What happens when you send everyone a ballot to vote in an election?
Turns out, more people vote.
That's what happened in June, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo directed school districts to send ballots to every voter for the annual budget vote.
The number of ballots cast statewide tripled over last year, according to a study by the office of state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. And in Western New York, the number increased by 304%.
The annual budget vote in nearly 700 school districts was scheduled May 19, but it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The governor rescheduled it for June 9, and required districts to mail ballots with return postage envelopes to every voter. Cuomo then extended the deadline for voting to June 16, because some districts had trouble getting the ballots mailed out due to a shortage of envelopes.
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While the number of votes increased, the results were about the same as last year, with the number of budgets defeated staying about the same.
Western New York had the highest increase in voter participation over 2019, according to the comptroller's office. Among the districts with the highest percentage increase in voters were Cheektowaga, up 680%; Amherst, up 626%; Depew, up 569%; and Lewiston-Porter, up 506%.
Despite the increase in voter participation, this year's budget vote is not an experience that school district clerks want to revisit.
"There were a lot of logistics that had to come together in a short period of time," Cheektowaga Central School District Clerk Mary Ann Miano said. "It was very stressful because of the date sensitivity of everything and what was required."
Cheektowaga sent out about 9,000 ballots, she said. Because so many were returned – 2,161 – the district took them to the Erie County Board of Elections to be counted on a high-speed scanner. The budget was defeated by 51 votes. Because of the narrow margin, district officials took the ballots back to the district office and counted them by hand, finishing around 4 a.m. the next day. It still lost.
The budget was approved on a revote in July that included in-person voting and residents had to request an absentee ballot. It was a significantly lower turnout, with the budget being approved, 610-234.
Miano attributes the huge increase in participation in the first vote to everyone being mailed a ballot.
While the number of votes increased from 2019 to 2020, the share of "No" votes also increased, but not to the point that more budgets were defeated than the previous year.
Participation in school budget votes has declined since the tax cap was established in 2011. Most school budgets get approved by voters every year – statewide, only nine were defeated in June – and the adoption rate has risen since the state’s tax cap was enacted.
