SAN ANTONIO – There’s a lot on the ballot. And a lot on the calendar.
Fiesta and the early voting period in the 2025 municipal election overlapped this year.
And not surprisingly, that full calendar didn’t help drive more people to the polls.
But it might not have been the only thing working against voter turnout.
“I think it’s good to have a lot of really talented, qualified candidates running. But on a ballot with 27, it’s almost like you don’t know anyone,“ said Christian Archer, former campaign manager and political consultant. ”And so I think that that’s also been confusing to voters."
Twenty-seven people are running to succeed San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who is leaving office after maxing out an eight-year term limit.
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All 10 City Council seats are also up for grabs in this election.
“So 11 people are making decisions on a $4 billion budget on policies that affect us every single day,” said Molly Cox, local consultant and co-founder of Vote 210.
Cox created the website, which is also offered in Spanish at Vota 210, as a one-stop shop for voting information in San Antonio elections.
It compiles information on the candidates, key dates, historical data, council district maps, what voters need at the polls and more.
“A group of volunteers basically said, hey, it’s too hard to navigate the Bexar County elections website,” Cox said. “Why not go to one location and find them all.”
During the early voting period from April 22 to April 29, only 5.8% of registered voters in Bexar County went to the polls.
That’s a total of 74,092 out of 1,258,413 people.
“In our last presidential election, we had 55% voter turnout, so we know we’re capable of getting to a higher voter turnout," Cox said.
Political exhaustion on the heels of a presidential election and the integration of politics into daily life may also be adding to voter apathy.
“I think when people say, ‘I’m not really interested in politics,’ I want to make sure that they understand that politics is interested in them,” Cox said. “Politics is happening to you whether you’re participating or not.”
While municipal elections don’t have the flash and cash of national politics, Archer reminds voters that city elections often have a more direct impact.
“This impacts you every single day, all day long, in terms of your daily life, your daily commute, your quality of life, libraries, parks, drainage,” he said.
Adding to the importance of this race, local elected leaders will now serve longer after voters approved doubling the term limits from two to four years.
With runoff all but inevitable in a mayoral race with 27 candidates, Archer predicts voter turnout could double in the runoff period.
He also added it’s a “terrible mistake” for voters to wait around for a runoff to whittle the race down to two candidates, saying, “you’re just letting others, a very small group of people, choose the next mayor.”
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