What happens if there’s an election and no one shows up to vote?
Judging from past history, Tuesday’s election might answer that question. D.C. voters will have the chance to vote for five city council members. Will anyone vote?
I raise this question after cruising the city Sunday in search of candidates rocking out the final weekend before the vote. Not much action. Candidates canvassing. A motorcade here or there. If past voting patterns are any indication, Tuesday’s turnout could reach new lows.
The last time District voters were called upon to exercise their democratic privilege on city council races in a nonmayoral year was 2008. According to the Board of Election and Ethics, there were 331,474 people registered to vote in that election. Including absentee and provisional voters, there were 45,732 ballots cast. Turnout amounted to less than 14 percent citywide.
In Ward 7, which lies mostly east of the Anacostia River, there were 45,947 registered voters in 2008. Slightly more than 7,000 voted, for a turnout of about 15 percent. In Philadelphia and Baltimore, you can buy that many votes on Election Day.
Even by the low standards we have come to expect in the average nonpresidential U.S. election — which hovers around 37 percent — D.C. turnout is embarrassingly low. I hope voters prove me wrong, but I predict turnout falls under 10 percent this time around. Here’s why:
» District voters are used to casting ballots in the decisive primary election in September, which gives candidates all summer and early fall to drum up votes. This year, D.C. had to comply with federal guidelines that mandate absentee voters — as in deployed military personnel — receive their ballots 45 days before the general election. Rather than vote midsummer, the date became April 3. Weird timing, to say the least.
» The city council is held in very low esteem. Three of the incumbents on the ballot — Marion Barry, Yvette Alexander and Vincent Orange — have had their ethics questioned. But rather than energize the electorate to throw out the bums, there seems to be general lethargy. This, of course, benefits incumbents.
» No one latched onto a compelling issue. I blame the candidates. Take crime. Homicides are down in D.C., but overall crime is up by double digits, especially robbery. Even if you favor Muriel Bowser in Ward 4, which I do, why not hammer her on unsafe streets? Vincent Orange, running at large, is totally vulnerable on crime. He rarely had to answer to a rage over robberies.
How about education? Everyone is for reform, but schools are still failing to educate kids citywide, especially in Wards 7 and 8. Why didn’t challenger Sekou Biddle blast Orange on his lame record on schools? Why didn’t Tom Brown, my candidate in Ward 7, hold Yvette Alexander’s feet to the fire on her ward’s crappy schools? Jacque Patterson could have beaten up Marion Barry over schools in Ward 8. No one mobilized parents.
Passivity at the polls is a sign that a political system is not working. If turnout falls below 10 percent, D.C.’s will have failed.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
