Poll: Should Windsor's Election Process Be More Competitive?

During "Meet the Candidates Night" on Monday at Town Hall, one audience member turned to the large elephant in the room of about 45 people, and posed a question that puzzles many: How do you increase voter turnout?

It's no secret that municpal elections don't bring the bulk of Windsor voters to polling stations. . There are close to 20,000 registered voters in town.

Republican candidate and current town council member Mike McDonald, to whom the question was posed, addressed the questions, saying that a place to start is voter education. Holding events like "Meet the Candidates Night" and providing access to the candidates is a start, he said.

At one point in the event, republican candidate and current town council member Ron Eleveld addressed the difficulty with getting the word out about an election or referendum, and concluded that the most effective practice has been knocking on doors and speaking to residents one-by-one.

The most radical suggestion was presented by democratic candidate and current Deputy Mayor Al Simon, who suggested that the entire election process would need to be amended in order for voter turnout to dramatically improve.

"How much effort do you think goes into an event that you have a 90-percent chance of winning?" asked Simon, pointing out that only one of the ten candidates for office will not be seated.

"If we really wanted to generate more voter invovlement and turnout we would have competitive elections. We would have winners and losers. We'd have people engaging with voters because if they didn't, they wouldn't win," he continued.

Revising the Town Charter, he added, is the only way elections in Windsor would be fueled by competition.