State Senator Wants Fire District Elections Moved to November

After another year of “dismal voter turnout” for fire district elections, state Sen. Donald Norcross (D-5) plans to introduce a bill moving the elections to November.

Fire district elections are held on the third Saturday in February—the only New Jersey elections held on a weekend—and usually see extremely low turnout. Statewide, 2 percent of eligible voters on average participate, Norcross said.

Cinnaminson saw nearly the same voter turnout . According to unofficial results, 172 went to the polls and five absentee ballots were turned in. That compares to last year's number of 179 voters at the polls.

The fire budget passed both times.

Moving the election, Norcross said, could increase voter turnout and save money by consolidating election costs.

School boards across New Jersey recently decided whether to move their elections from April to November for similar reasons. Norcross sponsored the bill in the state senate that allowed districts the option to move elections.

“As with the school board elections and the separate presidential primary, fire district elections are costly and inefficient,” Norcross said in statement. “Big-budget items that affect every taxpayer in town are decided in an election with the state’s lowest voter turnout.”

As of Feb. 26, 86 percent of school boards statewide opted to move their elections to November, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association. Cinnaminson's school board .

“The undeniable success of the statewide effort to move the school board elections to November shows the public demand for a more streamlined, cost-efficient election process, and that is what we intend to give them,” Norcross said. “Keeping in line with my previous legislation, rescheduling the fire district election promises to boost voter participation while reducing unnecessary costs.”

Rich Dietrich, fire commissioner for the , said he'd be in favor of moving the commissioner election to November, but not the budget vote, unless it meant the vote would be eliminated altogether unless it exceeds the 2 percent cap.

As of right now, Norcross' proposed legislation would not eliminate the budget vote if it stayed within 2 percent.

"We are a very small percentage of the total real estate tax bill and the school district is the biggest," Dietrich said. "If they aren't going to be at risk, it would be very unfair to put the fire districts at risk."

Norcross, who represents 19 towns in Camden and Gloucester counties, did not provide projected savings for moving fire district elections to November. He did, however, point to cost savings for consolidating other elections. Moving school board elections to November could save $4.5 million statewide, he said, while eliminating the separate presidential primary has a projected $12 million savings this year.

Dietrich said the election for the fire budget and commissioners last year cost $735.

New Jersey has 185 fire districts. The annual election seeks voter approval for the budget and special referendum questions, plus elects candidates as fire commissioners. Not every town statewide has a fire district. Some budgets are folded into the larger municipal budget instead.