Voters in East Lansing, Michigan, will decide on three charter amendments in Nov. 2023, including one measure to move local elections from odd to even-numbered years. If voters approve the amendment, the 2025 election would move to 2026.
In 2022, Ballotpedia tracked 13 local ballot measures that proposed moving local election dates from odd to even-numbered years. All 13 measures were approved. All 13 were referred to the ballot by a vote of a local governing board like a city council or school board. The average “yes” vote for the measures was 70.3%.
In support of the change, East Lansing Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg said, “Keeping our odd-year, off-year elections and shouldering the cost of a city council-only election, to me, equals expending city resources to disenfranchise two-thirds of our residents. And that does not sit right with me.”
Councilmember George Brookover voted against the change saying, “In effect, what we’re doing by moving into even-numbered years is we’re throwing a non-partisan election in the middle of a partisan campaign,” in reference to moving the non-partisan city council elections to even-numbered years.
East Lansing voters will also decide on a charter amendment to change the start date of city council member terms of office from the Tuesday following the election to the first Tuesday following January 1 of the following calendar year. This allows more time for local election officials to certify the election results before the city council takes office. Voters will also decide on an amendment to increase the city council from five to seven members.
In 2023, Ballotpedia is covering local ballot measures that appear on the ballot for voters within the 100 largest cities in the U.S., within state capitals, and throughout California. Ballotpedia is also covering a selection of election-related and policing-related ballot measures outside of the largest cities.
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