The Presidential Election is now over and I figured I would look at the results via polling place and turn out. The DeKalb Votes website is pretty limited as far as usual information therefore I went to the Secretary of State Election result site and got votes tallied but no turnout information. Based on party line for the Presidential election, the City of Dunwoody leans about 60% Democratic and 40% Republican with fluctuations up or down in precincts (probably based on demographics, economics, home ownership vs rental, etc?).
I have no good information on turnout for this election as I do not have the current number of registered voters within the city limits, but I do have past election information and will use that as a baseline. In last Novembers Mayoral and City Council Election where there was also a $60 Million dollar bond referendum on the ballot, we had almost 31,000 registered voters in the City and the turn out was at 8,500 votes or 28% percent of the electorate. With four council seats (Mayor and three at large seats) and a huge bond referendum; you would have thought the turnout would have been higher, but it wasn't.
This Presidential election with us being a "swing state" the voting tally was much higher with 25,000 votes cast in the City and if the number of registered voters jumped to 32,000, the voting percentage for this presidential election would be close to 80%; which is huge. Looking back at the presidential election results of 2020 & 2016 the turnout percentages are comparable.
The next City Council election is a year away, it is the three City Council District representatives whereby you are only going to the polls to vote for your one district representative. These seats are currently being held by Catherine Lautenbacher, District 1 (West Side of Dunwoody), Rob Price, District 2 (Center of Dunwoody) and Tom Lambert, District 3 (East Side of Dunwoody). In the 2021 District Representative Election, the voter turnout was lucky to hit 20% as I guess voters don't think this is an important election.
Unfortunately this couldn't be further from the truth as there are a total of 6 council members, 3 at large voted upon by the entire city, the 3 district representatives and the Mayor. As a weak Mayor, City Manager form of government; the Mayor votes on everything, has no veto power and therefore is basically an equal on the council. As it takes the approval of four council members to make any decision, these three representatives are equal to all the others but are only elected by their small slice of the city.
I guess the saying that "All Politics are Local" is still very true and the people of Dunwoody voted their conscious in this Presidential election based on what and who they believed would be best for their family, the community and the future of our Nation. Believe it or not, next years City Council election will be the same (with less effect but still meaningful impacts); I just wish there were more voters being involved in the outcomes of our local elections.
Reminder - there will be Veteran's Day Ceremony at 10 am Monday at Brook Run Park and our regular City Council Meeting is moved to Tuesday as Monday is a holiday. I'll be reviewing the agenda and posting tomorrow.
Hi John, looking at the data you've collected, it would appear we are typical of the American electorate. Participation rates in most places are not high, though there is usually a bump when there is a presidential election. I have noted in my reading that states which conduct voting by mail tend to have higher participation rates. I don't know enough about it to say whether it would work, or even be accepted, in other states including Georgia.
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