Anchorage Assembly work session reviews proposal to shift municipal elections to even-year Novembers and extend many local terms

At a Jan. 17 work session the Anchorage Assembly discussed AO 2024-125, an ordinance the presenter said would submit a ballot proposition for the April 1, 2025 election asking voters to move many municipal offices to four-year terms and consider shifting regular municipal elections to November in even-numbered years.

The presenter, who led the session, told members the ordinance has three goals: "to put the question before the voter," to "cut election costs roughly in half," and to "increase voter turnout by up to, and hopefully, 100% from where we are today, so from 30 to 60." He cited municipal and statewide figures for 2018–2024 and said the average municipal election cost in that period was "roughly $682,000," with the 2024 regular election about "$716,000." He also said some general expenses of about "$224,000" were not classified to specific elections and that the total cost for two recent races was about "$1,300,000."

Why it matters: The ordinance, as described to the assembly, aims to reduce the frequency of municipal elections (and associated costs) by moving from the…