You're drawing very strange conclusions. The data in the article is incredibly clear. Odd-year voting and Non-partisan ballots decrease voter turnout and decreaase knowledge about the candidates, an effect that occurs disproportionately with income and educational status, which have a big correlation with race, unfortunately. You want really-indepth details? There's tons of peer-reviewed research out there with more info.
Let me ask you a simple question, do you think that it is better to hold elections in even years or odd years based on this data? And no, you cannot say "It's irrelevant," you must choose one.
Off-year elections are a good idea for municipal elections precisely because it is desirable for the electorate to know something about the people they're voting for. This spring, I spent probably 2 hours going through the various World-Herald election stories that I saved so I could get my primary ballot for things like the Westside school board, MCC Board of Regents, etc right. Voters who do that are rare enough, how many do you think would do it if we had a presidential campaign raging, sucking up all the oxygen and air time?
There is no tax for people to pay to vote. Early voting ballots are widely available, they'll even mail them out if you request them to. There is no good excuse to not vote. Labeling off-year elections implicitly racist because 19/20 blacks (as opposed to 17/20 whites) can't be bothered to exercise a key Constitutional right is ridiculous.