Opinion: No easy solutions to low voter turnout

By Gina Long

• Facebook
• X
• ShareCopied to clipboard

On Tuesday evening, Michael and I grabbed a table and a couple of pizzas at Sandhills Brewery, connected our laptops to the Wi-Fi and watched the primary results roll in.

We discussed our predictions and the results, looked at the preliminary precinct and district information, and Michael planned his candidate interviews.

I was hoping for a voter turnout of around 25 percent. Sadly, the final tally for Reno County came in at less than 17 percent, meaning less than one in five registered voters voted in the primary.

Turnouts are higher in presidential election years—over 30 percent—with a precipitous dropoff during non-presidential cycles. During the last presidential election year, primary turnout was over 30 percent, attributed to a hotly contested ballot question that would have amended the state’s constitution to outlaw abortion. 2016 was a heated election year with a primary turnout of over 30 percent.

Municipal elections, in which voters elect city council and school board members, are nonpartisan, so unaffiliated voters and members of smaller political parties are not excluded. Unfortunately, turnout hovers around 17 percent. City council and school board elections have the greatest direct impact on our lives, but because they don’t dominate the airwaves and our social media feeds, many voters don’t cast a ballot.

Discussing low voter turnout with a high school student who won’t be eligible until next year is enlightening and, unfortunately, sad. Low youth engagement and turnout continue. And parents who don’t vote don’t teach their kids to vote. My son, now 28, accompanied me to every polling station, whether in a primary, general, or municipal election. We also showed up for several ballot measures. We were living in Nebraska then, and direct ballot questions are common. He registered to vote the day he turned 18 in 2014 and has not missed any election since. He has talked to his friends to encourage them to vote, and he canvasses for candidates.

Nebraskans approved Medicaid expansion via a ballot initiative in 2018, but it has not been implemented due to strong opposition from the current and former governors. Recreational marijuana legalization will be on the ballot in November. Those contentious ballot questions drive turnout, as we saw in Kansas in August 2022 for the Value Them Both State constitutional amendment.

Primary elections choose candidates on partisan tickets, disenfranchising some 38.7 percent of the Reno County electorate. Other states have implemented ranked-choice voting, but little evidence shows that it increases turnout. Open primaries allow partisan meddling. There are no easy solutions.

Rancor and vitriol by candidates at all levels have turned off many voters, who are weary of the noise, the elevation of style over substance, and the lack of policy positions.

But on Tuesday evening, just under 17 percent of Reno County voters made decisions for all of us.