Thoughts on Voter Turnout

Well, the municipal primary has come and gone, and it is hard not to be disappointed: not in the results, but in the abysmal voter turnout statistics. The goal of Ambridge Votes is to get the residents of Ambridge to vote, and as the numbers from yesterday's primary show, we still have a long way to go.

There are around 7,000 people living in the Borough. Of that 7,000, approximately 5,500 are eligible to vote. Of that 5,500, only 3,348 people are registered to vote. And that's not even the bad part.

In the primary yesterday, there were a total of 765 ballots cast. Total. For all five Ambridge precincts. That adds to up to a turnout of about 23%. When you factor in all residents that are eligible to vote, turnout is about 14%. This is unacceptable.

Things have been this way for years. The numbers for the municipal primary in 2015 were only slightly worse (See Table below). Note that the data do not take into account slight variations in population from year to year, so numbers are approximate.

You can check out more information on voter turnout in Ambridge in my report.

The question is, what do we do about this? How can we bring these numbers up, so that our governing institutions adequately represent the residents of this town?

I am going to try my hardest in the coming years to increase voter participation and enthusiasm in Ambridge. I will continue holding voter registration/information events, interviewing candidates, and making information geared exclusively toward Ambridge residents available. In the meantime, I want to hear from you. What are you thoughts on why voter turnout is so low? If you didn't vote, why not? Do you have any ideas on how to get people to vote? Post your thoughts in the comments.

I have no doubt that we will succeed in getting the people of Ambridge to the polls, and I won't stop working until the title of this campaign becomes reality: Ambridge Votes.