At Tuesday's Christiansburg Town Council meeting, the possibility of switching town elections from May to November was discussed.

Newly elected councilman Henry Showalter invited Randy Wertz, county registrar, to address council regarding local election dates.

Wertz presented a slide show explaining why opting for a November election for local government may be a favorable option. Earlier this year, the Blacksburg Town Council decided to switch its spring elections to November in odd years starting in 2009.

"One of the main things it will give us is voter participation," Wertz told the Christiansburg council.

According to the presentation, town election turnout in May is tremendously lower than general election turnout in November. The statistics were taken from voter turnout for the past four years at the Christiansburg Armory, a polling place in District D, which covers much of Christiansburg.

Voter participation is usually higher in the fall because people tend to be more concerned about general elections than local, Wertz said. He said people don't take local elections as seriously as they should.

"Your local election affects you more than the federal election does," Wertz said.

Councilman Michael Barber said he thinks the local election time frame should be left unchanged.

"I think that this is our election," Barber said.

Mayor Richard Ballengee didn't express a firm opinion either way but voiced concern over political party affiliation.

"We represent all of the citizens of Christiansburg, not a party," Ballengee said.

Ballengee was concerned that if local candidates appear on the same ballot as state and federal general election candidates, residents would feel more inclined to vote along party lines.

Wertz said that should the election time frame be switched to November, local candidates can still remain independent.

In a survey of 34 participants that appeared on the Christiansburg community blog Depot Dazed, 73.5 percent responded that elections should be moved to November. Many of the participants cited convenience as a reason to switch the election time frame.

If the town decides to switch to November elections, it would have to gain approval from the General Assembly.