By Dan Diorio

Elections are in November, right? While many are probably nodding their heads, “yes, of course,” the answer is far more complicated than that. 

Federal elections are always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years and many states have followed suit with having big state elections at the same time.

But there also primaries, local elections, county elections, odd-year legislative elections and everything else in between. And the dates on which states decided to have these elections can affect everything from voter turnout, to costs and ballot length.

The April issue of NCSL’s elections newsletter, The Canvass, has an in-depth look at how election dates are an evergreen issue and why many states are considering moving the dates for certain elections. Here are some of things we found:

• There is a quiet trend toward moving local and school elections to coincide with larger elections.
• Running concurrent elections does increase voter participation in the smaller “down ballot” races.
• Voters like the idea of voting less often. In 2008, Sarah Anzia, author of “Timing and Turnout: How Off-Cycle Elections Favor Organized Groups,” asked in a 2008 nationwide survey whether respondents favored combining small races on larger election days; 70 percent said yes.
• It’s not easy to change election dates because there are many stakeholders.

Read the issue for more information and be sure to subscribe to The Canvass for more election updates.

Dan Diorio is a policy specialist in NCSL's Elections Program.

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