I have the pleasure of being one of the 15 Dallas residents serving on the city of Dallas Charter Review Commission. Our task is to review our city’s charter, which is akin to our constitution, and offer amendments to make our city work better for its 1.3 million residents.
I have submitted an amendment designed to strengthen our democracy and election system here in Dallas. Our City Council elections occur in May of odd-numbered years. Municipal voter turnout here has been in the single digits in four of the last six elections. Academic studies like the 2015 “Who Votes For Mayor?” report from Portland State University have shown that Dallas ranks in the bottom of municipal voter turnout in the country along with Fort Worth and San Antonio.
Why? I believe it has to do with the May election date that Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio share.
Therefore, I have submitted Amendment 3, which would move our election day for City Council elections from May of odd-numbered years to November of odd-numbered years. This has several benefits.
The first is increasing voter turnout, which is my main goal. According to data from the Dallas County Elections Department, cities that have switched from May to November in odd-numbered years have usually seen a nearly 100% increase in voter turnout after the switch. Mesquite made this switch in 2019 and has consistently had double the voter turnout in November that it used to have in May. Houston has conducted its elections in November of odd-numbered years for decades and routinely has double the voter turnout of Dallas, according to my analysis of data from Dallas and Harris County election archives. In 2023, Houston voter turnout was 22% in its open mayoral race. In Dallas’ last open mayoral race in 2019, voter turnout was 13%.
The second benefit would be improving voter convenience. Under the current system, the city of Dallas asks residents to vote in May of odd-numbered years for City Council, and Texas asks they also vote in November for statewide constitutional amendments. Consolidating these elections to one date would reduce the burden of making a trip to the polling place down from two to one in odd-numbered years.
The third benefit would be saving taxpayer money. According to data presented by the Dallas city secretary to our commission, a May election costs the city of Dallas $990,421 on average. A November election would cost $558,592 on average, which would be a savings of around $431,829 per election cycle. This savings is because Texas would share the cost of the election in November.
Lastly, Amendment 3 would allow our municipal elections to remain truly nonpartisan. Dallas City Council elections are nonpartisan, which means no party label appears on the ballot. Partisan elections occur only in even-numbered years. Keeping City Council elections in odd-numbered years keeps them nonpartisan in nature while a consistent November date for both partisan and nonpartisan elections will make it easier for voters to remember when the election takes place.
On Feb. 20, our commission will take up this amendment along with two dozen others. After our commission votes on these amendments, the City Council must approve of our work in the late spring. And ultimately, every amendment must be voted on by you, our city’s voters, in November.
Aren’t you glad the city is making things easy by holding the election this November?
David de la Fuente is the charter review commission member for Dallas City Council District 1.
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com
