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Christiansburg citizens will find a referendum on their ballots asking them whether they want to move the election of Christiansburg Town Council members from May to odd-year Novembers. The Montgomery County League of Women Voters urges citizens to vote yes. The league believes that democratic government depends on the active participation of its citizens and that voting should be made as easy as possible.

Very few registered Christiansburg voters vote in May elections. Registrar of Elections Randy Wertz computed the percentages of registered Christiansburg voters who have voted in the May elections compared with those who voted in the odd-year November elections.

May 2008: 12 percent

November 2007: 38 percent

May 2006: 11 percent

November 2005: 46 percent

May 2004: 8 percent

This small May turnout of Christiansburg voters is similar to voter turnout in May elections throughout Virginia.

Who votes in May elections? Some are folks devoted to good government who vote in every election. The rest often are members of special-interest groups intent upon electing council members who will support the policies they favor. With only 11 percent of registered voters turning out, a motivated special-interest group can determine the outcome of an election.

In September 2007, Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam started advocating that council elections move from May to November. The town council appointed an ad hoc elections task force in November to research and make a recommendation about moving Election Day.

Mary Holliman, then a council member, chaired the task force. Members were Lindsay West, David Britt and me.

At that time, 19 municipalities in Virginia had moved their town or city elections from May to November. Rordam sent e-mail questions to the mayors of these towns or cities. After answering his questions, half of the respondents added the comment that the larger turnout of voters in November diminished the impact on election results of small special-interest groups.

The task force recommended Blacksburg change its charter to move its council elections from May to odd-year November. Council held a public hearing on the question, then voted to follow the recommendation. The 2008 General Assembly voted to allow Blacksburg to change its charter.

The town's first November council election will take place on Nov. 3.

Soon after he took office in 2008, Christiansburg Councilman Henry Showalter tried to persuade his colleagues to follow Blacksburg's lead and move their elections to November. No other member of the council supported his initiative.

In November 2008, Showalter -- along with former councilman Steve Huppert, a number of Christiansburg league members and town activists -- asked voters to sign petitions for a referendum to move the town elections. More than 20 percent of registered voters signed those petitions, twice the necessary number of signatures.

Opponents of moving town elections to November argue that voters interested in other elections will not be sufficiently knowledgeable about town issues and town candidates. Clearly, Blacksburg organizations and the press are working hard to make sure voters learn about their council candidates and, in the process, learn more about town issues.

The league, and probably other local organizations as well, will make sure Christiansburg voters in November 2011 are equally exposed to information about candidates who are running for council. We will put videos of candidate forums and voter guides on our Web site, www.lwvmcva.org.

As Christiansburg voters learn about candidates and issues, they will become more empowered. In turn, their mayor and council will be more responsive to the wishes of the community as a whole.

Mary Houska is president of the Montgomery County League of Women Voters. She served on Blacksburg's ad hoc Elections Task Force in 2007. The task force studied the experience of Virginia municipalities that had moved their elections from May to November.