After all that has transpired in Ferguson, will residents vote?

[csziggy]

53. An earlier article said city races are held separate from any other elections

And that was one reason few people turned out for them. For many people it's hard enough getting to the polls for the bigger races. To have one local election completely apart from all other races seems wasteful and designed to reduce voter participation.

I don't have the link to that story - it was in a thread here on DU a few weeks ago.

Here is one thread - but the linked article does not go into depth:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025753597

Ah - here it is:
From this post: http://sync.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5892646

This Is The Most Important Reform Ferguson Can Enact To Give Its Black Residents A Voice

by Ian Millhiser Posted on August 18, 2014
Ferguson can help ensure that its leaders more closely resemble its population, however. They just need to hold their elections at a time when voters are actually likely to show up.

To explain, a major contributor to the disparity between Ferguson’s population demographics and that of its leaders is Ferguson’s unusual elections calendar. Under the Ferguson City Charter, “[t]he regular city election shall be held annually on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in April,” and these elections are held in odd-numbered years. Thus, Ferguson chooses its leadership at a time when there is no state or national-level general election, and it is unlikely that there are even any major primary candidates on the ballot. Missouri, like the federal government, holds its gubernatorial and state legislative elections in even-numbered years.

The fact that Ferguson’s elections are held at a time when few, if any, high-profile candidates are on the ballot contributes to an almost comically low voter turnout rate in these elections. In 2013, for example, just 11.7 percent of eligible voters actually cast a ballot.

Turnout is especially low among Ferguson’s African American residents, however. In 2013, for example, just 6 percent of eligible black voters cast a ballot in Ferguson’s municipal elections, as compared to 17 percent of white voters.
More: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/08/18/3472278/this-is-the-most-important-reform-ferguson-can-enact-to-prevent-another-standoff/