Local commentators have posited that voter turnout in Bexar County’s May 3, 2025, local election was suppressed because the voting period coincided with the annual Fiesta celebration and voters were overwhelmed by too many candidates: (27) twenty-seven running for mayor and numerous candidates for each city council race. While those were probably factors in our election, they do not explain the even worse turnout in other large Texas counties on May 3. Not one of them reached 10% turnout of registered voters: Bexar (9.26%), Dallas (8.35%), Harris (5.44%), Tarrant (7.99%), and Travis (8.5%).
The most common explanations put forward by scholars and organizations who study turnout for municipal elections are these: lack of awareness that an election is happening; lack of information about candidates or issues; perception that local governments don’t have much impact on voters’ lives; political cynicism; “all politicians are alike;” and voter fatigue from too many elections.
The most oft-cited solution is to combine local elections with November elections. Based on his research, Christopher Berry, Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy makes the following arguments in favor of that solution: syncing local elections to coincide with high profile elections dramatically increases turnout; voters in off-cycle local-only elections are disproportionately white, affluent and elderly; special interest groups are disproportionately influential in local elections where turnout is low; and candidates in synced elections are more likely to hold preferences that are aligned with their constituents.
Dr. Berry acknowledges that voters in synced elections might not be well informed about the local candidates and issues, and that a longer ballot could contribute to voter fatigue. Common Cause has argued that making November ballots longer by adding local races would contribute to longer wait times at polling places since it will take longer for each voter to complete the ballot.
What can the League of Women Voters do? We can encourage local governmental bodies to combine their elections with the November general elections. With your help, we can increase voter awareness of local elections through outreach, social media, forums, and media coverage; explain how local government decisions affect the voters’ lives; and describe how every vote counts, especially in low-turnout elections.
In this latest session, the Texas Legislature passed a bill (SB 1494) that, if signed by the Governor, will allow a “governing body of a political subdivision, other than a county or municipal utility district” to change the date on which it holds its general election for officers to the November uniform election date.”
With the runoff behind us now, analysis may show that Fiesta and a large number of candidates caused some people to not vote who would have otherwise voted, but larger, more difficult issues mentioned above could be to blame for low voter turnout in May (9.26%) and June (16.99%).