Why Voting in Local Elections Matters?

Vidya Sethuraman 
India Post News Service

Many other people in our country besides those in Washington have the power to make our world a better place to live or give them the resources to thrive. Because of this, local elections are beyond important. Studies show, when voters worry the ballots will be too complicated, they tend not to vote. Our speakers on the EMS Oct 6 call explained how to fill in a rank-choice-voting ballot and overcome language barriers.

Even on a general level, however, local elections suffer in participation and understanding simply because of the lack of information offered to voters about when local elections occur, what decisions they impact, and just how crucial local offices are in the life of everyday citizens.  

Associate Professor of Political Science at SFSU and Researcher, Jason McDaniel addresses the importance of local elections as a “foundation for democracy” and a “pathway to racial-ethnic equity.” Whether it be, city, county, or state jurisdiction, local law supersedes federal law and can more accurately represent the community. San Francisco voters are disproportionately old and white and the city’s ranked-choice voting system can contribute to disparities, experts said at a briefing held by the group Ethnic Media Services this week. Younger voters, even those who are registered, are much less likely to participate in local elections.

Ranked-choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, is a process by which voters rank their preference of candidates, and the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated and their votes go to the candidates with the voter’s second or third choice. 
McDaniel’s research found that implementing ranked-choice voting decreases voter turnout and increases age and education disparities among voters.

Anni Chung, an advocate for voter and census participation, spoke about her work with elderly voters in the Asian-American community. “Many times, my seniors would come to me and say, ‘you know, I like to vote, and I understand the ballot measures, but I don’t really know if I should vote yes or no,” Chung said. She also noted that language accessibility has increased for voters in recent years, with most ballots being in multiple languages including Spanish, Mandarin, and Tagalog. She added that voter participation creates better representation for minority communities.

Voting is the best way to make sure your voice is heard when it comes to how your local government should operate.