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Sentinel News Stories Page ? o f 3 <br /> Fairmont, hold odd-year elections. Charter cities are not <br /> required to comply �v i th state statutes. <br /> The Charter Commission reviewed the issue before <br /> recommending the changes to the City Council. The Charter <br /> Commission discussed the benefits of holding municipal <br /> elections at the same time as state elections and increasing <br /> voter turnout. They also discussed the possibility of the <br /> municipal elections becoming lost with many other ballot <br /> votes. <br /> Charter cities Worthington and Blue Earth recently <br /> switched from odd-year to even-year elections and have no <br /> complaints. <br /> Blue Earth deputy city clerk Nancy Thompson believes the <br /> city's 1997 decision has been a positive one, <br /> "It does uncake a big (li fferencc,of she said. "'Flee people are <br /> coming out for something fairly large. I think the public <br /> would rather come out once than twice to vote." <br /> "lie first cvcn-year election for Blue Earth city office was <br /> 1998. In 1997, 180 ballots were cast in the Blue Earth city <br /> election compared with 1,778 in the 1998 combined city <br /> and general election. <br /> in addition to tapping into the large voter turnout for the <br /> gubernatorial election, the city also saved money and <br /> administrative time. Instead of arranging for election judges <br /> every year, for general or city elections, city officials now <br /> only hire judges every other year. <br /> Thompson believes the transition from odd-year to evetl- <br /> year elections ran smoothly in Blue Earth due to extra <br /> advertising and information sessions for citizens. <br /> Blue Earth voters li av e not raised concerns about local <br /> elections getting lost when combined with state or federal <br /> ballots. <br /> "I think it's pretty clear to people because they recognize tthe <br /> local names," Thompson said. <br /> The one drawback in Blue Earth has been extra ballots to <br /> count on election night. Blue Earth city officials offset the <br /> problem by hiring a few more judges; a solution Thompson <br /> believes is still better than hiring them twice. <br /> Worthington experienced similar voter increases when it <br /> li ttp:11 fai niioiitsenti iiel.eomliiews/stories/072499b.htm l 4/1/02 <br />