Conservation district board elections

[Laura Johnson]

Multi-part question from Washington State on elections:
• Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state?
• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections?
• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved?

[NASCA]

The NASCA 2013 Survey to Membership should help with your first question, pages 22-23

NASCA 2013 survey to membership.pdf

Attachments:

1. 

   NASCA-2013-survey-to-membership.pdf
   

[Teri Murrison]

• Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state? YES

• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections? NONE

• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved? ISSUES EXIST. NO MEDIA, LEGISLATIVE ATTENTION TO DATE.

[David Williams (NC)]

Multi-part question from Washington State on elections:
• Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state? Yes
• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections? None, other than filling mid-term vacancies.
• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved? Occasionally, there are news articles calling attention to the obscure races (including SWCD supervisors). The NC Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts developed a info brochure for districts and local boards of elections to share with people (candidates and voters) who want to know what this position involves.

[Bruce Schmidt]

Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state? YES

• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections?
Notices are sent to the SCD to refer to the ND Century Code with the election procedure that needs to be followed.

• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved?
This last general election we had two County Auditors not put the SCD Supervisor Section on the county ballot. The reason was the Auditor said there was no one that petitioned, not realizing there wasn’t a place to do a write-in. The State Soil Conservation Committee working with the District has appointed an elected position Supervisor until the next General Election as a fix. State Century Code and State Auditor allowed this appointment.

[Mark Gilbert]

No
The State agency is responsible for conducting the election of SWCD officials.

There are issues but no media or legislative attention yet.

[Tom Gordon]

No general elections for District Boards in Maine.

Election procedures are governed by State law and Department rules.

Low voter turnout is a concern — the process is not particularly “democratic” and leads to perpetual self-selection of District Boards. Cost and politics are concerns expressed about a switch to the general ballot. District Boards are generally “below the radar” of the news media and the general public here.

[Vince Sitzmann]

Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state?
Yes

What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections?
None, since its on the general ballot the local county handles the vote and certifies the results.

Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved?
no. Most people have no idea what the SWCD commissioner do so they don’t vote. Its also a nonpartisan election.

[David Williams (NC)]

Here is the link to the Supervisor Election pamphlet I mentioned previously.
Supervisor Election Brochure

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by Aaron.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by Aaron.

[Clyde Cristman]

In Virginia, conservation district directors are elected on the same four year term cycle when all 40 State Senators are up for election. All 100 House of Delegates members are also on this cycle, but their terms are for only two years. Because the entire General Assembly is up for election, as are many local elected offices, voter turnout is generally good. However, since this an off-year cycle for national elections (the next SWCD elections being in November 2019), voter turnout is not as large is in Presidential election years. Our agency is not directly involved in the process as it falls under the State Board of Elections and the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The process is spelled out in Chapter 5 of Title 10.1 of the Code of Virginia: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title10.1/chapter5/

[Lisa Knauf Owen]

Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state? – No

What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections? – Rules were promulgated by the agency to administer the conservation district election process. A commission staff member serves as the coordinator of election procedures. Here is a link to the rules: https://www.ok.gov/conservation/documents/Chapter%203%20REVISED%20May%202009.pdf

Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved? Yes, there has been low voter turn out in many of the elections. 2017 we had 6 out of 84 conservation districts have an election – 2018 there were no elections as only one candidate filed – 2019 we are currently in the process and have 5 elections slated.

We have not come under any scrutiny from the media or legislature. We attempt to make the process as transparent as possible; publishing notices in the paper and working through the local election boards to handle the election process.

[Kent Zimmerman]

1. Yes
2. None
3. No

[Rob Hamilton]

• Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state? NO
• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections? ODA-DSWC FIELD STAFF OVERSEE EACH SPECIAL DISTRICT ELECTION CONDUCTED EACH YEAR. OUR COMMISSION SETS POLICY AND ELECTION PROCEDURES THAT ARE APPROVED BY OUR COMMISSION
• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved? NOT BY MEDIA OR LEGISLATURE, BUT WE HAVE SOME INTERNAL CONCERNS IN SOME DISTRICTS WITH LOWER VOTER TURN OUT AND LACK OF PUBLICITY AND TRANSPARANCY. TYPICALLY WE HAVE TRIED TO WORK WITH THE INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT ON ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES THE FOLLOWING YEAR.

[Justin Caudill]

Yes, CD supervisor elections are listed on the general ballots.

The WDA does not play a role in the elections process in Wyoming, all guidelines established in WY statutes.

To the best of my knowledge there has been no issues centered around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) by the media or legislature in Wyoming.

[Brian Farkas]

• Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state?
WV district supervisors are elected through non-partisan ballots in the state’s primary election (similar to how county school board members are elected.)

• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections?
Elections are overseen by the WV Secretary of State’s office and the 55 county clerks. Sometimes we are asked questions about supervisor elections from county clerks, but that is all. Supervisors have been elected to four-year terms since 2008, so the process has become fairly normal.

• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? If so, how was that handled or resolved?
No issues to date. The constant question is “What is a Conservation Supervisor?”

[Alisha Mulkey]

In Maryland, SCD supervisors are appointed by the State Soil Conservation Committee (SSCC). Governing rules are state statute, and administered by our agency – Maryland Department Agriculture. I serve as the Executive Secretary to the SSCC in my capacity at the Department.

No media or legislative issues.

[Vernon Cox]

• Are conservation district board elections on the general ballot in your state? Yes

• What role (if any) does your agency have in setting the procedure for and overseeing conservation district elections? None

• Have any issues around district elections (e.g. low voter turnout, lack of publicity/transparency) come under fire in your state by the media or legislature? No. Our elections are held as part of the general election.

If so, how was that handled or resolved? N/A

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