Not good enough

If God had meant us to vote, He would have given us candidates.

- Seen on a bumper sticker

That clever slogan may soothe the guilty consciences of those who didn't vote in the primary election for school boards and city councils - 88 percent of us - but it doesn't really wash.

According to Shawnee County election commissioner Elizabeth Ensley, there are a number of factors to explain why only 12 percent of the eligible voters in Shawnee County voted. But even she isn't willing to let non-voters off the hook.

Ensley said she has always been surprised at the number of people who say they don't vote in school board elections because they don't have kids in school anymore. They say they want to leave the decisions on the running of the school district to those most directly affected - the parents of the school children.

But, she said, that ignores the fact that the taxes paid to a school district make up one of the largest parts of the total property tax bill that people pay.

That attitude was a major factor in the low voter turnout on Feb. 27. With only three of the Topeka City Council's nine positions on the primary ballot and the mayor's position not up for election until 2009, this was largely a school district primary election.

In the parts of the city with city council positions at stake, Ensley noted, turnout ranged from 18 percent to 24 percent. That's nothing to brag about, really, but it looks good compared to the precincts where there was no city office on the ballot. Those precincts often had only 3 percent to 5 percent of the voters casting ballots.

Looking at past elections, she said, when the mayor's position requires a primary election, the countywide turnout averages 30 percent. That is compared with only 15 percent when the mayor's position isn't on the ballot. In the general elections in April, the numbers are 43 percent compared with 19 percent.

There were other factors for the low turnout, too. School board candidates in particular rarely raise money for campaign materials, Ensley said. They rely on public forums to make themselves known and some do door-to-door campaigning. But their districts are large and the pre-primary weather this year was bitterly cold.

Then there is the emotional issue factor. An issue that stirs strong emotions among the public will create more interest in the election.

There is one way to get people to the polls, but Ensley doesn't particularly advocate it.

"If you really want to turn voters out, make them mad," she said. "But who wants to live in a culture where people are mad all the time?"

Actually, there are arguments over whether that really works. Ensley said there also is a school of thought that particularly nasty campaigns discourage people from voting. People may think, "Each candidate is equally bad," she said.

Still other voting experts believe that low voter turnout is a sign that people are satisfied with the way things are going. People may be thinking "either candidate will do."

Whatever the reason, it's an embarrassing indictment of ourselves as a community that only 12 percent of the eligible voters cared enough to cast a ballot. And that figure is 12 percent of people who are registered to vote, not 12 percent of the voting-age population.

Speaking of which, those who aren't on the rolls yet have until March 19 to register.

To quote another old saw: If we aren't part of the solution, we're part of the problem.

So let's learn about the candidates and the issues and take an active role in the decisions that will be made, starting with the April 3 general election for our next city council and school board members.

Copyright 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.