Voter Turnout

The voters, like the sun, went into eclipse yesterday. The sun came out again, but the voters didn't - almost two-thirds of registered Pennsylvanians stayed home rather than help choose nominees for their next governor and legislative offices. In Philadelphia, turnout buoyed by some hot contests for Congress and the Legislature was about the same, but still on the low side: 37 percent of Democrats, 36 percent of Republicans. In the charter-change election, which many voters had trouble finding on the ballot, passions were high but participation low. Barely one-quarter of eligible Philadelphians voted - almost all of them saying no. The lack of interest is nothing new. With the dramatic exception of the 1992 presidential election, voter turnout has been steadily declining for more than a decade.

In Camden political parlance, it's called the "sure pop vote," the voters who closely follow education issues and cast their ballots faithfully each school election year - no matter how boring the campaign or how low voter apathy dips. But in this year's Camden school board race, the "sure pop vote" may have company - even though there are no critical issues being bandied about. Camden politicos are predicting an even larger voter turnout this year because of displeasure over a proposed tax increase to fund the district's $97.3 million budget for 1988-99.

At the close of Michael Nutter's campaign, the now-mayor-elect was urging people to vote, not just for him but to send a message to President Bush and to help elect Democrats as judges. Nutter's theme: It's not over. Most voters weren't listening. Seven of 10 registered voters in the city skipped a trip to the polls yesterday, treating the mayor's race as an issue settled in the May Democratic primary when Nutter bested four rivals. With more than 96 percent of the divisions reporting late last night, only 28.7 percent of the city's registered voters cast ballots.

When Buck Scott looks at Montgomery County, he sees the most affluent, best-educated county in the state, if not the nation. Which is why he calls voter turnout figures "outrageous. " In the November 1984 election, which featured the Ronald Reagan-Walter Mondale presidential race, 82.27 percent of the registered voters in Montgomery County cast ballots, according to election figures at the Board of Elections in Norristown. That percentage was above the state average of 78.2 percent and far above the national average of 59.9 percent.

Officials from Newtown Borough and Tinicum Township showed up at the Bucks County Commissioners meeting Wednesday to be recognized for the way their citizens showed up on Nov. 5. Both municipalities received plaques from the Bucks County Commissioners for producing the county's highest voter turnouts in the recent elections. In Newtown, 71.9 percent of the borough's 2,500 registered voters came to the polls on Nov. 5, the highest turnout of any borough in the county. "This was a great honor," said Newton Borough Council President Frank B. Fabian Jr., who was elected to his third term on the council last month.

All the candidates in the Winslow Township school board elections were disappointed by the low voter turnout in Tuesday's election in which three incumbents easily won re-election. Of the seven candidates running for the three three-year seats, incumbent Janet Mase received the highest vote total with 520. Elwood C. Heggan, the current board president, got 465 votes, and Salvatore Scardino had 380. Also running were Jacqueline L. Smiley (287), Louis A. Sabec (270), Eileen Serzan (189)

More than half of America's eligible voters stayed home on Election Day, producing the lowest turnout since 1924, when Calvin Coolidge's campaign didn't excite the electorate, either. Chief among the reasons experts cited was President Clinton's near-certain victory. Final national figures were not yet in yesterday, but Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for Study of the American Electorate, said he expected the turnout to be just under 49 percent of eligible voters. That compares with 55 percent in 1992.

A mostly light voter turnout, under a steady drizzle, appeared to be in the making for today's Pennsylvania Primary Election. "The turnout has been rather light thus far," said Frederick L. Voight, executive secretary of the Committee of 70, a political watchdog group. "The rain may have something to do with that, but it's not really unpleasant, not heavy rain, so perhaps the turnout will pick up as the day progresses. " Voigt said the committee had had no reports of significant voter problems by early afternoon.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Internal reports from Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission on Tuesday provide new evidence of serious fraud in Afghanistan's parliamentary elections, including turnouts that exceeded 100 percent in many southeastern districts under the control of the Taliban or other extremists. One district in Paktika province recorded 626 percent voter turnout, according to reports obtained by McClatchy Newspapers. Also Tuesday, the worst helicopter crash in four years killed nine people, bringing NATO fatalities in Afghanistan in 2010 to 529 and making it the deadliest year since the war began in 2001.

