School election - 3pm voter turnout

At 1:30pm, Rick Sampson of KMRY interviewed me regarding the low voter turnout.  When he broadcast his report, he used the word "abysmal" to describe the voter turnout.

As I've been touring the polling places, I've asked the poll workers for ideas on how to increase voter turnout for school elections.  Do you think there's a problem?  If yes, what is the solution?  Please comment.  --Joel @ 4:53pm

REGULAR SCHOOL ELECTION 		   9/11/2007

LAST '06 CURRENT
PRECINCT 3:00 PM 3:00 PM
03-Hope Lutheran 17 19
04-Czech Museum 5 9
05-IC Church 3 2
06- Library 7 7
07-AOB 14 8
08-New Creation 2 3
09-Van Buren 23 14
10-Moose 4 2
11-Cleveland  24 21
12-Coolidge 46 34
13-Gloria Dei 31 24
14-Truman 15 26
15-Hoover 9 14
16-Madison 17 22
17-Taft 17 19
18-St James 27 19
19-Time Check 20 14
20-Harrison 30 23
21- Day Care 15 17
22- Taylor 13 13
23-Oakland Church 51 55
24- Pierce 44 63
25-Wright 31 32
26-Arthur 23 25
27-Harding 23 20
28-Kenwood 8 6
32-Nixon 17 12
33-New Covenant 18 24
34-Options 8 7
35-Johnson 19 14
36-Polk 8 14
37-Isaac Newton 10 12
38-Faith United Meth 14 13
39-Franklin 38 39
40-Washington 23 41
41-Bethany 62 82
42-Ambroz 20 26
43-St Stephen's 30 33
44-Monroe 30 30
45-Erskine 40 67
46-Community of Christ 18 15
47-Gibson 13 17
BT Bertram Church 10 9
CL - Stoney Pt Y 9 7
FY - Palo Comm. Ctr 10 11
HW1- Hiawatha Comm. 17 5
HW2- Hope United 16 19
MN1- Blair Ridge  16 11
RB - Robins  15 10
SQ -Grace Baptist 8 7

   
CR TOTAL 988 1036
80800
1.282%







LAST CURRENT
PRECINCT 3:00 3:00
AL1- Alburnett Fire 94 50
AL2- Church of Christ 39 57
AL TOTAL 133 107
2435
4.39%


 
CPU1 - City Hall 21 24
CPU2 - Urbana CommCtr 13 7
CPU TOTAL 34 31
3940
0.79%


 
CENTRAL CITY 44 34
1925
1.77%


 
COLLEGE 1- Prairie HS 13 34
COLLEGE 2- Ely Lib 10 16
COLLEGE 3- Fairfax 24 93
COLLEGE 4- Swisher 9 27
CG TOTAL 56 170
13541
1.26%


 
LINN-MAR 1(mr city) 277 165
LINN-MAR 2(cr city/rb) 125 97
LINN-MAR 3(co) 43 29
LM TOTAL 445 291
22516
1.29%


 
LISBON 22 52
2086
2.49%


 
MARION 272 112
8141
1.38%


 
MT VERNON 201 228
4320
5.28%


 
NORTH-LINN 1- Walker 10 16
NORTH-LINN 2- NL High 11 14
NORTH-LINN 3- Coggon 38 27
NL TOTAL 59 57
2345
2.43%


 
SPRINGVILLE 23 41
1680
2.44%


 
N/O= Not Open
 


 
TOTAL COUNTY  2211 2159
143729
1.502%
posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 10:40 AM by joel.miller   |    Login or Join to Post Comments

Comments

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 7:58 PM by zpetersen

# re: School election - 3pm voter turnout

I wanted to vote this morning but I chose not to simply because I was completely uninformed about the candidates. I consider myself very well informed about current events and especially about political events, however, I searched several times today for information about the candidates running for school board in my school district. I couldn't find anything.

There was nothing in the paper (I'll admit that I usually only read the Gazette via the RSS feeds so I may have missed something) and I didn't see any signs around the neighborhood. I find it funny that I can consistently the Penny Saver "newspaper" in my mailbox (against my will mind you) but I didn't see anything from the school district or those running for office.

Where am I going with this? Well basically I think we are all to blame for the low turnouts. I don't think the local media does enough to get information out to the public and I don't think the school districts do enough to get the information out to those who live in their districts. Oh, and don't forget all the voters who walk around completely oblivious to school board elections.

I should have done more to get myself educated about these elections and so should have the rest of the voting public. A friend of mine said earlier as we were talking about this that he believes that "voting for school elections is really for people who have kids." I happen to believe that this very far from the truth.

The people who sit on the school boards around this state and around this country make the decisions that will affect the educational experience for the children in our community. Whether or no you have kids these are decisions that WILL affect you eventually.

I will do more in the future to educate myself about these lesser known elections and I would urge everyone else to do the same. Every vote in every election from the smallest school board to the biggest presidential election has a purpose and it is your responsibility as an American citizen to due your duty and vote.