PORTSMOUTH — Middletown, Newport, and Tiverton all have nonpartisan elections. Is it time for Portsmouth to join them?

That will be the question taken up by the Town Council on Monday, July 20, when it continues deliberations on a citizens panel’s recommended revisions to the Portsmouth Town Charter.

On June 22, the council began reviewing proposed changes to the charter as voted on by the Charter Review Committee, a group of about 20 citizens who were appointed in January 2019 to review the document that defines local government’s powers, functions and essential procedures.

The council is tasked with voting on the recommendations, but it will ultimately be up to voters this November to approve any recommendations. Any council-approved charter revisions must be sent to the state by Aug. 5 in order to appear on the ballot. The charter, which was originally adopted in November 1972, was last amended by Portsmouth voters in November 2016.

The council approved several charter revisions at its June 22 meeting, but also tabled action on other recommendations until July 20. 

That included the matter of nonpartisan elections, in which each candidate is eligible based on his or her own merits, rather than as a member of a political party. No political affiliation, if one exists, is shown on the ballot next to a candidate in a nonpartisan election.

The charter committee voted not to recommend nonpartisan elections for Town Council. However, the panel narrowly — by one vote — recommended nonpartisan elections for School Committee.

Supporters of nonpartisan elections say such elections would allow for federal employees — such as people who work at the Naval War College — to run for office. Under the Hatch Act, federal employees may not seek public office in partisan elections. Nonpartisan elections would also force voters to learn more about local candidates and what they stand for, proponents say.

Opponents of nonpartisan elections argue they deny voters valuable information because there are clear differences in how Republicans and Democrats approach local issues. Nonpartisan elections can also lead to lower voter turnout, opponents say.

‘Deeper candidate pools’

Ted Pietz, a former member of the Charter Review Committee, said it’s time for Portsmouth to join the rest of Aquidneck Island and Tiverton and switch to nonpartisan elections.

“I strongly advocate for nonpartisan elections (no political party listed next to the candidate's name) for Town Council and school board in the Town of Portsmouth to allow the scientists, engineers, and professional workforce that support the federal government another avenue to serve our local community. Deeper candidate pools for local elections will be to the benefit to the voters of the Town of Portsmouth,” Mr. Pietz stated in a letter to the council.

He said the argument that voter turnout will be diminished by nonpartisan elections is false. “Voters are enthused by inspirational candidates and exciting elections, and turn out accordingly,” he stated.

Nonpartisan elections, he added, also “force voters to learn more about local candidates” rather than using the shortcut of voting ‘straight party.’”

Hides information

John McDaid, a member of the charter review panel, disagreed. He said removing political affiliation from a ballot does not remove differences — it just hides information that would benefit voters. 

“There are, in fact, differences in how Republicans and Democrats approach local issues,” Mr. McDaid stated in a June 21 Facebook post, which he illustrated with two pictures of cans of soda — one blank and one with a Coca-Cola label. 

“Questions about the role of government, the appropriateness of taxes to support common services, and the respect for fact-based analysis come to mind,” Mr. McDaid stated. “Who benefits if the voter, looking down at their ballot, has all clues about ideology removed? Certainly not the voter, who is essentially committing to ‘drinking’ their selection for two years when they cast their vote. So-called ‘nonpartisan’ elections won’t stop candidates for council from actually being registered Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. But it would hide that information from the voters in the polling booth. Why deprive citizens of that information?”

The July 20 meeting, which will be held virtually via the Zoom platform, starts at 7 p.m.

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