On-cycle elections

Ballotpedia defines on-cycle elections as elections that are held at the same time as Federal elections in November of even-numbered years. On-cycle elections are held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, including both presidential election years — which are divisible by four — and midterm election years — which are not divisible by four.

Elections that are not held on Tuesday following the First Monday in November of an even-numbered year are off-cycle elections. Off-cycle elections can be off-year — held in odd-numbered years — or off-date — for example on the third Tuesday in May. Some off-cycle elections are both off-year and off-date, such as elections held in the Spring of odd-numbered years.

The terms on-cycle election and off-cycle election are sometimes used by others to compare other sets of elections with high voter turnout to those with lower turnout. For example, to say that a city election is held on cycle or off cycle with regard to a statewide primary or general election or to say that midterm elections are off cycle with regard to presidential elections. Click here to see examples of how these terms are used by a variety of academics and media sources.

HIGHLIGHTS

On-cycle elections are held on Tuesday after the First Monday in November during even-numbered years at the same time as federal elections.

Voter turnout for on-cycle elections is higher than voter turnout for elections held off-cycle.

Five states hold off-year state elections for governor and other executive offices. Four of those states also hold off-year state legislative elections.

Fourteen states hold mostly on-cycle school board elections. Twenty-four states mostly hold off-cycle school board elections. This includes both off-year and off-date elections. In 11 states, state law does not determine specific school board election dates, or school board elections are held annually.

In this article you will find:

• The effects of on-cycle vs. off-cycle elections on turnout
• The uses of the term on-cycle election in academic and media sources
• An explanation of how the term on-cycle relates to multi-stage elections and special elections
• A summary of the use of on-cycle and off-cycle elections across the country in statewide races and for school board elections

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On-cycle and off-cycle elections in the U.S.

Statewide election dates

Off-cycle statewide election dates:

Five states hold off-year state elections for governor and other executive offices. Four of those states also hold off-year state legislative elections.

• Kentucky - executive offices
• Louisiana - executive and legislative offices
• Mississippi - executive and legislative offices
• New Jersey - executive and legislative offices
• Virginia - executive and legislative offices

On-cycle statewide election states:

The remaining 45 states hold on-cycle elections for state offices.

School board election dates

Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.

The analysis below is based on state laws governing school board elections and some researched common practices. In some states, the state law mandates a specific date. In others, the laws allow districts to choose their own election date from a range or a list of allowed dates or through charter provisions.

• 25 states have school board elections that are mostly held off cycle from federal elections. This includes both off-year and off-date elections.
  • 10 of those states have school board elections that are mostly or at least commonly held on election dates in November of odd-numbered years.
  • 16 of those states have school board elections mostly or at least commonly held on election dates that are not in November.
• 14 states have school board elections that are mostly held on cycle with federal elections in November of even-numbered years.
• 9 states either do not have state laws or overwhelmingly common practices that determine a specific school board election date or have varying school board election dates.
• Hawaii has a single, appointed school board.

The effects of election timing on turnout

Whether an election is held on cycle or off cycle is by far the biggest factor in determining levels of voter turnout. The degree to which election timing affects voter turnout varies by state and by jurisdiction.

Studies comparing turnout for local off-cycle elections to voter turnout in on-cycle elections universally show significantly lower turnout in off-cycle elections. The results vary depending on the state; the types of local elections; whether the studies compare off-cycle elections to presidential cycles, midterm cycles, statewide elections in odd years, or some combination; and a variety of other factors. Looking at the extremes, 66.8% of voting-age citizens turned out for the 2020 presidential election, the highest voter turnout in the last two decades. While, according to Zoltan L. Hajnal, a professor of political science at the University of California San Diego, "Nationwide, only 27 percent of eligible voters vote in the typical municipal election."

Uses of the term on-cycle election in academic and media sources

Journalists and academics have consistently used the terms on-cycle election and off-cycle election when comparing one election date or set of election dates with higher voter turnout to another set with lower voter turnout. The specific set or sets of election dates, however, to which they apply each term has varied. Examples of the wide range of ways in which academics and journalists have used these terms are below.

