Village residents will have a decision to make this spring, whether to continue voting in local elections each March or change village elections to the traditional Election Day on the first Tuesday in November.
The Board of Trustees instructed village attorney James Peluso this month to begin drafting a ballot question asking residents if they’d support the change from spring to fall elections.
The question would appear on the next election ballot in March, 2017, along with two seats up for election on the Village Board. Those seats are held by Timothy Campbell and Eunice Marshall.
Other villages throughout New York State have decided to go that route in an effort to boost voter turnout and save money. The latest to make the change are three villages in Onondaga County – East Syracuse, Tully and Solvay – and other municipalities in Putnam County are discussing the move.
If given voter approval, Stillwater would be the first village in Saratoga County to hold its local elections in November.
A November voting day would also enable the village to hand over the responsibility of holding local elections to Saratoga County instead of the village running it themselves. If approved, the first November election would not be held until the fall of 2019, extending some of the terms of elected officials until the process catches up. Village Trustees and the Mayor all hold four-year terms.