There are only 13 days left until this year’s Election Day, Nov. 3, when Wake Forest voters will be selecting three of the six people who, of all elected officials, have the most immediate impact on their lives. Think zoning, garbage and recycling collection, police protection, fire protection, and streets.
In past town elections the turnout has been so anemic it could not be characterized as puny. Perhaps pathetic might be more accurate. Barry Saunders recently floated an idea, after the recent Raleigh city elections, that unless 50 percent of eligible voters went to the polls the incumbents should be retained in office until a new election with 50 percent or more of voters.
In Wake Forest, it would work like this. There are 22,644 voters inside town limits where the total population is about 38,000. Fifty percent would mean 11,322 voters, men and women, would have to vote Nov. 3. Instead, recent elections have seen turnouts of 11 and 13 percent. Thirteen percent would mean 2,944 voters would determine the next three commissioners. If you trust your neighbors’ judgment more than your own, you will probably skip the election. The editor, who admits to a cynical side, is betting that she is right in predicting a turnout of 12 percent. That might be high.
Find voter statistics by going to www.wakegov.com, clicking on Board of Elections and on the first page going to the far right to click on Data & Reports. Scroll to Voter Registration Statistics and chose Municipal. That is a spreadsheet for all the county’s towns: scroll down to Wake Forest.
You will see that of the 22,644 voters, 6,743 are Democrats, 8,498 are Republicans, 7,273 are unaffiliated, and 130 are Libertarian. Women outnumber men, 11,956 to 10,286. There is more information in the spreadsheet.