For months, New Jersey residents have been angry about taxes. But on Tuesday that anger didn't drive an unusually high number of voters to polling booths to register their protests. According to the state Division of Elections, just 52 percent of New Jersey's 3.7 million registered voters showed up at polling booths Tuesday, the lowest turnout in an election with a U.S. Senate seat at the top of the ticket since the state began recording statewide turnout in 1920. Yet turnout in New Jersey was considerably higher than nationwide.

NOW THAT the hysteria has subsided about Pennsylvania voters having to produce photo ID at the polls, here's something maybe you didn't know: When you join the (minority of) registered voters who take the trouble to vote Tuesday, April 24, you can do so without picture ID. However, to vote in the biggie November presidential election, you will need photo ID, even if you have voted for decades, in every single election, as I have. It won't be a problem for me, and most of you, because about 90 percent of Pennsylvanians have photo ID. But how about the ones who don't, cry the Democrats?

Last year the world watched as Arab Spring protesters used the Internet and social media to organize demonstrations and to share them in real time across the globe, toppling Middle East dictators and reordering human history. This year, technology and social media sites, most visibly Facebook and Twitter, continue to have a dramatic impact on the political world. In January, millions of people signed online petitions and contacted members of Congress protesting efforts to pass poorly crafted legislation on online piracy.

  Two years ago, protesters were in the streets throwing tea bags. Republicans, electrified by anti-Obama fervor, crushed the Democrats in midterm elections that gave them control of the U.S. House and victories in statehouses across the nation. Taking back the White House seemed it would be a simple matter of just harnessing the rage. But now, with the GOP in the act of choosing its candidate to go up against President Obama in November, there are questions about whether the passion is ebbing.

Use reason and support Romney Conservatives who have been swayed to support Newt Gingrich ("Pa. boyhood a fond past for Gingrich," Sunday) are falling victim to the precise trait that they often criticize progressives for having: reliance on emotion, rather than reason, to guide their political thinking. Fact: Independents decide national elections. Fact: Mitt Romney consistently polls much more favorably with independents than does Gingrich. Conclusion: In a general election, Romney would garner more of the independent vote than would Gingrich.

New Jerseyans gripe about their property taxes but turn out in small numbers for the April school board elections that largely determine how high they will be. Could moving them to November increase voter turnout - and save money? The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a bill that gives school districts, towns, and voters the power to decide whether to move school elections to coincide with the general elections in November. Doing that would also eliminate the requirement to hold a vote on school budgets - unless the school districts propose to increase their tax levies more than the state-imposed 2 percent cap. The new timetable could be adopted if at least 15 percent of district voters who cast their ballots in the last election for Assembly sign a petition approving it. Alternatively, a town or board of education could move the school elections to November simply by adopting a resolution to that effect.

MONROVIA, Liberia - An election that was supposed to solidify peace in this nation emerging from war was marred by dismal turnout Tuesday, after the opposition went ahead with a boycott despite last-minute appeals from the United States and the U.N. Security Council. The move guarantees reelection for the continent's first and only female president, who was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but country experts worry that the low turnout could discredit Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's victory and delegitimize her government.

Voters arrived in a slow but steady stream at Radnor Township's Ward 5, Precinct 1 at the Jewish Federation's campus on Bryn Mawr Avenue. By 11 a.m., 51 people had voted, about average for a General Election when there is no presidential race. Clerks said the bright, sunny, warm weather was bound to stimulate voter turnout. Although Democratic incumbent Ward 5 commissioner John Nagle is seeking reelection against Republican Ernie Shapiro, the race hasn't received much public attention.

Sept. 17 is one of the most important dates in America's story. On this day in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed. I never cease to marvel at the foresight, motivation, and resilience required to conceive and implement America's foundation. Yet I also wonder if the framers would be turning in their graves if they knew the state of voter turnout and civic engagement in Philadelphia and other cities around the nation. Two hundred years ago, they spent countless hours drafting the wording to convey that all authority originates with the people: "We the People . . . do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

WASHINGTON - Michelle Obama was once a reluctant campaigner, but there are plenty of reasons why she's primed to play a major role in her husband's reelection bid. She's more popular than the president. She's seasoned now. And she's so careful in her public remarks that even at campaign fund-raisers, she sometimes relies on a teleprompter. Observers said her top causes - getting children fit and embracing the nation's troops - were shrewd political choices, ones that have given her allies from coast to coast.