Entry 255 of 338
By Confounded in Christiansburg On September 19 at 1:15 PM

Christiansburg Town Council has been talking, off and on, about the dismal turn out for local elections and whether moving the voting date would help reverse that shameful trend. 

The date and location -- with Christiansburg now all alone for even-year May elections, and at a site many residents have never been to or heard of -- is just part of the problem. 

Nevertheless, this dialog about moving Christiansburg's town council elections appears to be something that just won't quietly go away.  If sitting council members don't address it themselves or oppose it, then it appears the Mayor's challenge to have it placed as a referendum has been taken up. 

The real test won't be in getting the required signatures to get this matter on a  ballot, it will instead still be getting a majority of residents to the polls to vote on it.  And if a referendum is placed on the ballot but doesn't initially pass, there's nothing to stop it from reappearing on each and every town ballot in the future -- providing plenty of time to inform citizens about this issue and the importance of their going to the polls. 

Either way, this discussion may indeed provide an end result of having more than 10% of the town's registered voters participating in local elections -- and so at least one part of the problem is being worked on.

Other articles about moving local elections can be found at the following links: