Looking at names on an election ballot can be similar to looking at a dated high school yearbook. There are several names you recognize, but often the majority of names remain unknown.
These would be the names of local candidates. Though the media caters toward the presidential stage and local politics often get shoved to the side, that doesn’t mean that local politics aren’t important.
Sadly, this catering leads more people to believe that presidential elections are the only elections that matter.
After looking at a table put together by the United States Election Project, the numbers confirm this notion that many people hold. In the 2004 presidential and general election, 54.8 percent of all registered voters in Arizona turned out. In contrast, for the 2006 midterm election, only 38.9 percent of registered voters were present. Even for the 2008 presidential primary, only 24.2 percent of Arizona voters cast ballots.
Those numbers are already dismally low, but we have left something out of the equation: All these numbers solely account for people who actually turned out to vote, but it doesn’t take uncompleted ballots into account. This is called voter roll-off.
“It is very common, particularly in a presidential election like this one, that people will skip races as they get further down [the ballot],” said political science professor Paul Lewis.
The unfortunate thing is people that do this may not realize they are one of thousands of people across the state who “roll-off” the ballot.
This leaves many different candidates without the votes needed to win.
Consequently, some voters do not choose the candidate who will represent them in the city government, state legislature or even in Congress. This doesn’t even include such things on this year’s ballot as county attorneys, sheriffs, supervisors, judges, Corporation Commission members, school board members, bonds and overrides, and propositions.
This list is quite exhaustive, but it is important. We interact with these people and issues much closer on a day-to-day basis than we do with Washington.
Perhaps some of this ballot-skipping madness can be associated with party affiliation. At the city level, a candidate cannot declare a party on the ballot. Gone are the partisan labels, which people sometimes use to make a decision they feel confident in.
Regardless, it seems like backward logic to me. People voice concern that politicians are out of touch with their voters. The answer should be simple: Elect somebody different.
But voter roll-off could easily be a reason politicians operate on their own agendas. With voter roll-off and low turnout rates, politicians are held less accountable.
The best way to hold politicians accountable is to show up educated and to complete the entire ballot.
“People are going to get to the voting booth very excited about the presidential election. They are going to come down the ballot and find races they don’t know about. Like class, it is important to do a little bit of research about these races,” Lewis said.
When Nov. 4 comes around, we need to have our research done and get to class — two things I sometimes have trouble with.
But I don’t plan on missing the Nov. 4 lecture;I hear class might be exciting that day.
Andrew is busy filling his bike tires with air so he can get to class. He can receive bike-pool requests at andrew.hedlund@asu.edu.
