30-37% Is Not Great for the 2024 Primary
Plumstead Township saw modest voter participation for both Republicans and the “Others” (i.e., Democrats). It appears that slightly more registered Republicans cast ballots than the Others. The bottomline: Voters might be Apathetic, Indifferent, Bored, or simply waiting until November. Most likely, it’s a combination of all these factors, and possibly many others. And it might be for different reasons depending on Party affiliation.
For Republicans, some are not excited about their choices. And some outright reject their available choices. For the Others, some are indifferent… and many might be offended by the lack of choice imposed by the Party that claims to “protect Democracy” but their actions do anything but.
Mail-In Ballots are gaining in use but Republicans continue to be woefully behind the curve. Currently in PA, the Others outpace Republicans by 2.77:1. Republicans need to use Mail-In ballots to avoid losing elections before the Polls even open on Election Day. In fact, Republicans must understand that there is no longer “Election Day.” It is more accurately “Election Month.”
There are some interesting takeaways if you look at the Write-Ins. Surprisingly few went to RFK, Jr. Lot’s of nonsense entries which can best be viewed as a form of “protest vote.” “Nonsense votes?” Yes, like “Mickey Mouse”, some running on the opposite Party ballot, dead people, etc. The worse part of Write-Ins? The impact to the people who work the Polls, a 15-hour day, to make sure a fair election occurs. These folks who genuinely care about Election Integrity, regardless of their personal Party affiliation, get stuck dealing with the nonsense. On Election “Night” (last night) I witnessed that the Write-in vote process took nearly as much time as the verification and reporting of ALL the other Canvassing (tallying). Understand, between both parties, a mere 55 individual office votes across all the available positions were cast as Write-ins. In other words, with a total of 5284 individual office votes cast, 1% required the same amount of time to properly record as the remaining 5229 votes! And more than half of the 55 were nonsense!
I understand that people are concerned and frustrated. I get the reasons for allowing Write-ins. But folks, please use them judiciously. Kindly respect our precious right to vote and the people who make sure there is an election with integrity.
Why the modest participation in the Primary? I have my own ideas, of course. Perhaps there is a general malaise about the 2024 Presidential Election? Maybe people are tired of the negativism and raw (and in some cases, offensive) campaign pieces? Are people burned out on the screaming and chanting against each other?
Average people, not political “insiders” simply are not ginned up… yet. In an issues-based election, people have a lot to chew on… IF they have the stomach for the realities.