Even Year November Elections
Let the voters decide!
Only 2 counties, Dakota and Washington, in the 7-county metro area have March elections.
West Lakeland is the 3rd largest township by population in the 7-county metro area and 1 of only 2 townships in Washington County still holding March elections.
In a typical March election, only a small fraction of the eligible voters do vote so the town election has historically been determined by a small handful. November elections would increase by about 10x the average voter participation and our citizens’ voice in the town government while saving some money and administrative workload.
For example: West Lakeland turn out for the Nov 2020 election was 91% but only 2% for the Mar 2020 election. It has been as low as 2% in recent years.
Moving town elections from March to November in even years DOES NOT change the town annual meeting on the second Tuesday in March every year.
When the question was put to Denmark Township voters, they voted 88% - 12% in favor with 82% voting turnout. https://electionresults.sos.mn.gov/results/Index?ErsElectionId=63&scenario=LocalMunicipality&FipsCode=15688&show=Go
Since Baytown's move to Nov elections they have an average of 15 times as many voters participating in supervisor elections.
Baytown cannot say whether annual meeting attendance was affected. Their data show no correlation between March election turnout and annual meeting attendance.
With the town hall as the polling place in March, people cannot stay after voting; they must leave until after polls close at 8pm and voting equipment & ballots are secured. 2026 Annual Town Meeting starts at 8:30 PM. If elections are in November, town annual March meeting can be held earlier in the evening, encouraging more people to attend.
In 2017 Carver and Scott counties announced they would discontinue support of March Town elections.
The town board may start the process by passing a resolution designating the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of either the even-numbered or the odd-numbered year as the date of the town general election. This question is then put on the ballot for the voters to decide.
MN 205.075 requires that supervisors go to 4 (or 6) year terms to match every other year elections and that existing terms be shortened or lengthened for the transition. MAT recommends against shortening, so the resolution to move to November should lengthen terms. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11pmZD-MKOWsAEX6bcieVzzZEFO3o9pBm/view
Ref Minn. Stat. § 205.075 & 367.03: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/205.075 https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/367.03
Minnesota Association of Townships GUIDE TO MOVING THE TOWN ELECTION TO NOVEMBER: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11pmZD-MKOWsAEX6bcieVzzZEFO3o9pBm/view
The town board may start the process by passing a resolution designating the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of either the even-numbered or the odd-numbered year as the date of the town general election. The resolution or ordinance must include a plan to shorten or lengthen the terms of office to provide an orderly transition to the November election schedule. Before moving elections to November, towns should understand the implications of the change on board members’ terms of office, the need for coordination with county officials, and how to return to March elections if desired.
Moving to November elections requires changing supervisor terms to 4 years. The question of whether to designate the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered or odd-numbered years as the date of the town general election must be placed on a ballot and submitted to the town electors at the next election. In 2008 Denmark Township put the question on the ballot in a special town election in November 2008.
