"How Democrats Suppress The Vote"

"Scheduling elections at odd times appears to be a deliberate strategy aimed at keeping turnout low, which gives more influence to groups like teachers unions that have a direct stake in the election’s outcome...

Nowhere are the strategic motivations — and the hypocritical rhetoric — of both parties more apparent than in the timing of elections.

The election calendar in the United States is an insane mess...

The consolidation bills, which were generally sponsored by Republicans, typically failed because of Democratic opposition, according to Anzia. By her account, Democrats opposed the bills at the urging of Democratic-aligned interest groups, namely teachers unions and municipal employee organizations...

Anzia shows that off-cycle elections lead to higher salaries and better health and retirement benefits for teachers and public employees...

For readers who are sympathetic to the perspective of the off-cycle election proponents (typically Democrats), it is worth noting that these are very much the same arguments that Republicans might make in favor of voting restrictions that make voting a little bit harder for the average American."

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-democrats-suppress-the-vote/?ex_cid=538fb

It's weird to think about how much power the parties have, outside of politics.