Logan election turnout predicted low
City elections will take place Tuesday, Nov. 8, and if the primaries are any indicator, voter turnout could be lower than 10 percent.
Voter turnout for primary elections was just above 6 percent, according to Logan City’s official website. According to a USU political science professor, students could be under-represented in those numbers.
“There is a much lower turnout rate for younger people,” said associate Professor Michael Lyons, who currently serves as political science interim department head. In the 2010 election turnout among voters aged 18-24 was 12 percent, he said.
While there is no data to confirm it, it’s safe to assume students will not vote in local elections, Lyons said.
“Students tend to be more apathetic about these things, they put them off for when they are older or less busy,” Kirsten Frank, USU executive vice president, said.
While students are at college, Frank said they are less concerned about politics in their college town because they are only there part of the time. She said the politics at home are more important to students.
“Students live away from their parents’ homes,” Lyons said. “A lot of them would have registered to vote near their parents home.”
Using her own experience as an example, Frank said, “I am registered to vote in Utah County, and I vote in Utah County even though I’ve lived here for 4 years.”
Jared Honda, a senior majoring in history and political science, said he has a personal stake in elections at home.
“I’m from Ohio, and I keep up with politics and issues in my home community of Mason, despite the fact that I’m not eligible to vote there,” Honda said. “My family still lives there, as well as my younger siblings, so the outcome of things like school funding levies, tax hikes, zoning ordinances and the like all have an impact on them, and by extension, me.”
Lyons said there is a range of reasons some students don’t get politically involved. One of which is the political and ideological diversity among USU students.
“The student body does not share that much in common,” he said, referring to demographics such as liberal vs. conservative students and the a high number of married or otherwise non-traditional students.
He said a lot of universities have a student body that is generally liberal and therefore more uniformly focused on similar issues. He said USU’s diverse student body makes political involvement more of a challenge.
Lyons said some issues matter to one group, while another group may not care one way or the other.
“Many students are unhappy with overzealous traffic and parking enforcement, but these are not issues that people are that passionate about,” Lyons said.
Another reason for a lack of student involvement is the fact students feel those in office do not reach out to them, Frank said.There is a stigma that students don’t care, she said, which leads to politicians focusing their efforts on other groups who are more consistently involved.
“The city council is constantly doing things that affect the university,” Frank said.
“These are real issues that affect them,” Lyons said. “These things concern permanent residents more than students, but they do affect students.”
Frank said the tax on food purchases that goes to the Cache Valley Transit District is an example of how local politics can impact students.
“The city of Logan could do more to accommodate the needs of students,” Lyons said. “If students were more involved, city officials would be more likely to concern themselves with students interests. Students have real concerns. The dots are there — students aren’t connecting them, but there are good reasons they are not connecting them.”
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