By Josh Bergeron

josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — Mayor Darrell Hinnant on Monday publicly criticized state Rep. Carl Ford for his support of a bill that would change the date of municipal elections.

Hinnant’s comments came just before the Kannapolis City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing House Bill 64, which would move municipal elections to even-numbered years. Currently, city and town council races are decided in odd-numbered years. State Rep. Harry Warren, R-77, wrote the bill and introduced it last week. Ford, R-76, is a co-sponsor.

Warren said he introduced the bill to increase voter participation, encourage greater candidate participation and save money on elections. Ford said he co-sponsored the measure primarily to increase turnout in municipal elections.

In a speech before Monday’s vote, Hinnant said the state would not save money because local governments pay for municipal elections. Matched with the races that usually occur in even-numbered years, the Kannapolis City Council would be at the bottom of the ballot, Hinnant added.

“By the time they get down to the bottom of the ballot where we are, they would just be checking a box because most of them don’t have any clue,” Hinnant said. “We say, and we have said frequently about this issue, that it’s better to have fewer people who know who they’re voting for to come out than it is to have a lot more people who vote and have no idea who they’re voting for.”

He said it is especially troubling to see Ford, who represents parts of Kannapolis, as a co-sponsor.

“You would think that if somebody was going to co-sponsor this bill, they would have picked up the phone and called the communities who were going to be affected by it,” Hinnant said. “So, I can say to you that Rep. Ford has missed his responsibility, and he is out there co-sponsoring legislation that is going to dramatically affect us without ever calling or talking to us about how we feel about this legislation.”

Councilman Ryan Dayvault also addressed House Bill 64 before the City Council’s vote.

“Especially in a legislature that has touted the more local control the better. Well, nationalizing a local election is not in the best interest of anybody,” Dayvault said.

The Kannapolis resolution specifically lists the following items as reasons the City Council opposes municipal elections in even-numbered years: voters would be uninformed about local races, the bill is not necessary, there would be no cost savings for the state because local governments pay for municipal elections, residents should retain control of municipal elections without state interference and partisan politics would be injected into municipal races in even-numbered years.

When asked Monday evening about his decision to co-sponsor the bill, Ford noted low turnout in recent municipal elections. He said the Kannapolis City Council had not contacted him about their opposition prior to Monday’s vote.

“Everyone has been asking about low-turnout numbers, including people on town councils in other towns,” Ford said. “I had other people in other towns ask me what can we do to increase voter turnout. … I didn’t even know Kannapolis was against it until you told me.”

In 2015, for example, the turnout for municipal elections in Rowan County was 14.23 percent. It was better than turnout for some nearby counties but short of the turnout for the 2014 primary and general elections. The turnout for the 2014 primary in Rowan County was about 18 percent. For the general election, it was 42 percent.

The difference in turnout is even steeper when municipal elections are compared to presidential years such as 2016.

This year isn’t the first time the N.C. General Assembly has looked at moving municipal elections to even-numbered years. This year’s bill has been assigned to a local government committee for further discussion. Warren’s bill has three other primary sponsors and four co-sponsors.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.