Voter turnout is likely more than rolls project
October 14, 2021
Considering the high interest in the voter turnout, I think it would be
wise to make sure you are reporting a complete picture. You report that
41% of registered voters (982 out of 2,409) cast a ballot. This may be
technically correct, but I’d say misleading. Am I the only one who has
noticed that the number of registered voters seems way high? The 2020
census estimates that there are only 1,876 people of voting age living
in the borough. Obviously the people who keep the voter list are, for
whatever reason, not doing too well at removing people who have died or
moved out of the area. If you are trying to rate public involvement, try
figuring it this way: 982 ballots cast, plus the 89 that were yet to be
counted by press time is 1,071. 1,876 people are of voting age, but
there are some people with legitimate reasons for not being a voter at
all (perhaps advanced age or disability makes it difficult to keep up
with the research required), or who wanted to vote but were prevented by
unexpected circumstances. That could account for, conservatively, 100
excused people, no? That leaves a base of 1,776. So I’d say the
percentage of potential voters who made the effort to vote was more like
60%. Not perfect, but better than 41%.
Jim Green