Plan Offered to Merge Elections in City With National, State Voting

In a move that could dramatically increase the paltry number of Los Angeles voters who turn out to elect city officials, City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky on Monday proposed that city elections be held at the same time as state and national balloting.

The proposal, which would shift city elections from so-called “off-years” that end in odd numbers to even years in which higher-level campaigns are conducted, comes amid pondering at City Hall about dismal voter turnouts in city elections in the last two decades.

This month’s general city election, which filled several school board seats and one City Council position, drew only 10.9% of the city’s registered voters, most of them in the 7th District, where more than 20% of the voters cast ballots for incumbent Ernani Bernardi or his unsuccessful challenger, Lyle Hall.

In the primary election in April, in which the mayor and nearly half of the City Council were elected, only 24.3% of the city’s registered voters participated. Overall, almost 1.4 million city residents are registered to vote.

“I think to have 24% of this city determining who the mayor, the city attorney and eight members of the City Council will be is not satisfactory,” said Yaroslavsky, whose plan would have to be approved first by the council and then by voters on the 1990 ballot.

“The issue is: How do you get people involved? If June and November (state and federal elections) have 50% to 60% turnouts and April and June (city elections) have a steady decline, then face up to the fact. If you want to get a higher turnout, consolidate to the elections with the higher turnout.”

Traditionally, state and federal elections have drawn more voters than local elections. Figures collected by Yaroslavsky’s staff showed that 64% of the city’s registered voters cast ballots in the November, 1988, presidential election, almost three times the number who showed up for the city election five months later.

Since 1980, general election turnout for even-year state and federal elections has exceeded 45%. The last time a city general election surpassed that level was in 1973, when then-Mayor Sam Yorty was challenged successfully by then-Councilman Tom Bradley after a raucous campaign.

City Clerk Elias Martinez, whose office runs the city’s elections, said the notion of changing the election date has not been seriously debated since he took office in 1983. But those favoring off-year city elections have argued that local elections can get lost amid a crush of state and federal issues if the elections are concurrent, he said.

Statistically, he added, voters tend to lose interest as they get to the back of a lengthy ballot--which is where city races would be in a consolidated election.

“Voters tend to vote for the most important races at the top of the ballot and then lower on the ballot, tend to not vote at all,” Martinez said.

That argument drew a sharp retort from Yaroslavsky, who said the number of voters who lose interest toward the end of long ballots is slight.

“It’s hard to say that city elections could be any more buried than when you have a 10.9% turnout,” he said.

The councilman’s proposal, which will be introduced to the council today, would not affect the next round of city elections, which will take place in 1991.

In 1992, however, a city primary would be held in June for citywide offices, odd-numbered council districts and even-numbered school board districts. Runoff elections, if needed, would be held that November. The winners, however, would not take office until July, 1993, after the current officeholders--who were elected this year and must by charter serve a full four years--leave.

Likewise, elections would be held in 1994 for terms beginning in 1995. The 1992 and 1994 winners would serve 3 1/2-year terms, so that they would leave office in January at the same time as federal and state officials.

After those cycles, council members would be elected in June and November of even-numbered years and would take office in January, serving full four-year terms.

The proposal would also move forward to January, 1992, the scheduled council redistricting.