The voters of my hometown will have an opportunity on November 5th to decide whether to continue West Windsor’s nonpartisan elections which have been in effect since 1993, or move to partisan elections that ten other municipalities in Mercer County have.  The vote to change the type of election will occur because a “Committee of Petitioners” known as the West Windsor Voters for Transparency secured 1,500 signatures from West Windsor residents to place the question on the November ballot. For the record, I signed the petition to get the question on the ballot because I thought the town’s residents should have the opportunity to decide whether they favored or opposed the change. The issue is currently the topic of a very spirited discussion on-line and on social media in West Windsor. When I moved to West Windsor in 1977, the Republican’s were the majority party and we had partisan municipal elections.  The chances of a Democratic getting elected were slim. West Windsor’s current party registration is 8,700 Independents, 8,600 Democrats and 2,500 Republicans.  The likelihood of Republicans winning elections in West Windsor will be diminished if our elections become partisan, which is why our current mayor, Hemant Marathe, a registered Republican, and other Republican members of our Council are vehemently opposed to the ballot initiative. Those who favor the change, WW for Representation, contend that West Windsor voters deserve to know the party affiliations of local candidates.  Further they feel that partisan elections will improve local decision making regarding environmental and development issues, increase voter turn and stop hidden politics and backroom agendas (see wwrepresentation.com). Spearheading the opposition to the change to partisan elections is a group known, as Keep West Windsor Nonpartisan, headed by Andy Lupo, a long-time, well-regarded, civic-minded member of the community. Those opposing partisan elections include about 200 other well intentioned West Windsor residents of various political persuasions. Those opposed to the change have raised four questions regarding the manner in which the petition signatures were secured.  First, they have pointed out that the six members of the Committee of Petitioners collected only 126 signatures among themselves.  Second, they have noted that 40 percent or 637 signatures were collected by Democratic committee members. Third, they pointed out that three former unsuccessful candidates for West Windsor Council collected 254 signatures. And fourth, they contend that people from Union County were hired to help collect signatures.  None of these process questions gives me pause as there is no question the Democrats are behind the proposed change because they feel it will give them a greater chance to take control of municipal government. The overarching objection raised by those who want to Keep West Windsor Nonpartisan is that the change will lead to “divisive party politics” and candidates chosen by political machines.  Suffice to say, this is not case in Mercer County’s towns with partisan elections and the move towards open primaries will further open up the candidate selection process. The group’s website states they want to keep West Windsor nonpartisan because “we have avoided the divisive party politics and outside political and money influences that occur at the national level and many partisan towns. Our current Non-Partisan government works! We have had diverse candidates for Mayor and Township Council running on mixed-party slates and independently during the past thirty years. Our leaders have focused on local issues and responsibilities to all our residents.” While I agree that West Windsor’s current nonpartisan government by and large is working pretty well, I’m not convinced that changing to partisan elections will have negative governmental consequences.  There are many Mercer County communities with partisan elections that have exemplary local government. In fact, I think the positives of identifying each candidate as a Democrat, Republican, Independent or a member of another party will outweigh any perceived negatives. I also feel it will be helpful to voters, as most people know what a Democrat or Republican has traditionally stood for, i.e., his/her ideological leanings and policy positions on environmental, pro-business and growth management issues. In my opinion, the need for some sort of marker to denote a candidate’s ideological leanings is of crucially importance nowadays given the takeover of the Republican Party by Donald Trump. I think a significant number of West Windsor voters would want to know whether a Republican candidate is supportive of the basic ideology of Donald Trump.  I know from having asked that question to various current and former Republican Council members that they are not supportive of the former President.  I’m not sure whether our current Mayor continues to be a supporter of the former President. I view Donald Trump as a clear existential threat to our democracy and to our planet and would be unable to support any candidate, at any level, who would support him for public office.  Likewise, I will continue to be open to Republican candidates who are not supporters of Donald Trump and who I agree with on local issues.  I have voted for Republicans locally in the past on occasion and will continue to do so if our elections change from nonpartisan to partisan. Irwin Stoolmacher is president of the Stoolmacher Consulting Group, a fundraising and strategic planning firm that works with nonprofit agencies that serve the truly needy among us.