East Lansing voters will weigh in on two ballot proposals this November that would adjust how City Council elections are conducted.
A third proposal is likely to also be placed on the ballot once approved by the city council.
The council met Tuesday to consider putting three charter amendments before voters. Those amendments included: expanding the council from five to seven members; shifting council elections from odd to even-numbered years; and changing the group's swearing-in date.
Council members voted 3-2 on the amendment shifting the election years. If voters approve the proposal this November, the next election would move from 2025 to 2026, with subsequent polls being run every two years.
That change would align local council races with state and federal elections that draw more voters to the polls.
Officials pitched the amendment as an attempt to attract more turnout from Michigan State University students who make up a large proportion of the city's population.
Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg says the change would consolidate city resources and further engage students in local government.
“Keeping our odd-year, off-year elections and shouldering the cost of a city council-only election, to me, equals expending city resources to disenfranchise two-thirds of our residents," Gregg said. "And that does not sit right with me.”
Councilmember George Brookover voted against all three proposals. He said he's concerned with "cherry-picking" modifications to the charter without looking comprehensively at the whole document.
He argued the change would further politicize the council election and make it more inaccessible to potential candidates.
"In effect, what we're doing by moving into even-numbered years is we're throwing a non-partisan election in the middle of a partisan campaign," Brookover said. "I think that says things about costs and expenses."
The council also voted 4-1 to put a proposal on the ballot that would change when council members are sworn into office.
The current city charter states the council is to be seated one week after the November elections. But recent changes in state law give military and overseas voters up to six days after polls close to get their ballots submitted.
City Attorney Anthony Chubb says the time needed to certify the results would put the city’s timeline at odds with the state, leaving only one day for the votes to go through the verification process.
“That's an absolute impossibility that those (results) could be certified timely to be sworn in the next day,” Chubb said.
After review from the Attorney General's office, voters in East Lansing will see a question on the November ballot asking if the swearing-in date should be shifted to the first council meeting in January after an election.
The council did authorize a ballot proposal that would have added two members to the group, but Chubb said there was an administrative error, and the vote was conducted on an out-of-date version of the document.
The group rescinded their vote with plans to reconsider the proposal at a future meeting.
