Will the next Sarasota election be in November or March? For the first time since the election of two new Sarasota City Commissioners, an elected official in the city broached the topic Monday of moving the time when city voters make decisions at the polls. Vice Mayor Suzanne Atwell said voters sent a clear message for change in the May 12 ouster of two appointed incumbents, and officials should take notice.Atwell asked staff to explore the possibility of holding city elections concurrent with November general elections. The city will bring information back at a later date, when the commission will decide details and consider placing the matter on a citywide ballot in November 2016. "Sarasota deserves a place at the grown-up table," Atwell said.

She said holding March elections disenfranchises thousands of city voters, noting a low citywide turnout of 18.7 percent in the recent Sarasota city election held May 12. In that contest, Sarasota City Commission races in District 2 and 3 drew respective turnouts of 27.72 percent and 16.78 percent, while two noncontroversial charter amendments drew a turnout of 6.31 percent in District 1.

City Attorney Robert Fournier said the matter would need to be put on a future agenda for the commission so that the public would have notice and could speak to the issue. Research in the meantime will be done on such issues as how to schedule runoffs, how to phase in a change when sitting commissioners were sworn into terms on a May cycle, and when would be the most important time for voters to weigh in on the change.

City Commissioner Susan Chapman immediately noted that turnout in May seemed particularly low only because voters in District 1 only had housekeeping amendments to draw them to the polls. Citing an election analysis done this month by SRQ Media Group, she said the 6.31 percent turnout in District 1 artificially lowered turnout citywide. She also said a switch to November elections would be more complicated than it sounds. "Which election are candidates going to be narrowed down in? Is the first election in November, or is it in August, which has the lowest turnout of all?," she said. Atwell said an August-November election cycle works for other nonpartisan offices such as School Board and Judge.

The timing of elections has been controversial in recent years. In 2013, when Atwell and Chapman both were last elected, opponents labeled the timing of March and May elections as “voter suppression.” November election turnout in 2014 was 58.93 percent countywide and 52.91 percent in the city of Sarasota.