LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Voters in 28 Michigan counties will cast ballots today in the first of just four elections this year.

The move is part of the state’s new election consolidation law, which limits the number of elections to the fourth Tuesday in February and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May, August and November.

The goal, according to Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, is to save money and make elections more efficient and accessible.

The secretary of state said consolidating elections will allow voters to better plan for elections and put elections in the hands of trained local clerks.

Land said Tuesday’s election will mark a new chapter in the state’s election process.

“Consolidating elections is a progressive and commonsense step,” she said in a statement. “Our goal is to have more efficient, economical and inclusive elections. This law will help to get us there.”

According to the state House Fiscal Agency, less than 5 percent of eligible voters in nearly half of Michigan school districts voted in the 2000 school board elections. In three-quarters of the districts, the turnout was less than 10 percent.

Critics of the low election turnout said there were too many elections in the past, citing a hodgepodge of election dates at various levels of government. With so many elections, critics said, voters became overwhelmed.

Voters on Tuesday will decide matters involving school districts, community colleges, cities, villages, townships, counties and library boards.

Most K-12 and intermediate school districts will have their elections May 3. A handful of districts plan to hold school board elections in November.

School districts currently run some of their own elections. The new law, signed in 2003, mandates that municipal and county clerks run the elections.

The law does include an exception from the four dates for a special election called by the governor or the Legislature, or a special election held by a school district.