Voter turnout low

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Aug 27, 1998 by Marie Price Special to The Journal Record

Voting was a breeze at most polling places Tuesday -- good news, right?

Well, no, not according to election and political party officials who understand that short lines at polling places translate into low voter turnout -- in this case dismally low.

At day's end, officials learned that fewer Oklahomans went to the polls Tuesday than at any election in the past 50 years.

Lance Ward, secretary of the State Election Board, said his best guess is that roughly 420,000 individuals voted in the Democratic and Republican primaries and judicial races -- only 21 percent of the state's 2 million-plus registered voters.

The percentage was somewhat higher among Democrats, at 24 percent, than Republicans, of whom only 17 percent participated in their primaries.

And interestingly, said Ward, the top vote-getting office was not the Democratic primary for governor, as one would expect, but the labor commissioner's race.

"It's been a kind of weird election season so far in a lot of ways," Ward said.

No particular race seemed to ignite the electorate sufficiently to pull voters to the polls.

In one House race, an incumbent was re-elected in a Republican- only contest where a total of 1,225 votes were cast. Rep. Bill Case, R-Midwest City, with 963 votes, out-drew his only opponent, Charles Campbell, who garnered 262 votes. Because no Democrat is running for the seat, Case is re-elected.

Even in one of the more hotly contested Senate races -- the GOP primary in Senate District 54, which resulted in a runoff for Sen. Gerald Ged Wright, R-Tulsa, and Scott Pruitt -- just 4,003 votes were cast.

To put these numbers into perspective:

There are about 31,144 Oklahomans in each House district, 65,533 in each Senate district. On average -- although actual numbers vary widely, especially between rural and urban districts -- there are roughly 19,950 voters in a House district, 41,980 in a Senate district. And, allowing for substantial variances in the political makeup of some districts, using January State Election Board figures, the 101 House districts average roughly 11,470 Democrats, 6,850 Republicans. Using the same party-breakdown caveat, the average number of Democrats in a Senate district is about 24,100, with Republicans averaging about 14,415.

Pat Hall, executive director of the Democratic Party of Oklahoma, said the lack of voter interest may reflect the wisdom of the saying: "All politics is local."

The quote, a favorite of the late Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, actually originated with Finley Peter Dunne, a political humorist and newspaper editor.

"I think at the local level we had great candidates," Hall said, noting that Democrats turned out in respectable numbers for county commissioner, assessor and the like, and for some legislative races.

"It's not the state races that get the party loyals out," he said.

Hall noted one exception -- the Democratic primary in the Third Congressional District, which resulted in a runoff between Sen. Darryl Roberts, D-Ardmore, and former state House member Walt Roberts. A total of 91,650 votes were cast in that race.

All in all, however, Hall rated the turnout "dismal."

"We Democrats have got to get the base vote out in November," he said.

In Democratic parlance, this means women, senior citizens, organized labor, minority voters, educators and public workers, Hall added.

"If they do not get out and vote in November, Democrats are in trouble," the party director said.