Go figure..local elections alone..no Governor or Congression

[dezii]

Folks stay home , even though these elections have much more immediate impact on ones life then the "big ones"...taes, street repairing, local education, garbage pick up, how many cops, fireman...etc, etc...Granted no declaration of War decisions but still...


Following is a quick summary of a progressive State...highly educated...over all progressive and higher  then normal income levels

Yet voter turnout for municipal elections yesterday...Summed up...P**s poor..


Curiouse me...how did your State fare in turnout Yesterday...any figures % wise?
======================================

State in question....Connecticut

"Elected officials at the municipal level can have the greatest impact on residents’ everyday lives, making decisions about things like property tax rates, kindergarten class sizes or whether your street gets paved this year.

But turnout in these races is typically far lower than state or national elections, and Tuesday was no exception. Statewide turnout was 32%, according to the secretary of the state’s office. That compares to a 65% turnout in 2018, when the governor’s race was on"

[mollyanna58]

I voted about 5:30 last evening. I was the only voter in the polling place at that time, although someone had just left, and someone else came in right after me.


I checked the election results.  It looks like there were about 6,000 votes cast, in a town with a population of about 23,000.  Obviously some of the 23K are  too young to vote, but still not a great turnout.


What I found very interesting were the results in the town my sister lives in.  There were about 1750 votes cast for the town council seats, and 9,000 for the school board seats.  The mayor, who was running unopposed, got 415 votes.  So people came out to vote, but mostly voted for the school board and ignored the other town positions.

[kadee79]

Our town population is between 23,000-25,000 and the city council was up for election....early voting only had 400 participate.

It is VERY difficult to get voters out unless it's a national or at least state wide election.

[dezii]

Personally...not now as I am retired and seniors like me seem to always vote...but back in the day while a working stiff...I always voted..no matter what.

Whether because of my military service as a youngster and thus felt obligated or just because...just never missed a election. Not saying I knew what and why I was voting for all the time...thinking primarily the judges...not being in the law or ever in a position to be in a court room ever..well twice

{.caught in VT fishing w/ out a license...cost me $50.00 I believe...and a speeding ticket that I disputed...believe I won that one...not sure}


Now I get ballots for all elections by mail...believe everyone can get those so if true, no excuse to not vote.

[kadee79]

Nov 6, 2019 19:15:50 GMT -5 dezii said:

Personally...not now as I am retired and seniors like me seem to always vote...but back in the day while a working stiff...I always voted..no matter what.

Whether because of my military service as a youngster and thus felt bligated or just because...just never missed. Not saying I knew what and why I was voting for...thinking primarily the judges...not being in the law or ever in a position to be in a court room ever..well twice

{.caught in VT fishing w/ out a license...cost me $50.00 I believe...and a speeding ticket that I disputed...believe I won that one...not sure}


Now I get ballots for all elections by mail...believe everyone can get those so if true, no excuse to not vote.

The only times after turning 18, that I didn't vote was when I lived in Ca.  I didn't vote in local campaigns, but I did vote for governors & presidents....I DID NOT vote for Reagan as governor out there nor for President either.  
I have missed only 1 local election here.  My vote would not have changed the outcome, it would have taken a few hundred to do that.

[thyme4change]

I wish they limited voting to every other year, or super special situations (like run offs or whatever). I think we have to vote twice a year, and most all of it could wait until at least November, if not the November after that. I am so sick of getting ballots mailed to me with one or two items on it. One "special election" was for one position and the lady was running unopposed. How much did that cost?

[mollyanna58]

Nov 6, 2019 21:08:15 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I wish they limited voting to every other year, or super special situations (like run offs or whatever). I think we have to vote twice a year, and most all of it could wait until at least November, if not the November after that. I am so sick of getting ballots mailed to me with one or two items on it. One "special election" was for one position and the lady was running unopposed. How much did that cost?

The school board elections used to be in the spring.  They have now been changed to the usual November election day.

[teen persuasion]

Don't know about statewide, but in my county 32% voted. I saw 880 voted in my town, and there were zero contested races in my town.

There was a pretty active write-in protest vote in the town north of us. Town supervisor held his position, but the write-in got 45% of the vote. Nearly every other race the write-in was only single digit votes.

[pooks]

We had a mayor race, 3 city council seats, and 2 initiatives to vote on this election.   With all that going on, the turnout was 41% of registered voters in my city.  Now we have a runoff in a month.  We are always voting on something.   

[dezii]

Nov 6, 2019 21:03:55 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

Nov 6, 2019 19:15:50 GMT -5 dezii said:

Personally...not now as I am retired and seniors like me seem to always vote...but back in the day while a working stiff...I always voted..no matter what.

