Nov 4, 2023 3 min read

Tuesday is Election Day, and in Pennsylvania and other states, voters will be heading to the polls to cast ballots for candidates who will sit on school boards, township boards, county commissions, city councils and an array of other elected posts.

OK, some voters will be going to the polls.

Actually, in relative terms, not that many voters will be voting.

If presidential elections are considered the Super Bowl of election contests, off-year elections for municipal offices tend to be viewed as junior varsity match-ups. In the 2021 municipal general election in Washington County, for instance, a little more than 36% of registered voters turned out. In Fayette County, a little more than 28% of those on the rolls cast a ballot. And, admittedly, races for prothonotary, treasurer or jobs along those lines don’t have the pulse-racing drama or history-making potential of a presidential race. No one is going to be reading 100 years from now how, say, a clerk of courts streamlined operations in his or her office.

But a lack of drama does not mean a lack of importance.

According to the National Civic League, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to build civic engagement, 500,000 local officials across the United States control about $2 trillion in local spending. Those local officials are, to borrow a phrase from George W. Bush, the deciders when it comes to things like street repairs, school budgets, property taxes, parks, transportation and a whole host of other issues that affect people on a day-to-day basis. It’s long been a subject of debate whether lackluster voter participation in the United States is due to contentment, cynicism, resignation or ignorance. But, given the stakes, voters should turn out on Tuesday.

Municipal elections have long been set in odd-numbered years because, it’s believed, voters would be able to give their full attention to local candidates and issues without being distracted by the fireworks that come with a presidential election, or even the contests for senator or governor. It appears, though, that some voters take a vacation from politics in an odd-numbered year and simply tune it all out. Some advocates say that municipal elections should be moved to even-numbered years. Los Angeles has even offered cash prizes as an inducement to get people to the polls. The latter is an interesting idea, but ideally a carrot like that shouldn’t be necessary to carry out an important civic duty.

Whatever you do, don’t side on the sidelines. Vote on Tuesday.