By Tim Male
Tim Male, a city councilmember in Takoma Park, Maryland, is a member of the Leadership Circle of Promote Our Vote. His city is the first in the United States to pass a resolution calling for a right to vote in the Constitution and concrete actions to protect, promote and expand suffrage. Here he discusses a largely overlooked problem: immense disparities in turnout by age in local elections.
One of the greatest challenges I face as an elected leader in a small municipality is how to connect with as many constituents as possible. Doing so is complicated in at least three major ways. First, it’s a part time job with no staff support. Second, in a small city there is a constant need to convince residents that what we do matters in their everyday lives. Third, even if people want to be part of the process, our policies and laws (and those of the state and nation) can be a subtle or not so subtle barrier to participation.
This summer, Takoma Park is taking a number of steps to address barriers to participation in elections. In May, we lowered our voting age to 16, restored voting rights to people with felony convictions on parole, mandated early voting in all elections and opened voter registration to allow registration right up to Election Day. This month, we are likely to adopt changes similar to Minnesota’s policy that will allow political candidates access to the apartment buildings where half our residents live.
I’ve learned a lot during this process but one of the things that shocked me the most came from looking at data on participation in city elections by age of voter. With turnout regularly under 20 percent of registered voters, even in contested races for mayor, turnout is lower than I'd like to see for all age groups. But turnout by age cohort is truly disturbing.
In Takoma Park’s most recent city elections in 2011, for example, turnout was only three percent of registered voters 30 years old or younger -- even though that age group makes up more than 15 percent of registered voters. In raw numbers, that age cohort represents 13 ages -- everyone 18, 19, 20 and so on up to 30. Only 50 of some 1,900 registered voters participated. One year later, in the 2012 presidential election, more than 1,000 in that same age group voted. Where were they in 2011?
It's even more dramatic when you look at turnout at specific ages. For example, there was a contested citywide election for mayor in 2009. Among voters aged 18 to 25, a grand total of 14 voted. That's less than 1 percent of city residents of those ages, almost all of whom could have registered to vote and participated because Takoma Park has noncitizen voting.
Another way to look at this data is to compare city turnout and 2012 presidential election turnout. This graph looks at participation by age of those who voted in Takoma Park for president in 2012 with the average number of voters in those age groups in the 2009 and 2011 municipal elections. Around 28 percent of voters between the ages of 45-60 who turned out in 2012 also voted in city elections. However, only a tiny fraction of our younger voters showed up. If 18-30 year old voters had behaved like older ones in recent city elections, we would have had 10 percent more voters participating.
Tim Male, a city councilmember in Takoma Park, Maryland, is a member of the Leadership Circle of Promote Our Vote. His city is the first in the United States to pass a resolution calling for a right to vote in the Constitution and concrete actions to protect, promote and expand suffrage. Here he discusses a largely overlooked problem: immense disparities in turnout by age in local elections.
One of the greatest challenges I face as an elected leader in a small municipality is how to connect with as many constituents as possible. Doing so is complicated in at least three major ways. First, it’s a part time job with no staff support. Second, in a small city there is a constant need to convince residents that what we do matters in their everyday lives. Third, even if people want to be part of the process, our policies and laws (and those of the state and nation) can be a subtle or not so subtle barrier to participation.
This summer, Takoma Park is taking a number of steps to address barriers to participation in elections. In May, we lowered our voting age to 16, restored voting rights to people with felony convictions on parole, mandated early voting in all elections and opened voter registration to allow registration right up to Election Day. This month, we are likely to adopt changes similar to Minnesota’s policy that will allow political candidates access to the apartment buildings where half our residents live.
I’ve learned a lot during this process but one of the things that shocked me the most came from looking at data on participation in city elections by age of voter. With turnout regularly under 20 percent of registered voters, even in contested races for mayor, turnout is lower than I'd like to see for all age groups. But turnout by age cohort is truly disturbing.
In Takoma Park’s most recent city elections in 2011, for example, turnout was only three percent of registered voters 30 years old or younger -- even though that age group makes up more than 15 percent of registered voters. In raw numbers, that age cohort represents 13 ages -- everyone 18, 19, 20 and so on up to 30. Only 50 of some 1,900 registered voters participated. One year later, in the 2012 presidential election, more than 1,000 in that same age group voted. Where were they in 2011?
It's even more dramatic when you look at turnout at specific ages. For example, there was a contested citywide election for mayor in 2009. Among voters aged 18 to 25, a grand total of 14 voted. That's less than 1 percent of city residents of those ages, almost all of whom could have registered to vote and participated because Takoma Park has noncitizen voting.
Another way to look at this data is to compare city turnout and 2012 presidential election turnout. This graph looks at participation by age of those who voted in Takoma Park for president in 2012 with the average number of voters in those age groups in the 2009 and 2011 municipal elections. Around 28 percent of voters between the ages of 45-60 who turned out in 2012 also voted in city elections. However, only a tiny fraction of our younger voters showed up. If 18-30 year old voters had behaved like older ones in recent city elections, we would have had 10 percent more voters participating.
Takoma Park Voter Turnout Measured by Age (2012)
This data really surprised me. Our City provides open space and parks that are a mecca for the children of our young parents. We build sidewalks and maintain roads. We partially fund half a dozen music and craft festivals each year. Our economic development programs are helping bring new restaurants to town. And the biggest part of our budget is our police force, which works to keep all residents safe, regardless of age. I’ve heard the oft-repeated statistics about how young voters don’t turn out in national elections, but I never had a clue that the problem was so much worse, at least in our city.
Low turnout among young voters helped guide the city council when it adopted changes like extending voting rights to residents after they turn sixteen. Data from European countries where 16 year olds can vote suggests that the youngest voters turn out in numbers that more closely resemble 40 year olds than 20-30 year olds. Given the interest and energy shown by our 16-17 year olds in voting, I imagine far more of them will vote than the 12 18-25 year olds who voted in 2009. And once introduced to voting in local elections, experts like Peter Levine (a Tufts professor and fellow Promote Our Vote Leadership Circle member) believe they are more likely to keep voting in local elections.
I don’t have any comprehensive answers to offer that would reduce this disparity in turnout, but our city has done one more thing that might be a step in the right direction. Along with the passage of our Right to Vote Resolution, we created a Task Force of experts and residents that will work together to help us find better ways to increase participation in our local democracy. I plan to be at their first meeting with these statistics and look forward to their ideas on how we can strengthen the participation of all residents in Takoma Park.
Low turnout among young voters helped guide the city council when it adopted changes like extending voting rights to residents after they turn sixteen. Data from European countries where 16 year olds can vote suggests that the youngest voters turn out in numbers that more closely resemble 40 year olds than 20-30 year olds. Given the interest and energy shown by our 16-17 year olds in voting, I imagine far more of them will vote than the 12 18-25 year olds who voted in 2009. And once introduced to voting in local elections, experts like Peter Levine (a Tufts professor and fellow Promote Our Vote Leadership Circle member) believe they are more likely to keep voting in local elections.
I don’t have any comprehensive answers to offer that would reduce this disparity in turnout, but our city has done one more thing that might be a step in the right direction. Along with the passage of our Right to Vote Resolution, we created a Task Force of experts and residents that will work together to help us find better ways to increase participation in our local democracy. I plan to be at their first meeting with these statistics and look forward to their ideas on how we can strengthen the participation of all residents in Takoma Park.
