The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Haxtun residents received ballots in the mail last week and voters are asked to make a decision on local election processes. The November ballot includes a question asking Haxtun residents to align municipal elections with County elections in November.

Typically, Haxtun municipal elections are held each year in April. During those elections, voters are tasked with making decisions on local ballot issues as well as filling seats on the Haxtun Town Council.

A yes vote on ballot question 1A would move all Haxtun municipal elections to the November ballot already mailed out by the County Clerk’s Office, aligning with elections every two years. The switch, Haxtun Town Clerk Karie Wilson said, would be a money saver.

Currently, during any municipal election, the Town of Haxtun is responsible for hiring election judges, providing them compensation for overseeing the polls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day as well as other expenses.

While there would still be some monetary responsibility to the Town with aligning municipal elections with County-wide elections, costs would be significantly less, Wilson said.

In addition to saving money, Wilson said hopes are that adding municipal elections to ballots mailed by the County will also help with voter turnout. In the latest municipal election, Haxtun had just over 300 voters return ballots. That number is significantly less in comparison to the 783 registered voters in Haxtun.

The 2020 Town of Haxtun municipal elections brought on additional challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic. While stay-at-home orders were in place, Wilson and fellow Town employees and council members worked hard to get the word out about absentee ballots, allowing residents to vote by mail rather than at the polls. The Town incurred expenses related to postage, advertising and printing to help spread the word of applying for an absentee ballot during the recent election.

Of the 300 voters who voted in the last election, only 30 actually went to the local polling place.

Ballot question 1A on the November ballot states, “Shall the dates of the Town of Haxtun’s regular municipal elections be changed to the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of the November in each even numbered year beginning 2022.”

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Local ballots may be dropped off at the Haxtun Town Hall, an official ballot drop-off location. All ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on election day.