Around Des Moines

In three weeks, on November 6, 2007, Des Moines’ voters may go to the polls to elect city council members and a mayor. It is one of a long line of elections with little attention in the media or in the community. Thus, I am writing this commentary to offer ideas on how voter turnout might be increased in future elections for school boards and municipal offices.

Election officials could offer an e-mail service to voters. Voters could voluntarily provide their e-mail addresses when they register, when they vote, or whenever they wanted. Then when there is an upcoming election, an e-mail could be sent reminding the voter of the date, the offices or measures on the ballot, and possibly polling site and/or absentee voting information. There are other uses that could be made of the e-mail lists, such as alerting voters to filing dates should anyone choose to run for office.

On the low-tech side, flyers could be put up in libraries either two weeks or a month before an election. The flyers could also be provided on DART buses and in parking garages. The low-tech approach would not be as targeted as the electronic approach. Nonetheless, it would alert people to the date, the reason(s) for the election, and other basic information.

The first idea would require a grant, probably from the federal government, to help develop the computer program and to pay for advertising the service. The second suggestion would require money to pay for the flyers, permission to be given by the various entities responsible for the posting sites, and staff to post and then to remove the flyers. Other ideas would require changes in law.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) would allow primary elections to be reduced or eliminated. There are different IRV variations from which to choose but they all require voters to rank candidates. Thus, instead of voting for one candidate in a three-person race, voters would identify candidates as their first, second, and third choices. By weighting the votes based on the rankings, a winner would be chosen without the need for a primary. Proponents of IRV argue that it increases voter turnout.

Perhaps a friends-style non-profit association could be started to work with local election officials to educate about elections. This would be similar to the friends organizations of libraries and commissions. While there are voter-education organizations, none focus specifically on local elections.

Candidates themselves can assist in voter turnout, but often it is not in their interests to advertise that they are seeking election or re-election. How to improve access to information about candidates and their positions on issues is a topic for another commentary.

Maybe I’m looking at this problem from the wrong angle. The above solutions attempt to solve a problem created by a disconnected news media. Do we need an essay to inspire voters exhausted by the pace of modern life and distracted by all the national-issue blogs clamoring for their attention?

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.