By Wayne Laepple
Seven in 10 registered voters in Montour, Snyder and Union counties did not participate in general elections in 2001 and 2005.
Northumberland County was slightly lower, with six in 10 avoiding the polls.
Every four years, a general election is held in which Pennsylvanians do not cast ballots for a president, a U.S. representative or senator, a state representative or senator, a governor or county commissioners.
An election of that type was held in 2001. And in 2005.
And come Tuesday, in 2009.
Call it the odd-year, off-year election — as contrasted with an odd-year, on-year election, in which, at least, county commissioner races are held.
“There just isn’t any enthusiasm in nonpresidential years,” said Susan Travis, president of the League of Women Voters of Lewisburg.
An average of 68 percent of registered Valley voters went to the polls during last November’s presidential race.
Compare that with 2005, an odd-year, off-year election, in which only 13 percent of registered voters in Montour County cast ballots.
“People just don’t recognize the importance to their local area,” Travis said. “Local elections have a greater impact (than national contests) on their lives, but people just don’t recognize it.”
Making matters worse Tuesday is the dearth of contested races for school boards and municipal offices in the Valley. Some races have no candidates at all.
Unfortunately, Travis said with a sigh, there are no easy solutions.
“In some (countries), voting is required,” she said, “and people take it very seriously. In the U.S., people think of it as a matter of freedom, their freedom to choose. ‘I have the freedom, and I choose not to vote.’”
The National League of Women Voters has championed voter registration drives and encourages its members to get citizens to the polls.
“But,” Travis said, “it doesn’t seem to move people.”
Neither does the League of Women Voters of Lewisburg’s workshops to help those who want to run for office.
“People who come say it helps them, but they aren’t beating down the doors,” she said.
People don’t have a sense of civic conscience to move them to public service, Travis said.
“They just don’t seem to understand they can have an impact and change policy,” she said.
Come Tuesday in the Valley, just one candidate appears for a seat on a school board or a borough council in many races. And there are far too many blanks on the ballot that indicate no one is running for a seat, Travis said.
Candidates who depend on “supervoters” always benefit from low voter turnout, according to John Meckley, former Northumberland County Republican leader.
“Supervoters vote no matter what,” he said. “A candidate who counts on them will always get their votes.”
When people say they don’t participate because their vote doesn’t count, their belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, Meckley said.
“No matter what party you belong to, the system only works when people turn out to vote,” he said.
Tom Spangler, chairman of the Snyder County Democratic Party, said he’s been trying to rally Democrats to turn out to vote for Jack Panella, the Democratic candidate for state Supreme Court.
“Unfortunately, the turnout is going to be light,” Spangler said. “That race is important, though.”
Bette Krum, of Danville, president of the Montour County League of Voters, said a candidates’ night in Danville last week would have ended early if it hadn’t been for the mayoral race in town.
“If we had depended on the county treasurer’s race, we’d have gone home at 7:30,” she said of the event that began at 7.
There were very few questions for the treasurer candidates, even though the responsibilities are many.
“They take care of all the county’s money,” Krum said. “They have 47 separate accounts they have to keep track of.”
However, it is the mayoral race that may lure Danville residents to the polls.
It will be a close one, Krum said of the battle between 12-year incumbent Ed Coleman and Bernie Swank, a former mayor who later held a Montour County commissioner seat.
“It will be a toss-up,” Krum said. “Everyone knows both of them. They’re both in business in Danville, both are very civic-minded and involved in the community.”
People seem uninterested this year, Krum said.
“Last year was so important and it produced a remarkable turnout,” she said of Montour County, which saw 64 percent of its registered voters at the polls. “This time there’s no presidential election, no governor. It’s just kind of local. People become lethargic.”
Travis, of the Lewisburg League of Women Voters, agrees.
“We’ve tried voter registration drives and letters to the editor to inspire people to vote,” she said. “This election doesn’t seem to move people.”
-- E-mail comments to wlaepple@dailyitem.com
