“It’s hard to assign a “good” or “bad” label on turnout levels. A few benchmarks though, for comparison, of total votes cast in Ridgewood:
– 2019 School election (Apr): 2,473 total votes cast (unofficial)
– 2018 Midterm election (Nov): 11,400 total votes cast for U.S. Senate
– 2018 Midterm election (Nov): 7,663 total votes cast for Ridgewood BOE
– 2016 Presidential election (Nov): 13,308
– 2016 BOE election (Nov): 8,650
So it seems clear that expecting 3x, perhaps even 4x, the turnout by moving the BOE vote (and Village Council vote) to November is a reasonable expectation.”
Here is the source of my data:
– https://www.bergencountyclerk.org/election/ (note official 2019 results have since been posted)
– https://www.bergencountyclerk.org/services/24
I do not believe in a “scheme to take away your right to vote.” Rather, I believe that our community’s interests are served more effectively when a broader cross section of the Village elects like-minded candidates in November, rather than a much smaller group voting on a budget in April with which we’re not as intimately knowledgeable. With regard to the previous commenter, unfortunately my understanding is that NJ State law requires any separate budget vote to be held on election day in April when turnout has been shown to be lower; only a small number of communities have chosen this option.
I certainly acknowledge that there are members of the community who disagree with me. I’m happy to have an open dialog with anyone interested in having a transparent and constructive conversation. Perhaps civil, face-to-face discussions over coffee in town? I’ve signed my name to this, and hope others will do the same.
This was my comment, for clarity.
Matt Lindenberg I’m not blocked by Winograd or Mom’s Dads on Facebook . Took a look at your post and it’s exactly as reported in original comment and not taken out of context. Is there a reason you didn’t include it in your response?
Here it the Facebook post as written by Matt Lindenberg, “I guess I see it as a choice between 50-60% (not positive about those numbers) electing good BOE members to get the budget work done right, or 14% voting to approve it. Given that choice, my opinion 50-60% representation is better. You may disagree.”
Matt Lindenberg, as someone participating in a campaign to take away a voting right, shouldn’t you know the facts? Don’t you have an obligation to tell people the truth? In this instance your 50-60% is completely inaccurate and even more so when considering lack of down-ballot participation.
Ridgewood residents deserve better than a campaign of misinformation.
I’m not suffering from voter fatigue and prefer to vote for BOE 8n april, council in May, primary June and November general. If you and Siobhan are fatigued just stay home and leave the rest of us to our voting.
Apologies if the 50-60% numbers were not exactly accurate at the time (as I said they might not be). Hopefully the additional research I did to obtain the numbers above (which come directly from the County Clerk) set your mind at ease about any potential misinformation.