Letter to the Editor: A closer look at why municipal voting should be combined with general elections

I really appreciated Seaford Republican Rep. Danny Short’s frank Oct. 4, 2022, email opposing my proposal to move municipal elections to the November general election date. He believes it is necessary to maintain tacit apolitical neutrality in and to “avoid politicizing” municipal elections.

If I understand his argument correctly, moving municipal elections to the November general election date would bring/lead to undesirable partisanship. However, is there any doubt that “undesirable” ideological/political partisanship follows the candidates, not the election dates?

For example, Seaford mayor and City Council’s enactment of right-to-work and fetal-remains ordinances are clear evidence in favor of a very conservative political ideology/agenda for the mayor and a majority of the City Council. This political ideology will be brought by these candidates to the municipal elections no matter whether held in April or November.

I would ask: Is the guiding principle of those currently “in charge” in Sussex County to preserve the status quo for voter registration and voting in order to maintain current outcomes?

As an example, consider the Oct. 3, 2022, Delmar (population 2,105) election’s outcomes.

Delmar has an estimated 1,000 registered voters. (Note: Upon a 2024 switch to the Delaware Department of Elections’ voter registration system, Delmar’s eligible voters would likely increase to about 1,400.)

Delmar citizens cast ballots for mayor — 137 ballots out of 1,000 registered voters equals 13.7%, the percentage who cast mayoral ballots. There were 74 mayoral votes for Tom Bauer and 63 for Odell Jones Jr.

Eleven votes determined Bauer to be the new mayor — 11 ballots out of 137 votes for mayor equals 8%, which was the actual number of voters who determined the result.

For me and many others, this example of the apparent current guiding principle’s effects show highly undesirable outcomes: In municipal elections, a very limited number of citizens vote, and often, a small percentage of votes determines the winners/losers in the elections.

Seaford broke out of its status quo “book” registration and now uses the Delaware Department of Elections’ voter registration system, producing a dramatic voter registration jump (1,500 to 5,000). Unfortunately, however, the number of voters in the elections around the switch remained stagnant (about 600) with only about 12% of eligible voters casting ballots in April 2022. In comparison, in the November 2020 Delaware general election, there was a massive 69% registered voter turnout.

Given such facts, I find it hard to believe that current stakeholders will continue to favor a status quo producing low voter registration and low voter turnout in municipal elections.

So my basic question for Rep. Short and other opponents about this widespread pattern of current outcomes in municipal elections around Sussex County: Is maintaining suspect political neutrality in municipal elections actually worth the cost of demonstrable patterns of low percentages of citizens eligible to vote and very low percentages of eligible voters actually voting?

There are reasonable solutions to both problems: 1.) use the Department of Elections’ voter registration system; and 2.) use the November general election voting date.

Current opponents of these remedies need to reconsider their priorities and do the right thing(s).

Dan Cannon

Seaford