Why Local Elections Matter

Yesterday, I decided to run a little contest on Facebook. I asked readers to guess the total voter turnout for today's election in Kane and Kendall counties.

Most people guessed right around 20 percent. One truly optimistic woman suggested Kane County might come in at 28 percent. That would be wonderful, but history isn’t on our side on this one.

The last election that was exactly like this one, meaning the same seats were up for grabs, happened in 2007. Kane County came in at 21 percent, Kendall County at 18 percent. The last consolidated election, in 2009, brought out 12 percent of Kendall voters, and 23 percent of Kane voters.

Now, election officials will tell you that the consolidated elections have the lowest turnouts, and they’re right. These are the odd-numbered-year elections that focus on local races, and with no state or federal seats up for the taking, the political current that carries the even-numbered-year elections eases up.

As an example, you can look at last November’s election, in which Republican Randy Hultgren won the 14th District Congressional seat from Bill Foster. The totals in that election? 50 percent in Kane, 51 percent in Kendall.

You’ll forgive me, but I really don’t get that.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t vote in the federal and state elections. They’re very important, and getting half the registered voters out to the polls is a pretty significant victory. But the consolidated elections should draw at least those numbers, and more.

These are the elections that strike closest to home. Voters today will be deciding the directions of their city councils and village boards, the entities that decide which businesses come into your community, or how high your fences can be, or whether the police department has what they need to fight crime.

They’ll be voting in school board members who will determine what’s important for your child’s education, and how to spend the tax dollars you give them. Voters will decide who sits on park boards, fire districts, library boards—all the organizations that don’t normally grab headlines, but shape your community in ways a state senator or a U.S. congressman just can’t.

These local elections aren’t sexy, but they are vitally important. So here’s the part where the guy you don’t know encourages you to go out and vote today. I’m not sure what I can say that hasn’t been said before: this is your chance to have your voice heard, and to help set the course for your cities, villages, schools and parks.

It’s all a cliché, but it’s all true.

Don’t leave these crucial decisions in the hands of 20 percent. This election, like every election, is what we make it. So please vote. And let’s see if we can’t blow those 2007 turnout numbers out of the water.