Kate Lisa reports for New York State of Politics that in the election held this year in October and November, only between 20 and 30 percent of voters turned out to cast ballots. Backers of a proposal to move local elections to year when turnout is naturally higher because of high-profile presidential and senate votes are still getting push back from many local leaders who want to maintain the status quo. Moving local elections to even-numbered years is one of more than 150 bills passed that are waiting for a signature from Gov. Kathy Hochul to become law. New York Public Interest Research Group's Executive Director Blair Horner said, "In a democracy, a representative democracy, you want to have the biggest turnout possible.... We think it's easier for voters to remember that they're supposed to go to the polling place, particularly when there's a high-profile election." Stephen Acquario, executive director of the state Association of Counties, says most county leaders across the state are opposed to moving local elections, saying, "I think we need to respect their choice, their decisions, and not change laws because people in the Capitol think that they have a better view on how to control their behavior.... People are motivated by their own behavior, by what their own values are, what matters to them [for] whether or not they'll go to a voting machine and cast a ballot." Elections for city or village elections, and for races for county clerk, sheriff, district attorneys, local judges and others protected in the state Constitution to be held in odd-numbered years would not be moved if Hochul signs the bill. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.