So apparently, not too many of you paid attention yesterday when I beseeched you to get out and participate in your democracy. “Not too many of you” precisely meaning 1,151 went to the polls for early voting in the City Council run-off election between Cid Galindo and Laura Morrison, plus six mail-in ballots were received. C’mon – continue that pace out over the full nine days of early voting, and then double that number on election day, and you get a projected turnout of only about 30,000, or around 5% of Austin’s registered voters. Contrast that with this past March’s primary: sparked by interest in the Clinton/Obama contest, 7,398 voted early on the first day, accompanied by 671 mail-ins.
Okay, let’s try this: Clip out the ads for each candidate in the most recent Chronicle, and then paste pictures of Obama and Clinton over Galindo and Morrison. Maybe that will get you excited.
Really, folks, it may not be sexy, but city politics really are important. No one is saying you have to attend every one of your neighborhood association meetings – just take a few minutes out of your day to study up on the candidates, swing into an early voting station, and press a button.
This article appears in May 30 • 2008.