TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa’s city council will discuss a plan Thursday aimed at changing its municipal election years to help boost voter turnout and save taxpayers money.
The change will be proposed during a council workshop and includes moving municipal elections from odd-numbered years to even number years.
The City of Tampa spends around $700,000 to run its municipal elections, but voter turnout remains poor.
Attorney Matt Newton will present the elections cycle change to city council today.
“Our last presidential election, turnout in the City of Tampa was around 70%,” Newton said. “Our most recent municipal election, which was in March, and then we had the runoff in April, was 13.1%. The turnout was around 10%, so that’s not good. We have a turnout problem.”
To pass the elections change, the council will need to vote to approve it.
No timeline has been set for an elections cycle change.
