S.18.20: Southern Senate Elections Amendment (Debating)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This seems to go in cycles. There is a push to have more elections as was the case in 2016, because elections game, more elections means more campaigning and such. Ensuring there is a shorter "dead" period when there is no campaigning. These are often times when interest declines. Also there was the concern that having them on their own schedules would enable it to receive the appropriate amount of attention and concentration as opposed to being overshadowed by President or House, which tends to engulf attention spans. Also consider the wave of PMing that occurs during the federal elections and the burnout that it causes in the context of the whole overshadowing consideration. There is also the consideration of the available candidate pool. Having more elections occurring at the same time runs a risk of fewer contested seats because they are running for House.

Then it swings back the other way with a push towards consolidating all the elections towards the same days.

I would point out that the Southern region had its highest turnout Governor election ever under this present arrangement. Meanwhile I have seen elections in regions that coincide with the Federal one have lower turnout because people vote federal, think they are done and tune out.  

I strongly urge the Chamber to consider all sides of this before changing when the elections are held. The benefits don't all tilt one way.