Voter turnout on the decline

Did you know there was an election April 2? If you did happen to know there was an election, did you vote in the election? If you answered no to either question, you were not alone. Municipal elections have never drawn a large turnout and yesterday was no exception. North Las Vegas, Mesquite and Henderson both had mayoral races and council races. Las Vegas only had three councilmen in the race. I was going to discuss Andy Hafen being re-elected or Sherri Buck being defeated until I saw the voter turnout numbers. Despite municipal elections being probably the most important elections that can directly affect the lives of people, fewer and fewer people turnout. Of course Presidential elections always draw the largest turnout, generally only around 50% of registered voters. By comparison, in the Soviet Union, they experienced voter turnout of 98% to 99% and they only had one candidate to choose from on the ballot. Mid-term elections draw even less, generally around 30% of registered voters. Of the nearly 400,000 registered voters that were eligible to vote in yesterday’s election, not even 50,000 people turned out. Not even 12% voter turnout; that number would be lower but the 30% turnout in Mesquite helped raise the percentage a little. Henderson, a city with a population of over 250,000 and nearly 144,000 registered voters, could only manage 17,000 people to decide the highest elected city official. The elected city officials can have the largest impact on person’s life. Take a look at what Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Council have done recently. They have banned salt, banned large sugary drinks, banned food donations to homeless shelters and have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. An old saying from Plato applies now more than ever. “One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” For links, see my article here.