Final numbers show that just 26.2 percent of the registered voters eligible to vote in the primary election took the time to cast a ballot. Considering the number of people who are eligible, but don’t even bother to register to vote, Auditor Kim Wyman says the actual turnout was probably closer to 10 percent or 12 percent.
That’s awful. Shame on those voters who couldn’t be bothered to voice their opinion on important municipal elections.
What’s ironic, Wyman said, is that the presidential election – the office that fires people up and motivates them to vote in droves – actually has very little to do with the daily lives of Americans.
“But those offices that have an impact on our daily lives – the quality of the roads we drive on to get to work, the books our kids read in school, the time it takes for (police and fire) responders to get to our homes or businesses – those offices that really make a difference in our everyday lives, people choose not to vote,” Wyman said. “It’s just pathetic.”
We agree.
There were 97,815 registered voters eligible to cast ballots in the Aug. 16 primary election. When the election results were certified by Wyman and her election staff, they tallied just 25,673 votes.
Many apathetic voters are simply fed up with politicians. We get that. Approval ratings for members of Congress and the president plummeted this summer when they took the nation to the brink of financial collapse.
The lingering recession. High unemployment rates. The fact that the nation was neutral in job creation in August. Those are all factors in creating an angry electorate.
But voting is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy, and voter participation is the only way the public has to change the course of a community, state or nation. The simple truth is, when registered voters don’t bother to return a ballot that has been conveniently mailed to their home, they are letting others in the community make decisions for them.
Need an example?
Look no further than the levy lid increase before Tumwater voters last month. The public safety measure, which calls for more police and firefighters and expansion of the police station, passed by a mere 8 votes. That’s 8 votes out of 3,475 cast.
There are 11,185 registered voters in Tumwater and eight voters decided that every property owner’s taxes will go up significantly. The ballot measure is expected to raise $1.44 million in 2012, and the owner of a $231,000 home will pay $155 more in taxes as a result of passage of the Proposition 1.
Those residents who didn’t vote let others decide their property tax bill.
And if you think that every vote isn’t important, think again.
Auditor Wyman said there were a total of 11 ballots that were set aside by her staff because the voter forgot to sign the ballot or the voter’s signature did not match the signature on their voter registration card.
In this election, those 11 votes could have swung the election from passage to failure.
It’s clear that the last-minute push by supporters of Proposition 1 propelled the measure over the top.
On the Saturday before the Tuesday election, City Council members, firefighters and other Prop. 1 supporters telephoned Tumwater voters who had not yet returned their ballot and asked them to vote “yes.”
The last-minute phone push worked.
On election night, the Tumwater ballot issue was trailing by 27 votes.
Those late-arriving ballots – the ones cast after the telephone blitz – erased the deficit and pushed the measure to its 8-vote margin of victory.
For her part, Auditor Wyman is hopeful that South Sound residents will reverse course and increase the participation rate in the November general election.
“I’d like to think voters will respond to the mayor and city council races around the county where voters will elect people who will decide the future direction of those communities,” Wyman said. “It’s very important.”
She’s also convinced that voter interest in the liquor privatization initiative and Tim Eyman’s ballot proposition on transportation fees will boost turnout.
Let’s hope so. It’s time for voters in this community to shed their apathy and help chart the future of this community by participating in November’s municipal election.
