A Sad Truth About Local Elections: Low Voter Turnout Isn't Going Anywhere Without A Lot of Work

Courtesy of the LA Daily News.

This coming Tuesday is Wisconsin's spring election day, which typically covers local offices and issues, and 2014 is already looking to be another lackluster year for voter turnout. True to the election form, mayoral candidate signs began sprouting up around town like spring flowers about two weeks at major intersections and in seemingly random front yards. They were quickly followed by signs for aldermen and county supervisor signs, rarer breeds which cluster near the mayoral flora like a complimentary species. The local news station focused on some races in Milwaukee County (our nearest metro area) over the last few days, and the local papers gave some obligatory mentions about specific races and dutifully printed the names of the candidates in each race. Tomorrow, there will be at least one editorial on why local elections matter. Tuesday - Election Day - our local field reporter will be at some suburban polling place stating that the polls are open and that there are no lines. After playing some of the winners' speeches on Wednesday morning, a few local media folks will likely elude to disappointing voter turnout (typically, always much less than the most recent presidential election) and lament this fact. By Thursday, it will be life as normal again.

I don't need to tell anyone that reads this blog that local elections do matter, and local government is probably the most influential on the everyday quality of life for residents. Knowing that, the issue of low voter turnout in local elections is all the more devastating. But, we must as ourselves, why is the average voter so disinclined to participate? The underlying issue to me is a combination of four things which are individually somewhat well-documented and discussed but not necessarily connected: (i) the simple daily bombardment of information we each experience, (ii) a lack of engagement with political institutions, (iii) the complicated calendar of elections and (iv) a general apathy arising out of a combination of factors potentially all related to the first three items listed.

It would take a novel-length piece to adequately do justice to each of the items noted above (indeed, each has essentially had a number of books, journal articles and studies). The question though is what can we do to help turn around low voter turnout in our local elections. Some thoughts from various sources for your consideration are below:

1. FairVote, a non-partisan organization focused on structural barriers to voting, offers the following proposals for increasing turnout.
2. A bit more unorthodox treatment of the issue from The Week's Keith Wagstaff.
3. Some rapid fire thoughts from political consultant Anthony Morse.

Personally, I think Morse's point on civic education is a particularly important one - how many people out there don't vote either because they don't know the issues or feel that their vote doesn't matter? That's where we, as public administrators, can make a dramatic difference. Everyday local issues are not necessarily sexy, but they are important and the easier we can make that information to find and understand, the better the level of participation we will receive.

What does everyone else think out there about the empty polls you'll see?