There are approximately 40,000 students on the UW-Madison campus. In Tuesday’s primary election, however, only 399 people voted in wards that contain students.
This apathetic attitude seems to plague college campuses where campaigns to get students to vote are prevalent and practiced to no avail.
Although there was a lack of student voting, there was also a lack of voters in general.
Tuesday’s elections drew zero voters from the towns of Middleton, Westport and Burke. Some districts in Madison also drew zero votes.
City primaries took place across the state yesterday. In Winnebago County only one person voted while 3 poll workers were paid $100 each to read books and play games all day.
Although this was only a city primary and superintendent election, it reflects the overall lack of participation in elections not just by students, but by the whole country.
This apathetic attitude has been a problem for the United States throughout history. In the 2000 presidential election, only 51 percent of the voting-age population voted, an increase from the 1996 election in which 49 percent voted.
The presidential election is the biggest election in the country. Everyone–or hopefully everyone–is aware of that election, yet it still draws only half of the voting population.
Congressional elections have a lower profile than presidential elections but are as important, if not more so. The goal of Congressional leaders is to represent constituents from their state, but very few constituents actually vote.
In the 1998 Congressional election 36.4 percent of the voting-age population voted, down from 1994 when 38.78 percent voted. The 2000 election may have drawn even less than the 1998 election, according to the Center for Voting and Democracy.
Voter apathy occurs in all states, cities and counties in America. The highest percentage of those voting in Wisconsin falls short of the 70 percent turnout in Minnesota. The lowest turnout in Wisconsin is slightly greater than the 40 percent of Hawaii.
Wisconsin falls somewhere in the middle with 66.1 percent of the voting age population going to the polls. This balances out to about half of the entire voting-age population electing the highest office in the government.
It is all the offices that do not carry as much prestige as that of president that are worrisome. Although Tuesday’s election was only a primary, it is indicative of a trend in voter apathy. If people don’t vote for the government officials that most closely affect them, such as city and state officials, is the electoral system working?
MTV’s “Rock the Vote” campaign encourages young people to vote in order to have influence over what adults are doing in the government–but maybe students and young adults aren’t the entire problem.
Tuesday’s election proved neither students nor adults vote. Three towns had no one vote at all and an entire county had only one voter.
Hopefully the apathy stems solely from the fact the election was a primary, but even primary elections matter. In fact, the trend shows that apathy exists for even the most important elections.
Students make up a large part of Madison’s population but adults can make a difference as well. Voter apathy is prevalent everywhere–it is just more recognized on college campuses.
