Despite gaining national attention, turnout for St. Paul’s most recent mayoral and city council elections still paled in comparison to voter participation during even years, when the governor or the president of the United States were up for election.

To boost turnout, why not move local St. Paul elections to even years?

It’s logic that Peter Butler, a former city financial analyst, has been trying to convince voters to subscribe to for years, across three different ballot petitions. On Wednesday, he finally broke through his foremost obstacle — getting a question about even-year elections on St. Paul’s November ballot.

“The last time I looked, out of more than 800 Minnesota cities, 25 of us are on odd-year election cycles,” Butler said. “Most are on even years. That’s the default requirement in state statute.”

Peter Butler, candidate for St. Paul City Council, Ward 2, in the November 2023 election. (Courtesy of the candidate)

Turnout down in odd years

Butler, who ran last year for the Ward 2 seat on the city council, said the problem with odd-year municipal elections is readily apparent from a quick glance at ballot figures.

In 2023, about 48,500 St. Paul voters went to the polls to elect the city’s first all-female city council, a sizable drop from 2021 when some 60,000 voters weighed in on whether to approve rent control.

“Apparently, four open seats and a sales tax referendum did not (increase turnout),” Butler said. “We dropped by about 12,000 voters from 2021.”

In contrast, more than 152,000 voters went to the polls in 2020 to choose between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Butler and a small coalition of even-year advocates recently presented Ramsey County Elections and the city with more than 5,500 signatures from St. Paul voters, reaching the requisite threshold of 5,437 valid signatures required by state statute for a ballot petition.

Even that process was torturous, said Butler, noting the city clerk asked the county to add back more than 1,000 signatures that the county had rejected.

Ballot question approved — with concerns

The St. Paul City Council approved Butler’s ballot question on Wednesday, but not without some members raising concerns.

Council President Mitra Jalali, who had looked this month into her legal options, called approving the question for ballot “a procedural action” only and not an indication of council support for even-year elections, which would add an extra year of service for the council and one three-year term for the next mayor during the transition.

She said she would soon issue a public statement in opposition, alongside other council members.

“In my personal capacity, I am extremely concerned about changing (the election schedule),” said Jalali, in an interview this week. “It’s not a simple thing to reschedule an election. State law does not contemplate ranked-choice voting in the ballots that print state-year elections.”

“There’s been so many implications here that I think have not been considered, and that could negatively impact our voters,” she added.

Opposition from mayor, others

The prospect of even-year municipal elections has drawn opposition from St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and other DFLers, who have expressed concern that important local races will be overshadowed by better-funded statewide and national races.

If city council races get lost in the shuffle, that could have negative consequences for campaign fundraising, volunteerism, debate attendance and other aspects of municipal elections. St. Paul chooses its mayor and city council through ranked-choice election, meaning there is no political primary to whittle down the field and no limit to how many candidates can appear on an Election Day ballot.

Leading up to an even-year municipal election, it’s possible that after presidential, gubernatorial and other state office campaigns have knocked on a voter’s door, another eight city council candidates or more could follow.

“It’s always harder to fundraising and volunteers when there’s other races on the ballot,” Butler acknowledged. “The people who donate to Mayor Carter also probably donate to candidates in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate and presidential race. But most Minnesota cities are on even years. They’re somehow getting the job done.”

Signatures rejected — and added back

After Butler submitted his petition for a charter amendment, Ramsey County Elections rejected 1,150 signatures last month, most of which St. Paul City Clerk Shari Moore requested they add back just a week later after reviewing some added documentation.

“Most of the add-backs were because someone had included a house number and street name but not the word ‘avenue’ or ‘street,’ so very insignificant reasons to reject a signature,” Butler said. “Someone might have written ‘2020 Lincoln,’ but they forgot the word ‘Avenue’ so they were initially scratched. There was one where someone misspelled Snelling with one ‘l,’ so she had them add it back in.”

“This is my third petition, and the first two never had that type of scrutiny,” Butler added. “I strongly believe there was a partisan attempt to keep us off the ballot.”

If even-year elections are approved in November, Butler said the next city council would be elected in 2028, requiring the existing city council to serve one extra year. An odd-year mayoral election next year would select a mayor for a one-time, three-year term, before resuming a normal cycle on even years.

Child care, early learning also on ballot

Another question on St. Paul’s November ballot will ask voters whether to approve a 10-year property tax increase to raise subsidies for child care and early learning programs.

If approved, the tax levy increase would raise $2 million in the first year, $4 million in the second year, $6 million in the third and so on for a decade to fund child care subsidies for low-income families first, with the hope of expanding those subsidies using philanthropy or other funding sources to include a wider net of families.

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