While a 35% voter turnout is better than what the District Attorney, and judicial races usually get, it’s still a failing grade.
When I was a kid, I wasn’t very good at math. Still aren’t if I’m honest.
In fact, I used to hate getting graded papers back from math class because I knew that once my parents saw them, especially my Dad, that there would be no TV, or going outside to play or hang out with friends for me for a while.
That’s because if I got a “D” in math, which is about 60%, that was a victory for me. If I got a C, or 70%, I was cooking with gas. And if I got a B or 80%, I passed out from the shock.
But sometimes, I’d get an “F”. Or 50% or less.
I bring up my horrible math grades because I got a look at statewide turnout in Tuesday’s elections. Someone with a lot of time on their hands took the time to calculate voter turnout across the Commonwealth.
The collar counties around Philadelphia did pretty well for an off-year election. Montgomery County came in first across the Commonwealth with 49.79%, followed closely by Bucks with 49% even.
Chester County and Delaware County also did well with 47.8% and 45.59% turnout respectively.
Guess where Philly ended up among the Commonwealth’s 67 counties?
Number 64.
Philly did worse with voter turnout in Tuesday’s elections than counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that have more cows than people.
Look at it this way. At least we weren’t last. That’s probably happened a time or two.
What’s sad about this is that compared to some of the city’s more recent elections, 35% is actually pretty good. During the last time that Philadelphians were asked to pick and retain judges, and vote to elect or re-elect a District Attorney, only 19% of the 1,070,786 registered voters in the city bothered to cast a ballot.
And what’s even sadder is that Democratic City Committee, as it tends to do, is bragging about it.
Now, and I feel like I have to say this every time I’m about to make a critique of City Committee, I’ve got no actual problem with DCC head Bob Brady or any of the people who work with and/or for him, but there’s things you brag about and things you don’t.
Bragging about being 64th out of 67 counties in terms of voter turnout is not one of those things. Brady told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the victories on Tuesday showed that “We proved them wrong” when it comes to turnout critique.
Now, I’m not going to be totally dismissive of the DCC’s most recent accomplishment. It’s not the 19% that you’ve gotten in the past. But with the kind of money and time the party expends, can we get to 45% at least?
Because the midterm elections are on the horizon. And if the last 11 months are any indication, those elections will determine whether or not we’ll have actual checks and balances in our system of checks and balances.
If the city can’t go higher than 35% turnout, having to stay in our rooms without TV or video games will be the least of our worries.
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