Only 10 to 20 percent of Lexington's registered voters show up to elect town government each March. The Select Board wants to change that.

The board formally adopted a charge on July 20 creating the Local Election Voter Turnout Task Force, a seven-member panel tasked with boosting participation in municipal elections. Residents interested in serving have until Monday, Aug. 31, to apply.

The task force grew out of a Vision for Lexington subcommittee report titled "Our Vote, Our Community: Addressing Low Voter Turnout in Lexington's Local Elections," approved in August 2025. Jeri Zeder, who chairs the Vision for Lexington Committee, first presented a draft charge to the Select Board at its March 16 meeting. Select Board member Vineeta Kumar volunteered at that same meeting to serve as the board's liaison.

"Despite our high rate of voter registration, only 10 to 20 percent of voters typically turn out to elect our town government in March each year," Zeder wrote in a letter to the Lexington Observer published Wednesday, Aug. 19. "This, in a town that just celebrated 250 years of insisting on its right to self-governance!"

The town's voter registration rate is approximately 92%, according to the Lexington Observer's June 2025 reporting on the subcommittee's findings.

According to the task force's official charge, the panel has two jobs: provide the Select Board with practical guidance on implementing the subcommittee's recommendations, and work to transform local-election voting into "a central social and cultural value" in town.

Who will serve

The Select Board will appoint seven members drawn from a broad cross-section of the community. The charge specifically invites representation from the League of Women Voters of Lexington and the Commission on Disability, and asks that at least one member come from the original Vision for Lexington subcommittee. A high school student and the Town Clerk or designee will serve as non-voting liaisons alongside Kumar.

Members will serve staggered three-year terms, limited to two terms each. The task force is set to exist for at least six years, with the board able to extend it or make it permanent.

Timeline and deliverables

In its first year, the task force must submit a report with detailed guidance on implementing the subcommittee's recommendations. Year two shifts to developing and executing strategies to raise turnout. By year six, the panel will report on whether its work moved the needle and recommend whether the board should continue the effort.

The task force must hold at least one evening public comment meeting each year.

The Select Board also discussed at its Jan. 12 meeting the possibility of moving Lexington's municipal Election Day from Monday to Tuesday, with a potential target of March 2027.

Residents can find application information and other committee openings at lexingtonma.gov.