I reviewed some aspects of the Ann Arbor electoral system in a blog post [link] in which I quoted Larry Kestenbaum, the County Clerk who is also a student of such issues, in saying that he now favors non-partisan elections. One reason would be to move the decision point into November.

Here’s how it would work: we would still have a primary in August, but it would be open to all comers. So for example in the 5th ward with the same candidates running as today, John Floyd, Lou Glorie, and Carsten Hohnke would all be running in one contest.

The two top vote-getters in that primary would then compete in November, again on the non-partisan ballot. You might recall that this is how the election for 15th District judge was done in 2008.

Each candidate could seek endorsements from, for example, the local Democratic and Republican parties, and from other groups. They could self-identify as to a particular party but would have to compete with others who had the same party label.

If only two candidates filed for election in a particular ward, the city could presumably skip putting on a primary in that ward (unless there were other primary contests, as there are this year).

Alan, I’m not sure that developing an estimate for the size of Carsten’s “D” is the greatest and best use of my time. Measuring exactly, on the other hand, might be: [link] Carsten’s yard-sign “D” measures exactly .5 inches tall.