Editorial: Empty ballot boxes

Thursday, June 7, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

T uesday's pitiful turnout for the municipal elections offered clear evidence for changing when Nevada's cities hold elections.

The reason to switch elections from spring to fall, when people typically think about voting, is to increase interest and turnout.

For example, in the hotly contested race for Las Vegas City Council Ward 5, the voter turnout was 17.7 percent. Just 8 percent of Las Vegas voters cast ballots in the race for municipal court judge, the only citywide race.

In all, ballots were cast by only 11.6 percent of the Clark County voters eligible to do so Tuesday.

This is more than voter apathy. The spring is just not a good time to hold an election. Some lawmakers have recognized that and have tried to change the election cycle. The most recent attempt, Senate Bill 149, failed this year. It would have moved municipal elections in the spring of odd-numbered years to the statewide elections held in the fall of even-numbered years.

Doing so would save money and increase turnout. Recent statewide elections have drawn more than half of Clark County's voters to the polls, with as many as 80 percent voting in presidential elections. However, putting municipal elections on the fall ballot may leave those races in the wake of higher-profile races, so another solution would be to hold municipal elections in the fall of odd-numbered years.

Regardless, the bottom line is that having elections in the spring just is not working.