By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

Oct. 27, 2026: I know many of you received a recent mailer from residents in the Village urging you to vote Yes on the referendum to combine Village elections with national ones.

While I have great respect for those interested in making this seismic change reversing 125 years of local elections, I must admit a level of frustration that four out of the five points made as reasons to move the election are simply not backed up in a factual way.

I have always subscribed to the quote by New York’s own Senator Daniel Patrick Monahan, who said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”

Assertion Number One

More Votes, Stronger Village

It is quite clear more voters come out in November, but I don’t see the connect that more voters by definition increases the strength of a community.

Data has proven that the more candidates one sees on the ballot and the more decisions to be made significantly increases the tendency to abstain or rely on decision shortcuts such voting your normal party line voting, which is not necessarily what is best for a local community, nor the most informed choice on electing the persons most likely to impact the spending of the vast majority of your tax dollars and deciding the services affecting your daily life. There is no national Republican or Democratic way to pave Pondfield Road.  We cannot allow the very real divisions in party alliances at this moment in time in Washington to dictate the future of our one square mile. Bronxville needs to continue to vote for the person, not the party.

Separate school board elections which are the law throughout the state operate under the theory, which I subscribe to, that the best candidate should be elected without great partisan noise, keeping the issues solely focused on education. Voting for Trustees in March keeps the focus solely on Village issues.

When the ballot is too long, the concept so named, “voter fatigue” also takes effect. This was proven in our Village just last year when this referendum was on the ballot and 45 voters did not turn the page over to vote on any of the referendums.

Assertion Number Two

Make It Easier For You To Participate

A relatively new law, not well publicized in New York State, makes it much more convenient to vote in March as well as November. A lot has changed since some of us last voted, including the very seminal “no excuse” absentee ballot option.

As a result of the law change, a voter can simply call a phone number which the Village will provide, and it’s also easily accessible on the internet, and have a ballot sent to your home, your vacation location or anywhere you choose if you prefer not to come out in person in March with no excuse needed.

Assertion Number Three

Save Taxpayer Money

There has not been a scintilla of evidence to support this claim. I have done the research and it is simply not supported by the facts.

The County of Westchester currently pays for all of our elections out of their $2.5 billion budget including our $8.3 million contribution. Extrapolating out the cost of the March elections, which is $15,419, the savings per household would be in small coins not dollars.

Assertion Number Four

Provide Access to Early Voting

One of the reasons which is mentioned in the flyer is that, “Bronxville residents live busy lives,” and cannot come out in person in March. I don’t understand how coming out in person a week before the actual election saves time which is the only method of early voting not currently provided for in the March elections. Given the new way to get the “no excuse” mail-in ballots to vote, the March election cycle does not require you to ever leave your home to register your local choices.

Assertion Number Five

Enhance Community Involvement

To keep Bronxville government on its current path, government service should continue to appeal to the best and the brightest candidates who are committed to getting involved in Bronxville and Bronxville issues with no national or state political agenda beyond our one square mile.

I know for certain this has been the focus of all my past and current colleagues as we are the only community in the county that doesn’t even offer a small salary to residents who share their time and talents in government.

In addition, the proposed election move is not as simple as portrayed, but comes with a very elongated and cumbersome process that I believe will have a chilling effect on volunteer service.

Moving the local election to November requires a candidate to be chosen the April prior and needing petitions requiring 100+ signatures, thus obligating a villager who just wants to offer their volunteer services to campaign for half a year every two years, perhaps against a friend or neighbor. I can’t imagine anyone welcoming this scenario.

Just to be clear, this is not a non-partisan, grass roots effort as positioned by the proponents of the date change and cannot be fairly characterized as such. The numbers are the numbers. Of the 34 people who carried the petitions, 33 are registered Democrats with 12 of the 13 active local Democratic Party District Leaders. In addition of the contributions to the cost of the flyers and campaign outreach supporting the “Yes” vote, 22 of 23 were registered Democrats and 10 of the 13 active District party leaders.

Based on my columns, it is evident that I am passionate about the Village not losing its local control as I have such respect for the doctrine of Home Rule. My goal has always been to leave the Village in a better place than when I found it, however slightly. I believe looking at the election change through the lens of what is best for the Village as it is a real philosophical change in who and how people volunteer and how we choose the best candidates to be stewards of the Village.