, voting would be simpler, both for poll workers and for citizens.

“I think they’re more apt to come out and vote,” Brack said.

But history shows voter turnout for odd-year, local elections is significantly worse than at even-year elections, when all eyes are on the polls. In some places, local elections see a turnout of less than 10% during odd-numbered years. And the electorate is notably different, too.

Local elections attract “hard-core, habitual” voters, said Michael McDonald, an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida. Those consistent local voters tend to be older, better educated, wealthier and whiter, according to research, he said. That could make campaigning easier, because candidates will have a more targeted demographic and can rile up special interest groups to sweep them into office, he said.

“You’re really winnowing down the electorate quite a bit,” said McDonald, who runs the United States Elections Project, a website that catalogs election data, voter turnout information and other research.

Proponents of odd-year elections say they’re trying to capture a passionate local voter.

“They will be educated on their candidates,” said Lexington mayor pro-tem Hazel Livingston, who was in favor of the change.

Livingston said she heard “so many complaints” of voters having issues at the polls during the even-numbered year general elections and being discouraged from participating, so off-year elections will be a welcome change for all.

“The local governments do have a point. On the intervening years, people who actually vote are more likely to pay attention to the issues around local elections and not get distracted. But on the whole, I think there’s a tradeoff there,” said Lynn Teague, vice president of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.

The Lexington Town Council never analyzed data to understand how switching election years could impact voter turnout, according to Livingston, but anecdotal experience led them to think changing was a good idea.

“This will ensure that town elections will not be buried on the last page of the ballot,” Lexington mayor Steve MacDougall wrote in an email to The State. “If you had a chance to ride through town during this past election, you would have also seen the tremendous amount of campaign signs that were scattered throughout town. The sheer number of signs can be overwhelming, causing an adverse effect to many voters.”

Cayce mayor Elise Partin said she also noted some issues voters in the city had in 2018. She said city council has discussed the possibility with the county election commission of switching to odd-year elections for “several years.”

“Our main concern is and has always been making sure our voters are informed about the importance of their involvement in the election process from the local to the national level,” Partin wrote in a text message to The State.

She did not say how city council studied how moving to odd-year elections could affect voter turnout.

By voting for the change, several town and city leaders bought more time in office. Switching to odd years tacked a year onto the term of Lexington mayor Steve MacDougall, who serves on the board of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, which Livingston said recommended the change. A field manager for the association could not confirm that the association made the recommendation.

Livingston’s term was also extended by a year, until November 2023, as were the terms of the rest of the council.

Cayce’s council members and Partin also got bumped up a year, to 2021 or 2023.

There is little research on how the specific change from even-year elections to odd years affects the community, McDonald said, but consolidating elections seems to be far more common than splitting them up.

“If anything, the move has been in the opposite direction,” he said.

Some municipalities have chosen to combine local and state or federal elections in order to increase turnout and cut back on the cost of administering elections.

Lexington and Cayce will pay for advertisements about the election, pay poll workers and any rent at the polling location. But the cost won’t change, Brack said, because the municipalities will get the same bill just on a different year. The city and town don’t foot the bill for general elections in the municipal limits, said Beth Henrick, general manager of the election board.

In November 2018, Lexington spent $2,939 on its election and Cayce spent $1,828 on its election, according to records, Henrick said.

The only remaining Lexington County municipal election on even years is South Congaree’s, Brack said, which takes place in April.

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 2:53 PM.