6% municipal election black voter turnout in Ferguson proves regime change begins at home.

[Fred Sanders]

Last edited Mon Aug 18, 2014, 11:37 AM - Edit history (4)

VOTE

Get out the vote registration efforts, commendable as they are, is not enough, you have to somehow get out the lead. Turn these angry and righteous protestors into angry and righteous voters on Election Day.

6%?

Do I have to state the obvious out loud?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/08/15/how-ferguson-exposes-the-racial-bias-in-local-elections/

Voting matters, it matters a whole lot more than people know. The media avoids all discussion of the importance of voter participation,MIT is like it is almost a conspiracy.

Voters need to know the link between what is happening now to to what happens when you do not vote. The link between the future of the community and it's families and children and the boring act of pulling the lever every two years. It can make all the difference. Believe it.









....................................

And for you nerds and wonks out there who want evidence and scientific studies, eye opening, I guarantee you:

Where Turnout Matters: The Consequences of Uneven Turnout In City Politics


http://pages.ucsd.edu/~zhajnal/page1/page2/files/page2_2.pdf


"Off cycle local elections are the most important barrier for African-Americans political representation"

"At its core, democracy rests on the vote. The vote is the primary tool for citizens to control the government."

"Study after study of American elections has found that individuals with ample resources vote with much more regularity than those with less resources."



"The skewed nature of the vote raises real concerns about how well the interests of different groups are served in society."

[el_bryanto]

1. Law of unintended consequences

In theory having elections at different times of the year is beneficial - people have more time to study local issues, and they aren't swept along in party feelings. Having non-partisan elections for local officials also seems logical. But the combination of the two produces some unfortunate responses.

I think one reform that actually would be good is making election days national, state or local holidays.

Bryant

[jeff47]

8. Move it to Saturday and Sunday

and require everyone to be given at least one of those days off - you can work that Saturday but not that Sunday or vice-versa.

[el_bryanto]

9. that'd work too - probably be better actually

But I like days off.

Bryant

[amandabeech]

16. Early voting, including weekends, helps a lot, too.

Give people three weekends, including the weekend just before the Tuesday, which will be the last day of the election.

Open the polls Wednesday or Thursday evening and open the polls on the Monday, too.

My guess is that you'd get much better voter turn outs.

Which means that the Republicans won't go for it.

[MohRokTah]

2. It's the problem the Democratic PArty has had for years.

Big turnout in a presidential election, which has very little direct impact on your every day life.

Embarrassingly low turnout for the local election shich can have an impact on your life every moment of every day.

My last municipal election had 227 people in my ward turn out.

In 2012, that number was well over 5000.

[MineralMan]

3. That is at the core of the reason Ferguson

has a non-representative government. Some serious political organizing is desperately needed there.

[Ms. Toad]

4. I hadn't thought of it in terms of consequence on local officials -

but school officials rely on the impact of low turnout to get taxes passed. They routinely undercampaign on tax-only issues - hoping that those who support the taxes (disproportionately the more educated & informed voters) will be motivated to go to the polls and everyone else will stay home.

[bigdarryl]

5. Joe Madison reported on his show

That there is going to be a major voter registration drive in Ferguson for 2014 elections the media as usual isn't reporting this

[azmom]

6. We also need people of color

To run for offices. People that actually represent the needs of minorities. If not, you're left with which white guy to choose from. No wonder no one votes.

[leftstreet]

7. Only 12% turnout overall

No one collects data on turnout by race in municipal elections. But the overall turnout numbers for Ferguson’s mayoral and city council election are discouraging. This year, just 12.3% of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to numbers provided by the county. In 2013 and 2012, those figures were even lower: 11.7% and 8.9% respectively. As a rule, the lower the turnout, the more the electorate skews white and conservative.

“I think there is a huge distrust in the system,” said Broadnax, a Ferguson native. Many blacks think: “Well it’s not going to matter anyway, so my one vote doesn’t count,” she said. “Well, if you get an entire community to individually feel that way, collectively we’ve already lost.”

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ferguson-lack-diversity-goes-way-beyond-its-cops

[NYC_SKP]

10. Please read: Reasons that minority voters don't turn out to vote, blacks in particular.

.

Voter turnout is disproportionately related to how fairly a group is treated by law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

It's easy to say, "Hey, they just need to go vote", but that sounds eerily like blaming the victim.

It will take one hell of a lot more than suggesting greater participation.

I fear that the minorities in Ferguson have given up all hope, and I don't blame them.

[Blue_Tires]

11. I'd just as soon keep the two issues independent from one another, personally

[NYC_SKP]

13. Success depends on addressing both, independently or together, but both must be discussed.

Where I live, there are many eligible voters who won't go near a voting place for fear of being rounded up and deported, or questioned.

Offered the vote by mail option, many decline for similar reasons.

Full inclusion in Democratic and civic activities by all people requires that we consider the institutional and other barriers that exist.

Getting out the vote is inextricably related, it would be a lot more effective (IMO) if we discuss these together, at least some of the time.

[Blue_Tires]

17. True...

I've discussed the voting turnout on DU and IRL (I work at a university) countless times...

I guess I misread your post to mean taking care of one would automatically take care of the other...

[csziggy]

14. They cannot be independent of each other

If a disproportionate percentage of a minority group are targeted by law enforcement for arrests, prosecuted at a higher rate, and convicted of more serious crimes than other groups for the same actions, then under most states' laws, fewer members of that minority group are eligible voters.

Add into the equation that for a hundred and fifty years that minority has been discouraged from registering to vote and if they manage to register have actively been blocked from voting. In addition their education is more often poor because of underfunded schools, they are in more marginal jobs that make it harder to get the time to inform themselves of the issues and about the candidates, and often have no time to actually get to the polls.

It's no wonder that in many areas minority participation in elections is in single digits. It's also no wonder that Republicans try everything they can to suppress voter participation, especially in minority communities.

[ancianita]

12. Behind these numbers are the reasons. Interviewing black voters & non-voters would help.

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Fred Sanders.