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Voters don't vote - lowest turnout in 46 years
Submitted by elizat8 on May 18, 2006 - 11:51am
Voter turnout underwhelms
Oregonians return 32 percent of ballots in what could be the lowest number in 46 years for an election in the state -
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
MICHELLE COLE
The Oregonian
A steady trickle of voters delivered ballots to county election offices and drop-off boxes Tuesday, but officials predicted turnout could be the lowest in 46 years for Oregon.
As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Secretary of State's office reported that 32 percent of Oregon ballots had been returned. The lowest historical turnout was 34.9 percent in 1998 and 38 percent in 1994 and 1996.
In May 2002, the last time Oregon's voters decided which Republican and Democrat would faceoff in the fall governor's race, 46.7 percent of the state's registered voters returned ballots.
"Negative campaigning" and the fact that "nobody who is running has really fired up the electorate," may have contributed to Tuesday's lackluster returns, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said.
Political parties and interest groups also made a huge effort to register new voters ahead of the 2004 presidential election, he said. But those voters, though still on the books, may not have come out in this election, further skewing the participation numbers.
Some of those who did vote in Tuesday's election were feeling cranky about it.
"People are just disgusted" with spineless politicians, said Maurice Higdon of Portland.
Still, Higdon said, he voted to "send a message" and because "hope springs eternal."
State and local elections officials said voting appeared to proceed smoothly. No problems were reported with Oregon's centralized voter registration system, used for the first time.
The state's biggest counties -- Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington -- all reported a steady flow of last-minute voters Tuesday.
"Election Day seems to be the big hit for us as far as returns," said Jeff Doty, Washington County elections supervisor.
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, 30 percent of Washington County's voters had returned their ballots, and officials said they had more to process. In May 2002, turnout was 44.7 percent.
Clackamas County reported 25 percent of its ballots returned as of 6 p.m. compared with 44.5 percent in May 2002.
Multnomah County, with hotly contested county commission races, saw steady but not overwhelming voter traffic.
"In past elections, big ones, you'll have a line out the door," said Eric Sample, spokesman for the county's elections division. "It's been busy. But there's no line out the door and around the block."
Thirty percent of Multnomah County's registered voters had turned in ballots by 6 p.m. Tuesday. Four years ago, the office reported a 38 percent turnout as of 6 p.m. Election Day.
Eric Schwindtof Portland said he waited to drop off his ballot at Pioneer Square until Tuesday afternoon because he wanted to spend more time with the voter's pamphlet.
"And part of it," he said, "is procrastination."
Michelle Cole: 503-294-5143; michellecole@news.oregonian.com
©2006 The Oregonian
Why vote?
I guess things could be worse. We could be living in Texas. On the other side the the coin, things could be a whole lot better. European nations routinely see voter turnouts of 80%-90%. Which leads to the question: Why are Americans so disinterested in politics? And the follow-up question - How can we re-engage them?
Liz
http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/05/can_votebymail_.html#comments
Posted by: Anne | May 18, 2006 9:58:46 AM
Let's put those low turnout numbers in context.
First, 38% is still higher than our last polling place election, which had a turnout of 35%.
And, other states who vote in polling places do show remarkable turnout - in a bad way:
Nebraska: 35%
Illinois: 25%
Ohio: 24%
Indiana: 22%
North Carolina: 13%
Texas: 9.4%
That's from this year's primary elections. And no, that last one is not a typo.
If you read the article, you'll fnd numerous reasons besides turnout to choose vote by mail over both unsecure and unreliable touch-screen machines or polling places fraught with misinformation, long lines and untrained workers.
Why vote?
I guess things could be worse. We could be living in Texas. On the other side the the coin, things could be a whole lot better. European nations routinely see voter turnouts of 80%-90%. Which leads to the question: Why are Americans so disinterested in politics? And the follow-up question - How can we re-engage them?
Liz
http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/05/can_votebymail_.html#comments
Posted by: Anne | May 18, 2006 9:58:46 AM
Let's put those low turnout numbers in context.
First, 38% is still higher than our last polling place election, which had a turnout of 35%.
And, other states who vote in polling places do show remarkable turnout - in a bad way:
Nebraska: 35%
Illinois: 25%
Ohio: 24%
Indiana: 22%
North Carolina: 13%
Texas: 9.4%
That's from this year's primary elections. And no, that last one is not a typo.
If you read the article, you'll fnd numerous reasons besides turnout to choose vote by mail over both unsecure and unreliable touch-screen machines or polling places fraught with misinformation, long lines and untrained workers.
Y'all really shouldn't be
Y'all really shouldn't be posting whole copyrighted articles. Excerpt and link.
Yes, posting an excerpt and
Yes, posting an excerpt and link is good 'net etiquette.
I know many times people here on the blog like to post the entire article since they disappear so quickly (often times in less time than posted).
We try not to edit people's blog postings, though. But posters are welcome to edit their own items.
Jenni Simonis
slightly off topic - copyrighted articles
My understanding is that if I was attempting to make money or take credit for the article then I'd be in trouble. However, since I'm doing neither I haven't crossed any legal or ethical boundaries.
The Missing 100,000
Thursday, June 22, 2006
The final voter registration and turnout figures for the May primary are now posted on the Oregon Elections Division web site, and they make interesting - if depressing - reading for political junkies.
In many ways, the '06 primary can be compared with the 2002 primary. Both non-presidential years featured heated gubernatorial contests in the Republican and Democratic primaries.
However, even though there are now 126,000 more registered voters than four years ago, 100,131 fewer Oregonians voted in the 2006 primary than in 2002.
Overall turnout among registered voters was 38.6 percent this year, versus 46.7 percent in 2002. Among those elible to register to vote, turnout dipped from 33.7 percent in 2002 to 28.8 percent this year.
The biggest percentage declines in turnout came among non-affiliated and minor-party voters. That's no surprise: they had less at stake in the primary election and independents tend to have the shakiest allegiance toward voting. But of those 100,000 missing voters, nearly 83,000 were either Democrats or Republicans.
All told, Republicans had a slightly higher decline in voting, but they still turned out in slightly larger percentages than the Ds. Bottom line: Voters across the board are tuning out.
-Jeff Mapes