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If House Bill 296, now making its way through the General Assembly, had been law last year, Clarke County School Superintendent Lewis Holloway wouldn't have been able even to think about wasting taxpayers' dollars in gaming the electoral system for a favorable vote on continuation of a 1 percent local sales tax for school projects.

Early last year, Holloway sent a memo to the school board advocating a $41,000 expenditure for a special election on the sales tax, even though balloting could have taken place during last year's already-scheduled July 18 primary election or the Nov. 7 general election, at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Holloway's rationale was clear: Scheduling a special election would virtually guarantee that only motivated voters - supporters of the sales tax, in other words - would make their way to the polls. Eventually, to its credit, the school board opted to hold the election on Nov. 7. Voters approved continuing the levy.

Certainly, the fact that Holloway was willing to try gaming the system - in fairness, a step often taken by other local government leaders - doesn't say much about the attentiveness or motivation of the electorate in general. But just as clearly, it's a cynical practice that shouldn't be allowed.

That's where House Bill 296 comes in. The measure would, in part, require that elections involving "a question to the voters" - a tax referendum or a constitutional amendment, for instance - could be held only during scheduled primary or general elections, when, presumably, the largest number of voters would be heading to the polls.

The decisions that best reflect a community's desires are the decisions made by the greatest possible number of those citizens. That's why House Bill 296 should become law.

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