While national political events garner the most attention, local elections also matter. They decide who runs essential services like schools, parks and leisure centres, libraries and bin collections that affect millions of people every day. Local elected officials also make the budget decisions that allocate funding for things like community projects, fire and police services and how new business development is handled. And, local election results can be decided by a few hundred votes or less, meaning every vote counts.
Some of the biggest policy changes in history began at the local level before growing into national movements, including education reform and environmental initiatives. By participating in local elections, you can shape those changes and ensure that your hard-earned tax dollars are working for you.
Local elections are often held off-cycle and the voter turnout is incredibly low, while special interests wield outsized power. But, state lawmakers have the authority to move local elections to even-year cycles and make them concurrent with higher-turnout federal and statewide races, which could increase voter turnout dramatically, especially for underrepresented communities.