When Should East Lansing Elections Take Place? Groups Take Opposing Sides
Last week, a group calling itself “Keep Local Elections Local” registered with the Michigan Department of State’s Bureau of Elections. The group opposes a proposal added to November’s ballot by a citizens group seeking to move East Lansing City Council elections to even-numbered years, a move that would boost turnout.
The registration form lists Liz Schweitzer as treasurer and Kathy Swedlow as record keeper for the opposition group. Schweitzer served as East Lansing’s mayor from 1989 to 1993, and Swedlow is a member of the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission and the spouse of Mayor Erik Altmann.
The group directed East Lansing Info to Diane Goddeeris, who served as East Lansing’s mayor from 2011 to 2013 and as the chair of the recent Charter Review Committee that devised 29 suggested amendments to the city charter, to speak on its behalf.
Goddeeris said she is not a member of the opposition group but that she does oppose the change to the election calendar.
“I want to keep the elections in East Lansing nonpartisan,” she said. “And when you’re in the off year, you don’t get wrapped up with the other big election times, whether it’s the presidential, or it’s your congressperson, or your state senators, state reps, all of those are what affects everybody in the states. But when you get to the odd year election, this is when it’s just about East Lansing. So we haven’t had letters after our names when people have run. We’ve just been running on what we have done for the community or what we will do for the community.”
Goddeeris said candidates running in odd-year elections have made a strong effort to reach the MSU student community, including connecting with the campus student government. Goddeeris said she met with fraternities and sororities to reach students.
She fears even-year elections will cause City Council candidates to attach themselves to a federal or state candidate, making the races unnecessarily partisan. She also said the cost of running would likely rise as candidates try to be heard among a crowded field.
When Goddeeris chaired the Charter Review Committee, she said no one in the group expressed a desire to move City Council elections.
“People always want to vote for the president,” she said. “If they’re going to vote, they want to vote for a president. So you’re going to have those people come out and they might not care who’s running locally because they’re just not that interested in that; they’re just paying attention to what’s going on at the top level and we don’t want to get lost in that.”
Adam DeLay, a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and a 2025 candidate for City Council, is with “Let East Lansing Vote,” the group that collected the signatures to add the proposal to the ballot. He told ELi that changing the election calendar would not affect the nonpartisan nature of City Council elections.
“It will be on the nonpartisan section of the ballot, similar to our school board and other nonpartisan offices and issues,” he said.
Liam Richichi, also with “Let East Lansing Vote” and a 2025 candidate for City Council, went further, explaining why he believes the ballot initiative is necessary.
“We know that in odd-year elections the average turnout ranges from 20 to 25% overall, while in even elections, it can range anywhere from 60 to 75%,” he said in a phone interview with ELi. “The other consideration of this is the money-saving factor and the efficiency that it creates. Election officials across the board are for this initiative, from former City Clerks in East Lansing to our county clerk, Barb Byrum.”
Richichi also said his group’s aim is not to just get college students to vote but instead to get everyone to vote. He noted that other local elections, “whether that’s county commission, district judge, school board,” are already scheduled for even years.
Registering as a group with the Bureau of Elections permits “Keep Local Elections Local” to raise and spend more than $1,000 in its efforts. Swedlow told ELi the group is still planning its strategy and welcomes participation from the local community. She could not specify what the group’s efforts will look like in the lead-up to the election, but did share the group’s new website.
DeLay told ELi that “Let East Lansing Vote” is distributing lawn signs and hosting a fundraiser at Hooked bookstore and coffeeshop on Friday, Sept. 25, from 5 to 7 p.m. The group is encouraging residents to attend a presentation by Loyola University Chicago Assistant Professor of American Politics Agustin Markarian on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5 p.m. at the Hannah Community Center. Markarian will share his research concerning even- and odd-cycle elections.