Voting centers, suburban power grabs and low voter turnout. Rinse, repeat.

0
184

First, the last word on yesterday’s election, courtesy of Bluegill.

Voting centers represent yet another shift of political power to the suburbs.

The loss of walkable polling places negatively impacts thousands of New Albany voters, all in older city neighborhoods. Some will overcome it, some won’t, but those numbers are easily enough to sway electoral outcomes. Those who choose to live in such neighborhoods spend every day, 365 days a year, making the city more efficient via requiring less per capita spending for basic services and creating less environmental damage. What’s their reward in Floyd County? Declaring that two days of voting a year is just too expensive and having the whole representative system shifted in favor of increased car culture and suburban clout. If you’re running for any office and not squawking about your plan to change that, now you know exactly why I’m not voting for you.

My thoughts, if any, will come in the form of tomorrow’s ON THE AVENUES column. Until then, here are the numbers.

Voter turnout lower than past years; Clark, Floyd counties bring in about 13 percent of registered voters, by Elizabeth Beilman (CNHI Local Times)

SOUTHERN INDIANA — Polling centers saw a lot less people Tuesday in Clark and Floyd counties than they did four years ago.

Voter turnout for both counties was lower than 2010’s primary election for the same elected positions. Of the 87,014 registered voters in Clark County, there were 11,651 ballots cast, or 13.4 percent. That is a 7 percentage point decrease from four years ago when 16,388 of 82,525 Clark County voters cast ballots.

In Floyd County, 7,897 of the 57,047 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday for a 13.8 percent turnout — about 2,000 less votes than 2010’s primary election that had an 18 percent turnout.

LEAVE A REPLY