• Sarah F. Anzia, author and Associate Professor of Public Policy & Political Science at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, in her book Timing and Turnout: How Off-Cycle Elections Favor Organized Groups, defines off-cycle election as any election that is not held in November of even-numbered years. She elsewhere ties the term directly to concurrence with elections that have high voter engagement. In other publications, she defines on-cycle to mean concurrent with national and state elections.

Sarah F. Anzia, author and Associate Professor of Public Policy & Political Science at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy: "When city elections are held on-cycle—meaning on the same day as national and state elections—most people who turn out to vote for president or governor will vote in the city races as well. But many of these same people won’t bother to vote in city races held at other times."

Sarah F. Anzia: "More generally, an 'off-cycle' or 'nonconcurrent' election refers to an election that is held on a different day than other elections that attract greater political participation."

• Zoltan L. Hajnal, Professor at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy; Vladimir Kogan, Associate Professor at The Ohio State University; and George Markarian, Assistant Professor at Loyola University Chicago published a study in 2021 titled "Who Votes: City Election Timing and Voter Composition (July 16, 2021)" in which they define on-cycle election to include both November general elections and statewide primary elections. Journalists reporting on the study used the term in the same way, using on-cycle election to describe a March municipal election coinciding with a statewide primary.

Zoltan L. Hajnal, Vladimir Kogan, and George Markarian: "We classify every local election as taking place on the same day as a presidential general election, a midterm general election, or a statewide primary election. All elections that do not occur on one of these statewide election days are coded as being held off-cycle."

Christine Clark in an article for UC San Diego Today: "Though outside the study’s time period, the results are even more dramatic for the City of Los Angeles. It experienced a 400 percent increase in voters casting ballots in local elections for the city’s first on-cycle election in March 2020, compared to the last off-cycle election in March 2015.

• In a 2002 study titled "Municipal Elections in California: Turnout, Timing, and Competition, Zoltan L. Hajnal, Paul G. Lewis, and Hugh Louch differentiated between odd-year November elections and off-cycle elections.

Zoltan L. Hajnal, Paul G. Lewis, and Hugh Louch: "Controlling for a host of other factors, presidential elections are associated with turnouts of registered voters in city elections that are 36 percent higher than off-cycle elections (which are 'local-only' elections typically held in the spring)."

• James W. Endersby, Professor at Harry S Truman School of Government and Public Affairs, used the term off-cycle to refer to elections in November of odd-numbered years on ballots also containing statewide ballot measures.

James W. Endersby: "For example, in Texas, municipalities originally held elections in May, and the state shifted most of these to November in odd-numbered years. These off-cycle November elections often include statewide ballot propositions, which are typically low turnout contests."

• While comparing presidential elections to mid-term elections, Michaela Towfighi in an article for Concord Monitor referred to elections in November of even-numbered midterm years as off-cycle.

Michaela Towfighi: "The narrative of election skepticism is at the forefront of these midterm elections. These off-cycle contests typically stand to test the leading party’s power. "

Classifying special elections

The terms on-cycle election and off-cycle election are primarily applicable to regular elections. Special elections to fill vacancies are subject to a variety of laws governing how soon they must occur following vacancies and on which election dates they can be held. Special elections can —and sometimes must — coincide with other scheduled on-cycle or off-cycle elections.

Classifying multi-stage elections

For election systems with multiple stages — such as systems with both a primary election and general election or systems that use runoff elections — Ballotpedia applies the term on-cycle only to an election held in November of even-numbered years.

Here are three ways the terms on-cycle could be used when talking about primary or runoff elections:

• On-cycle primary could mean a primary held on the same day as a primary election for Federal or state offices in that state.
• On-cycle primary or on-cycle runoff could mean the primary or runoff election for an on-cycle general election held in November of an even-numbered year.
• On-cycle primary or on-cycle runoff could mean a primary or runoff election held on the same date as Federal elections in November of an even-numbered year.

Because of this ambiguity about how to apply the terms on-cycle and off-cycle to other stages of multi-stage elections, it is best to describe the election timing for these stages precisely.

See also

School board election rules:

• Rules governing school board election dates and timing
• Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board election coverage:

• School board elections by state
• School board elections by year
• School board recall elections

Terms and context:

• On-cycle elections
• Off-cycle elections
• Partisan elections
• Nonpartisan elections