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Calvin Investigates Cost of Separate Elections

92 views · Published 7 March 2013 · 2:33 · Indexed 28 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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by Calvin Sneed    
 The voters in Chattanooga have spoken.. but how loud was their voice?  And was it worth the money spent on an off-year election?
     You may remember last month our Waste Watch report.. that demonstrated-- while voter participation is going down.. the COST of these off-year elections is going up.
     Now that this election is behind us, has the trend continued? Not only did the trend continue.. it got worse.  Alarming statistics from yesterday's municipal election in Chattanooga, are pointing to the fact that taxpayers are simply paying more, for elections that a decreasing number of voters are going to.
     A few weeks ago, voters bent our ears about the rising cost of holding a Chattanooga municipal election during an off-year, at an off-time.  If they can do it another time of the year and save the money, one Chattanooga voter told us, why not.. pretty simple, it seems like to me.
    Most voters we talked to, wanted to know why Chattanooga doesn't hold municipal elections like surrounding cities, who hold theirs, along with presidential races and primaries, to save money. Our Waste Watch story then, pointed out the fact that the cost of Chattanooga's municipal election during off years, has gone from 77-thousand dollars in 2001, to 99-thousand dollars in 2005, to 138-thousand dollars 4 years ago.  We really don't expect it to be any better this year, Elections coordinator Charlotte Mullis-Morgan told us.
     Well, we don't know how much was spent on this year's races.. yet.  It'll be close to the same cost this year, if not more, she says.       But at the same time, voter turnout has gone down each of those years.. from 32 per cent, to 26 per cent, to 18 per cent four years ago.  Yesterday, voter turnout dropped to only 16 per cent.. Out of 111-thousand registered voters, only 18-thousand showed up..         Dr. Richard Wilson in U-T-C's political science department says, it's an alarming trend.  If you want to have a viable democratic system, you need to have people actively participating, there's no question about that.  As a political scientist, that's clear as a bell.
     Dr. Wilson says, in most elections, the candidates who rally their supporters to get people to the polls normally do well in off-year elections.  Democracy suffers if you have low turnout, he says.
     And with only a 16 per cent turnout yesterday, and a rising cost to the off-year election, so will Chattanooga taxpayers will suffer, too.
     Meanwhile, the runoff election, which will also add to the final cost, will be held for Districts 4 and 9 will be April 9th.  Early voting will be March 20th to April 4th..

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