RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Voter turnout in North Carolina’s municipal elections was up this year, but still far below what we see in presidential or midterm election years.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, unofficial results show about one in five eligible voters (19.6%) cast ballots in this year’s municipal election. That’s an improvement from previous local cycles, but still a fraction of the more than 70% turnout for presidential elections.
“It’s just kind of so easy to pay attention to the shiny bubble that is national politics,” said Steven Greene, a political science professor at NC State University.
From property taxes to school funding, local races typically shape the issues closest to home, but they also draw some of the lowest turnout numbers. Greene said local races often fly under the radar because they don’t get the same level of media coverage or attention.
“In a presidential election, the attention to it is everywhere, you can’t miss it,” Greene said. “In a local election, you can very well have local elections going on and not even know it.”
David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College, adds voter habits play a role, too.
“It’s a real question of low voter information,” McLennan said. “People get used to voting on a two- or four-year cycle. These off-year municipal elections just don’t come at times when people think about it.”
The irony, according to both professors, is that the results of municipal elections will impact your daily life the most.
“The reality is so much of what we do is affected by the local politicians and the choices they make about our schools, about our transportation, about our infrastructure, about our housing policy,” said Greene.
“The decisions made by city and town councils or county commissioners or school boards are more impactful on people’s lives than typically what the president or Congress does,” McLennan said.
And with such low turnout, just a handful of votes can decide who gets to make those decisions.
“In some cases, just dozens of votes can make the difference at this local level,” Greene said.
The NC State Board of Elections expects to certify the results of the municipal election next week.