Valley voters have history of apathy

If our voting history is any indication, anywhere from 20 percent to 25 percent of registered voters in the Valley will decide who will be the next Mat-Su Borough mayor.

Tuesday is Election Day here for the borough’s special election to select a new mayor. Seven locals have lined up for the job and have been out in the community actively campaigning door-to-door, at local organization meetings and in several candidate forums.

What concerns us leading into Tuesday’s balloting is the probability that the Valley’s registered voters will again show more apathy for our Democratic process than enthusiasm. In last October’s regular borough election — where the ballot boasted the star power of Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski dueling for a seat in Congress — 24.63 percent turned out to vote.

That falls in line with other regular elections historically. For example, the regular election in 2004 had a turnout of 24.83 percent and 2005 was 20.68 percent. Special elections, however, have proved more spotty.

Results for the May 2006 special election listed on the borough’s website show a 21.3 percent turnout. But even that dismal response seems an aberration compared to other special elections. In January 2002, a paltry 2.9 percent of us found voting in a local election worth our time. The special election before that was in June 1998, when 12.2 percent turned out.

When it comes to local and state politics, the Valley seems plenty vocal much of the time, which is why we’re stumped that those same loud voices would translate into a whisper of a turnout at the ballot box.

Perhaps this vocal minority truly represents the overall will of Valley voters, so it’s most of us let them cast their ballots for us. Maybe many feel they’re too busy to get out and vote. Or perhaps the consistently low turnout is a reflection of a deep-rooted indifference.

Whatever the case, it’s unacceptable. When we can point to a 25 percent turnout as being “good” for our area, more effort needs to be made to get those numbers up.

This must come from you, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average Valley resident. We continually editorialize about the importance of voting, our local chambers and other civic groups host many well-publicized candidate forums, but the real push must come from a true grassroots level.

If you’ve already cast a ballot in early voting — good for you. If you haven’t, you can participate in early voting Monday, or Tuesday on Election Day. Don’t stop there though. Talk to your neighbors and co-workers, stress the importance of adding their voices to help make an important decisions that will affect the future of our borough.

Then after the polls close, keep an eye on frontiersman.com for results and reaction.