Strong voter turnout expected in off year

by Morgan Dixon
Staff Writer

County officials are expecting voter turnout in Athens County next week to be relatively high, even though it's an odd-year election.

"About 28 percent of eligible voters in the county, or 11,200 people, are expected

to vote this November," said Kathy Kyle, director of the Athens County Board of Elections.

Those figures are low compared to a presidential election year, but moderately high for a local election year, said Ellsworth Holden, co-chair for the Republican Party, who is running for president of City Council.

Turnout is usually lower in off-year elections such as this, when only local officials are running for office, said Michael Burton, a political science professor. "Sometimes it can go down to10 percent," he said.

The recent surge of patriotism is could prompt higher turnout this November.

Susan Gwinn, chairperson of the election board, said she doesn't think the current conflict will decrease the numbers of voters on Tuesday.

"If anything, I hope it will increase the numbers," she said. "People might feel patriotic and vote." Gwinn also is chairperson of the Democratic Party.

In 1990, during the Gulf War, 50 percent of registered voters in Athens County showed up at the polls, Kyle said.

About the same number of Athens residents voted in 1968 during the Vietnam War, but the number of registered voters is unknown, Kyle said.

"I don't think we know what effect Sept. 11 might have on the elections because we've never had an event of that magnitude," Burton said. "Times of conflict generally don't make a large impact on voter turnout."

About 3,000 city voters are expected this November, which would be an average estimate, Gwinn said.

"The campus vote is always the wild card," she said.

Aaron Dahanke, political director for the College Republicans, said a very small percentage of college students vote. "But we've been campaigning to inform students about our candidates and to encourage them to vote," he said.

Mark Puskar, president of College Democrats, said it's difficult to convince college students to vote. Many first and second-year students might not see Athens as their home so they are hesitant to vote, he said.

"College Democrats have been encouraging as much contact between students and candidates as possible," Puskar said.

The College Democrats, which set up a voter registration table at the College Gate for six days, was successful in registering many students, Puskar said.

Because it appears more political advertisements have been displayed this year than preceding the last local election, it's safe to predict that voter turnout will be good, Dahanke said.

"We've had a pretty good success getting people to register," Dahanke said. "Now it's just getting them to show up."

The weather can also effect voter turnout. People are less likely to show up when it's raining or snowing, Dahanke said.