We were working the polls all day. I traveled around the city working for Rob Krupicka and helping a little with the vols we had working for Yvonne Folkerts. The polls seemed really slow though. I went downtown and saw Jim Lay and many others that were hanging out. The vols were out from both sides. Every voter that came out was nearly tackled by the candidates, vols, and even some of the kids.
Well, by 7pm it was clear the turnout was as low as I had thought, if not lower. I had estimated that there would be less than 15K voters back in early March, and the final tally was just a sliver above the 15,000 voter number.
The turn out is sad. After all the excitement about the race in 2004, and now... Nothing! This is sad. I estimated that the city council and school board spent about $50 per voter this year, which is amazing. Imagine how much of that is wasted on the 10's of thousands of people that did not vote.
Here is a chart that shows the overall turnout is the lowest since 1974 and the lowest percentage since records have been kept in the city.
I have more to say on this topic, but I am going to wait until I run some numbers. It is a sad day. I was happy to be involved in many campaigns and to really make a difference in Rob Krupicka's campaign for re-election to City Council. Dryver and Stryde, and even Jennifer, were exposed to local politics and that was good.
More people need to get involved like this, it makes politics fun and enjoyable. Plus you have even more of a say than your one vote!