Whether because of my military service as a youngster and thus felt bligated or just because...just never missed. Not saying I knew what and why I was voting for...thinking primarily the judges...not being in the law or ever in a position to be in a court room ever..well twice

{.caught in VT fishing w/ out a license...cost me $50.00 I believe...and a speeding ticket that I disputed...believe I won that one...not sure}


Now I get ballots for all elections by mail...believe everyone can get those so if true, no excuse to not vote.

The only times after turning 18, that I didn't vote was when I lived in Ca.  I didn't vote in local campaigns, but I did vote for governors & presidents....I DID NOT vote for Reagan as governor out there nor for President either.  
I have missed only 1 local election here.  My vote would not have changed the outcome, it would have taken a few hundred to do that.

Point is, u did what u could, fulfilled , IMHO,  your civic obligation...A few of them...pay your taxes.{dispute by voting}...serve your country if / when called to defend it, vote in all elections.   to u

[Value Buy]

I really do not understand why these cities and towns have elections in off years. Why are they not on the same cycle as state and federal elections? I see some states do have state wide elections but some have only a few elections in a county...... Porter county Indiana had only city and town elections. If you live in unincorporated areas, you had nothing.......Talk about government waste,,,,,,anothe day off for city employees, cost of the voting precincts, etc.......
Dezi, not sure what the turnout for Indiana was, but I doubt it was more than 25%.

[Opti]

Nov 6, 2019 17:06:12 GMT -5 mollyanna58 said:

I voted about 5:30 last evening. I was the only voter in the polling place at that time, although someone had just left, and someone else came in right after me.


I checked the election results.  It looks like there were about 6,000 votes cast, in a town with a population of about 23,000.  Obviously some of the 23K are  too young to vote, but still not a great turnout.


What I found very interesting were the results in the town my sister lives in.  There were about 1750 votes cast for the town council seats, and 9,000 for the school board seats.  The mayor, who was running unopposed, got 415 votes.  So people came out to vote, but mostly voted for the school board and ignored the other town positions.

I haven't checked our results yet, but the local news was guessing about 25% of eligible voters. The only race I didn't fully vote for was the school board. One candidate I could find no info on, so I did not vote for her, but I am sure she was elected anyway.

[thyme4change]

Nov 7, 2019 16:00:16 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

I really do not understand why these cities and towns have elections in off years. Why are they not on the same cycle as state and federal elections? I see some states do have state wide elections but some have only a few elections in a county...... Porter county Indiana had only city and town elections. If you live in unincorporated areas, you had nothing.......Talk about government waste,,,,,,anothe day off for city employees, cost of the voting precincts, etc.......
Dezi, not sure what the turnout for Indiana was, but I doubt it was more than 25%.

Maybe the "off years" was chosen by the Republicans and they know that Democrats only show up when we are electing a President.

[Bob Ross]

Nov 6, 2019 19:15:50 GMT -5 dezii said:

Personally...not now as I am retired and seniors like me seem to always vote...

Note to self:  Run for public office after changing name to "Bob Metamucil".  Guaranteed victory! 

[alabamagal]

I have voted in every election that I have been eligible for in the last 32 years. I didn’t start voting until I was out of college and had a permanent address. I also did not vote Tuesday 😮 as I missed the registration deadline after moving. Excuses, I know, but the moving was pretty rough, super busy, I should have done it, but life got in the way. I am now registered though.

[teen persuasion]

The big metro area south of me had a hotly contested county Exec race. The paper said turnout was 36% IIRC, vs 26% in the last county Exec race. The incumbent democrat won a rare third term; his female opponent ran on the Independent line. She was trying to distance herself from the fact that she votes essentially 100% with the republicans (esp. disgraced insider trading felon former Rep Chris Collins, when he was county Exec years back).

[kadee79]

If we had all elections only on years for President....we would have so many signs along our roads you would hardly be able to see.  The local guys do get signs out...LOTS of signs.  And if they don't take them down within the 30 days after elections that are allowed by law...I take them.  They make great yard sale signs after I spray paint them.

[Value Buy]

Nov 7, 2019 23:42:38 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

If we had all elections only on years for President....we would have so many signs along our roads you would hardly be able to see.  The local guys do get signs out...LOTS of signs.  And if they don't take them down within the 30 days after elections that are allowed by law...I take them.  They make great yard sale signs after I spray paint them.

I did not suggest every four years. We have Congressional races every two year, and local elections could piggyback on either race rather than an off year.

[steff]

The first election I ever voted in was for Bill Clinton.  I've voted in everything from local, state, & federal since then.  Other than our first year here in Georgia for local & state.  Didn't know any of the candidates or their histories & had so much going on from moving that I didn't have the time nor desire to do tons of research.  There was literally nothing for me to vote on last week on the local level.  My town cancelled the voting because everyone ran uncontested.  Same with the school board, all uncontested.