The Grand Rapids City Commission Tuesday morning will consider changing its election cycle from odd years to even…this after a group has been calling on the move for years
As it currently stands, city officials are elected in odd years, the last being 2019. Groups have argued for years that the elections should be held on an even cycle, to coincide with state and national elections. The argument being, that people are most likely to vote for city commission elections if they are already headed to the polls to vote for the presidential race or other larger tickets.
And there is data to support the claim.
According to data from the Kent County Clerk's office, voter turnout is four to five times higher in even years. Advocacy group Enpower the Citizens, takes it one step further, arguing, that the election of city officials during odd years was an intentional move to suppress the minority vote, and the plan was hatched over a century ago.
Bonnie Burke is the organization’s co-founder:
“About a hundred years ago, all over the country, people in power, mainly the white population, didn’t want input from immigrants or from minorities, they wanted to keep control over how the elections would go based on who would vote," Burke said. "So that was tactic used to actually promote them easily winning elections. So, the voter suppression was very real and it has continued to work. And that is why so many cities are changing to even years because of low voter turnout.”
If the city commission makes the switch, any member of the City Commission with a term set to expire in 2021 would have their term extended until the elections of 2022, although Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Governor Gretchen Whitmer will still have to approve it.
On Tuesday, the city commission will also consider a proposal that would eliminate candidates being elected to office by winning a certain number of votes in an August primary election.
