According to the United States Census Bureau, there are 85,929 people over age 18 that live in Miami County. And of those people, 78,313 are registered voters. While not all 85,000 of those individuals that are over 18 may be eligible to vote, these numbers mean that at least 91% of all eligible voters are actually registered here in Miami County.
These numbers are better than the State of Ohio, as a whole. The latest data from 2020, showed that there were 9,203,569 people over age 18 (again not all legally able to register), there were 8.073,839 votes cast in 2020 — more than 88% of all eligible voter in Ohio are registered.
And while having those numbers increase would certainly add to the civic capacity of our state and county, registering to vote is simply just one part of the puzzle. The most important piece of the puzzle is actually turning out to vote. And with this being a Presidential election year, most people will turn out to vote over the next few weeks.
In Miami County, Presidential election turnout has been strong. In the 2008, 2012 and 2016 election cycles, voter participation bounced around from 72% to 74%. In 2020, voter turnout was 77%, a high watermark over the past few election cycles.
And while this data, might be interesting, these numbers don’t show why voting is important — and that is the story I wanted to tell.
Every campaign for public office, from your local city council member to President of the United States, is trying to get you to cast your vote for them. Untold millions of dollars are spent to encourage you to show up at a polling station and cast a vote. And in that effort, campaigns pour over voter data put out through Boards of Elections and Secretaries of State offices throughout the country. Each person who casts a ballot, has the fact that they voted recorded, and that information becomes part of a larger dataset that becomes the life-blood of every campaign effort.
Campaigns have learned that when it comes to voting, past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. Smart campaigns aren’t going to spend their times recruiting new voters to vote for them; rather, they are going to look for individuals that have a history of voting and have actually taken the time to cast a ballot in the past. If you are one of those individuals that have a consistent behavior of voting in every election — your mailbox will be filled with flyers, letters and postcards asking for your vote.
And once these candidates are in office, many of them also look at this data to determine how much effort and energy to give to certain issues. When faced with spending time with an individual with a history of voting against an individual who does not have a history of voting, elected officials will opt to spend time with those that actually vote. Elected officials will still listen to those that don’t vote, but will certainly give more credence to those that actually cast ballots.
This is important because your vote becomes the most important way you can voice your ideas and insights in how your community, your state and even your country is led and managed. And it’s not only important now, but into the future. A long and consistent history of voting, gives a voter a certain credence and credibility to their voice.
Candidates know that individuals that consistently vote are worth engaging. Voters need to know that their behavior makes them attractive to candidates, and they often have the ears of these candidates to bring up issues that are important to them.
Voting is an important right in our democracy, on all levels - federal, state and local. By consistently voting on all elections, you are exercising your civic capacity to let candidates know you are an active member of your community, and you are willing to use your voice to make your nation, state and hometown stronger!
Here in Ohio, the deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 7th with early voting starting at local Boards of Elections on Tuesday, October 8th. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th.
What Do You Think?
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