They Didn't Vote For This: Voter Apathy & Lack Of Competition in Major Cities
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They Didn't Vote For This: Voter Apathy & Lack Of Competition in Major Cities
Typically when you see videos or news stories about crime and dysfunction in major cities, you'll see people say "They voted for this".
However, the issue isn't that they voted for this but rather that they aren't voting.
New York City Mayoral Race: 21% voter turnout
Chicago Mayoral Race: 35% registered voter turnout
New Orleans Mayoral Race: 28% registered voter turnout
Atlanta Mayoral Race: 17% registered voter turnout
Los Angeles Mayoral Race: 44% registered voter turnout
Houston Mayoral Race: 18% registered voter turnout
San Francisco Mayoral Race: 31% registered voter turnout
Detroit Mayoral Race: 30% registered voter turnout
Cleveland Mayoral Race: 16% registered voter turnout
Please keep in mind, these are the percentages of voter turnout from registered voters, which we can presume, in any given city half or more of the voting-aged residents aren't registered. If you dig even deeper, the median age for most of these cities is between 55 and 65.
So, why is turnout continuously low? I believe there are two major reasons: Apathy and lack of competition. As much as people talk about these cities being "Democrat strongholds", they lack competition from other parties: Sometimes there is literally no opposition challenger.
When there becomes a lack of competition, there remains the status quo of a political strategy to resolve issues in these cities. Over time, as every Democrat that promised to fix things and doesn't, this builds voter apathy.
This constant reality for voters, the mentality of "Why bother voting?" brews when they recognize that the mayoral seat is a musical chair for one party.
When I see these low voter turnouts, I see an opportunity for outsiders to come in and improve the lives of the people.
If you give people a reason to vote and help to relieve their apathy surrounding local politics, then maybe things will change. But there needs to be competition, not just for one election cycle but every one moving forward.
If you do nothing different, then nothing will change. But believing that the people who are living in chaos don't want change is a flawed one. They just need a reason to believe that their actions as a voter will bring the change that's long been promised.
They're just tired of being disappointed...
They Didn't Vote For This: Voter Apathy & Lack Of Competition in Major Cities
Great point.. These turnout numbers actually drastically underestimate the problem. Because these are all Deep Blue cities, the only election that matters is the Democratic primary.
Typically, primary elections have much lower turnout than general elections, and they are dominated by ideologues who are very unrepresentative of typical voters.
This is unfortunately the rule in American politics today. The ideologues control the process, and Normies are tuning out.
Great analysis and a very persuasive diagnosis of the problem--I wonder if your hopeful take on the possibility of change could be right? Makes me want to run for Mayor of New York!