Why voter turnout has hit the lowest level in six decades: an
uncivic civics lesson
Disgust with politicians and their negative campaigning kept
voter lines short at precincts throughout Santa Clara and San
Benito counties June 6.
Why voter turnout has hit the lowest level in six decades: an uncivic civics lesson
Disgust with politicians and their negative campaigning kept voter lines short at precincts throughout Santa Clara and San Benito counties June 6.
“The turnout will likely increase when all the absentee ballots are counted, but still this will likely be a record even when the absentee ballots are counted,” said Terry Christensen, a professor of political science at San Jose State University.
In one Gilroy precinct a mere handful of voters waited to cast their ballots even during what is usually the after-work rush between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Morgan Hill and Hollister fared not better.
“This is the first time in 56 years that I haven’t voted,” said Helen Turici, a San Benito County resident. “There’s no one in this election that I want to vote for.”
A poll of a dozen Hollister residents at a local gas station Tuesday afternoon found that only 5 out of 12 people had voted or planned to vote in the primary.
“I’m not to happy with the situation here,” said Turici’s husband about San Benito County politics.
Other registered voters seconded the sentiment by staying away from the polls for the 2006 primary. Santa Clara and San Benito County voter turnout was about 28 percent, with about 9 percent of the votes coming from absentee ballots. Statewide numbers were similar.
Candidates on both the Democratic and Republican side failed to instill passion with voters, Christensen said. “The candidates just didn’t excite people.”
Leading up to the election, the California Secretary of State’s office predicted that 38 percent of registered voters would turn out to cast ballots on Tuesday, but the actual number fell 10 percent below predictions.
The Field Poll, a nonprofit organization that predicts voter turnout, reported the number of votes cast was the lowest since 1946, when the organization first started making predictions.
One reason for low voter turnout has been pinpointed as the negativity in the biggest race on the ballot – the runoff between state Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly as the Democratic candidates for Governor.
Negativity is used in elections because it tends to work, in the short term, Christensen said.
“Many candidates were attacking each other, and it turns people off, but [those ads] stick and it works in against the candidate being attacked,” He said. “But in the long term it makes voters more cynical and it hurts the process – it’s a long term loss, but most candidates are only concerned about the short term.”
While one candidate may be hurt more than another, the ultimate result is that voters view the process as electing one jerk over another jerk.
“It’s pushing people into the undecided,” said Mark DiCamillo, Field Research director. “They’re not settling into one candidate or the other because of all these negative ads.”
From the Republican viewpoint, there were few races to entice voters to the polls.
“There were very few contested races as far as for the major offices,” said Jennifer Zapata, a San Benito County Republican leader. “There really was not a lot of excitement leading up to the election because there weren’t very many heated battles going on.”
She added that June 6 hardly felt like an election day, with the lack of buzz around voting in San Benito County.
“It will be different in November,” she said.
Still other voters stayed away from the polls because they felt ill informed about the items on the ballot.
One Hollister woman, who declined to give her name, said she wasn’t voting because she wasn’t informed enough.
“I haven’t read anything,” she said.
Despite the majority of voters who opted to stay one, some still made a point to go out to the polls.
“It’s our privilege to choose whether we want to vote or not,” said one man who said he has been voting for nearly 80 years. “But I like my voice to be heard, even if some people say it doesn’t make a difference.”
Magali Ferare, Dennis Taylor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
