I read a piece by Bobby Harrison of Mississippi Today on Wednesday April 21, 2025, posted on The Northside Sun website, suggesting that, “There is an argument that the constant elections in Mississippi wears [sic] out voters, creating apathy resulting in lower voter turnout compared to some other states.” [ https://www.northsidesun.com/harrison-mississippians-are-asked-vote-mor… ]
I respectfully disagree. As Martin Luther averred at the April 1521 Diet of Worms — 14 miles from Ebertsheim from which the branch of the family after which I take emigrated to New Orleans — “… Here I stand; I can do no other….” (granting “… Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and to God the things that are God's.” [Mark 12:17 KJV])
I assert, contrary to Mr. Harrison, that staggered elections do not create voter fatigue but rather facilitate voter engagement. Attention would be diverted from significant state and local elections — downballot contests if too many contests appear on one ballot — should federal, state, and local elections occur simultaneously.
I have observed situations in which all three levels of government are considered at one time. The contemporary term is “information overload.” (The problematic distraction known as “multitasking” is hardly irrelevant.) Comparing and contrasting that pattern and practice with what we enjoy in Mississippi — which is ultimately a privilege — provides cause for concern.
Long before reading Mr. Harrison’s column (“Mississippians are asked to vote more often than people in most other states”), I lauded the luxury of having federal elections during leap years, municipal elections during the following year, midterm federal elections during the year after municipal elections, and state elections during the fourth year:
Annual elections give voters an electoral contest to contemplate each year, opportunity to express opinions on the direction of politics per annum. They appear to foster greater voter engagement — discussion of politics and public policy — than exists elsewhere.
Should that outcome be altered with state and municipal elections occurring alongside federal elections? “NO!”
A recent senatorial race occurred in which the electorate desired a moderate candidate instead of someone deemed to be an ideologue and, given Mississippi’s open primary system, voters participated in a primary in which they otherwise might not have, ensuring that the favored candidate to represent the state after the general election successfully emerged from the primaries.
A recent mayoral race occurred in which the electorate desired an open-minded, honest candidate instead of someone seemingly sending the city into decrepitude and, given Mississippi’s open primary system, voters participated in a primary in which they otherwise might not have, ensuring that the favored candidate to lead the city after the general election successfully emerged from the primaries.
Would the state or city have been better served if those contests had occurred during presidential election years? Would voters have benefited from voting for their preferred presidential candidate, prevented from forging consensus on who should win other races in the general election? It would have been a Hobson’s Choice at best and something worse in all likelihood.
Additional issue inheres in the fact that, if federal, state, and municipal elections coincide, chances of voting a straight party ticket increase exponentially; if only because too many decisions must be made at once. Voters would be tempted to select a preferred party rather than a preferred candidate — a tendency that has become more common in recent years to the distress of innumerable commentators, arguably to the detriment of the country.
I am not suggesting that, if Bobby Harrison dislikes the status quo, he should relocate to a state conducting elections as he appears to prefer. He has a right to his own — subjective — opinion.
Countless issues deserve attention in the Magnolia State: Economic development, education, the environment, health care, hunger, and poverty demand discussion, instead of eliminating the luxury of electing officials at each level of government separately rather than simultaneously.
Jay Wiener is a Northsider
