On Nothing Much
|
Alexandria City Hall and Market Square
|
Ruminations On A City Election One doesn’t normally think about elections in the month of May, but befitting a commonwealth that traces its electoral roots to the founding of the House of Burgesses in 1619 nearly 400 years ago, Virginians like to hold elections every few months. Or so it seems. Alexandria held elections for mayor, the city council, and the school board last week, and much is being made of the fact that voters in one of the more liberal parts of the country (72% voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential elections) elected two Republican-backed candidates and returned the city’s governing body to bi-partisan control for the first time since 2003. Far more interesting to me than who the victors are is who chose them. Alexandria has approximately 140,000 residents, and 93,871 or 67% of us are registered voters. In last week’s election, only 14,410 or 15% of those eligible voters chose to vote. In election precinct 101, where Watergate of Alexandria is located, the voter turn-out was slightly higher at 17%. That’s 418 of 2,425 registered voters. The city’s incumbent mayor, Bill Euille, ran unopposed for re- election. Of those voting, 70% supported him, 6% wrote-in someone else’s name, and 24% opted to leave that part of the ballot blank. In the city council election, only 667 votes (less than 5% of the total number cast) separated the top vote-getter, former mayor and future vice mayor Kerry Donley, and the sixth and last person to win election, newcomer Alicia Hughes. Just 171 votes (slightly more than 1% of the total number cast) divided Ms. Hughes from the losing candidate with the next highest vote. In precinct 101, Ms. Hughes received 221 votes, current vice mayor Del Pepper received 220 votes, incumbent councilman Paul Smedberg received 207 votes, current councilman Rob Krupricka and councilman-elect Frank Fannon each received 204 votes, and Mr. Donley received 202 votes. That’s a mere difference of 19 votes from most to least. Close elections are no longer unusual. In the still contested U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, professional comic Al Franken leads comic politician Norm Coleman by 312 of the 2.9 million votes cast. That’s one-tenth of one-percent of all votes. Well within the human margin of error. Whichever way the judges decide the election, I bet some non-voters now wish they had voted. I find all this interesting because the few who care enough to get on the bus are often the ones who decide where the bus goes. Same all over. And Watergate’s next Board election to fill two of five seats will be held in four months. Giddyup and grab a map, the bus is about to leave the depot. Brian
Lam On Nothing Much is a periodic feature of this website that considers life about us. I wish to thank those of you who are reading these postings and sending me notes of encouragement, gentle criticism, or otherwise.
|
