Keep moving full steam ahead
It was exhilarating last week to see such engagement from voters.
The electorate came out in droves, not only across the state and country, but locally. Estimates show that the percentage of voters in each of Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland and Washington counties who made their voices heard surpassed the percentage of those who showed up nationally and across Pennsylvania.
It should be a moment of pride across our local counties, where voter turnout hasn’t always been extraordinary.
Election bureau directors from each of the four counties said turnout was above 50 percent (the lowest was Fayette at 53.2 percent). Westmoreland County, where there are nearly a quarter of a million registered voters, had a turnout of 59.4 percent. Rewind six months to the May primary and you’ll find that turnout in Fayette and Westmoreland didn’t crack 20 percent.
The turnout locally surprised even the most seasoned election bureau directors, some of whom said they’ve never seen that type of turnout for a mid-term election.
Nationwide, according to the United States Election Project, 49.2 percent of those eligible to vote made their voices heard. Pennsylvania’s overall percentage was 50 percent, according to the organization.
Mid-term elections, i.e. those for U.S. House and U.S. Senate that fall between presidential elections, don’t always bring a lot of excitement. The state’s overall turnout in 2014 was 36 percent and in 2010 it was 42.4 percent.
That the nationwide turnout nearly cracked 50 percent might feel like a “big whoop” moment to some. Without a doubt, the number still isn’t where it should be.
However, the last time such a high percentage turned out for a mid-term election was 52 years ago, according to numbers from the United States Election Project, but at the time, the legal voting age was still 21.
So yes, to one of every two voters coming out on Nov. 6, we say, “That’s amazing.”
But we must feed that sense of civic duty and foster it so that it grows during next year’s municipal elections, where we’ll nominate and then choose candidates for county, city, borough and township offices.
Among those up for election are commissioners — the group of three who will lead our counties. Mayors, council members, township supervisors, magisterial district judges and other county-level row offices will also be up for grabs.
The people elected to those offices might not make the same headlines as those in state and federal ones, but they impact the daily lives of the residents they serve.
At the polls last week, a Uniontown woman told one of our reporters that she read an article that said those who vote are usually the ones who are “enraged or engaged.” That leaves elections decided by those who are heavily involved in politics or incensed by the political climate.
As Nov. 6 proved, you needn’t be in either of those camps to participate.
You just need to care enough to go.