Editorial: Municipal election reform

Politicians love to talk about increasing voter participation. But in Southern Nevada’s municipalities, those in charge have long been content with election policies that discourage civic involvement.

For decades, the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City have held their municipal elections in the spring during years when there are no state or federal campaigns. This is done ostensibly so the municipal candidates don’t get lost amid a slew of higher-profile races.

In fact, however, it’s a clever means of protecting local incumbents, who — in general — benefit from lower turnout and easier fundraising.

And if there’s one trait that characterizes most municipal elections, it’s voter apathy.

In April 2015, for example, only about 16 percent of eligible voters showed up to cast ballots in a city of Las Vegas election that featured a relatively competitive race for mayor. Turnout in Henderson’s municipal elections that same day was even worse at about 12 percent, while North Las Vegas voters also stayed away in droves as the city couldn’t even muster 10 percent participation.

There have been periodical calls for the cities to realign their election schedules to match the traditional voting calendar of November in even-numbered years. In fact, Mesquite recently made such a switch. The Las Vegas City Council is scheduled to hear a presentation on the issue in coming weeks. Boulder City officials looked into the matter last March, but have yet to act.

It’s a change that couldn’t come too soon.

The combined tab of the scheduled 2017 elections for the four municipalities is an estimated $2.4 million. Moving to a more traditional timetable would reduce costs by allowing cities to piggyback on elections held for county, state and national offices. And it would almost certainly result in increased voter turnout, potentially even strengthening the candidate pool by making it easier for challengers to generate interest.

Opponents of the move often cite the potential inequity of imposing changes that would affect some sitting politicians during the middle of their terms. But the long-term benefits of the fix far outweigh such a modest one-time disruption.

County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, a proponent of the reform, noted it makes sense from a number of standpoints to consolidate elections. “Otherwise,” she said, “it’s just totally incumbent protection and that’s not a good reason to be wasting taxpayer dollars.”

Ms. Giunchigliani is spot on. The city of Las Vegas should lead the way and begin the transition as soon as possible.