San Antonio may shift city elections from May to November to cut costs and boost voter turnout, pending a city council vote.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio city elections could be held in November instead of May, pending a vote by city councilmembers at Thursday’s meeting. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has made her position clear in favor of the change.
The mayor said there are several reasons for moving the elections, but the two biggest are cost savings and increased voter participation.
“The city manager’s initial estimate was that this would save us between 800 K and a million. The exact savings, though, is not fully known until you know how many folks move over to November, but there are clearly cost savings to this,” Ortiz Jones said.
“Foks associate voting with November, and we have seen time and time again, that if it’s between Fiesta and voting, right? Fiesta always wins. For context, and I think I shared this last week, when you look at the top 50 cities, we are in the bottom five when it comes to turnout, ” the mayor said.
A law passed this summer allows cities to shift elections from May to November, but city council approval is required. Councilmembers will vote on the measure at Thursday morning’s City Council meeting, which begins at 9 a.m.
KENS 5 will provide updates as the story develops.