Taylor Hill-Miles
Two weeks ago, if you had asked me, “What is a property appraiser?” I would have stared at you with a completely dumbfounded expression on my face. Currently, in my town, it is election season. No, not the Trump versus Biden debacle (that is a topic for another time), but the elections that are the most overlooked: the local elections, the property appraiser position being one of the many seats on the ballot. In these past two weeks, I have been involved in a political campaign for one of the candidates. By volunteering my time and efforts, I have learned so much about the act of campaigning, the political system, and exponentially increased my involvement in local politics. Thus, I have made some shocking revelations, observations, and conclusions; causing me to question the meaning of democracy as a whole.
Firstly, let me recap some information that you either may not know or might have forgotten from civics class. The United States government is separated into three levels: federal(country-wide), state, and local governments. While we often learn about components of the federal government, such as the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, we are rarely taught about these components at the state and local level. Did you know that each state has its own legislature? They commonly handle issues such as state budget and tax legislation. From there, the states are further broken down into counties, cities, boroughs, parishes, and municipalities to support the citizens at a district level. Some positions in the local government are mayor, sheriff, county commission, school board member, seats in the state/federal congress, and property appraiser. There is a single official “voting day,” however, early voting usually lasts about two weeks leading up to the big election day. On the news, most of the attention is focused on political activity at the federal level, however, it is often the people in power at the local level that will have the most direct impact in your lives. They are the people who decide how much your house or property is worth, how your schools run, the code of conduct within your jails, city-improvement projects, local support for those in need, and more. Therefore, local elections are EXTREMELY important, and this brings me to my first concern.
Some voters have NO IDEA what the candidates look like, or stand for. They end up just voting for the candidate whose name they saw the most. There may be a seat or two that they are passionate about, but then choose the other positions on the ballot at random. One of my roles as a member of a candidate’s campaign party was waving her sign and handing out pamphlets in front of a polling place (this may seem like gerrymandering, but EVERYONE does it. There is an arbitrary rule that states that we must be 100 feet from the polling place to keep it a “politics-free zone,” which is highly ineffective as 100 feet is a short distance and a different problem altogether). While I was holding up these signs, numerous cars stopped to ask me, “are you (name of candidate)?,” although I look nothing like her.
On top of this, local elections are simply based on just money and connections, like popularity contests, as in student government elections from high school. One of my candidate’s opponents had bought and attached posters with his face and name on pickup trucks as a driving advertisement. When those trucks are not driving around town, can you guess where they are parked? IN FRONT OF THE POLLING STATION! YOU CANNOT MISS IT! So every voter sees his face in the parking lot right before completing their ballot. Along with that, thousands of dollars are spent on yard signs, tv/media advertisements, t-shirts, literature, and social media or digital design. Campaigning is expensive, yet important. Like I said earlier, average uninformed voters choose the candidate whose name they saw the most. While these characteristics are commonplace in any competition, as the one with the money and popularity is likely to win, they are not the most concerning part of the local election process. This aspect is the voter turnout.
At the last primaries, approximately 25% of all eligible voters in Alachua County cast their vote. 25%! This year, halfway through early voting, only 11% of eligible voters had cast their votes. This leads us to the question, how can we increase voter turnout? Why is voter turnout so low? If the purpose of democracy was to allow everyone to have an opinion and input, then how is that purpose being fulfilled? One hundred years ago people fought for their right to vote, so why are we taking that for granted and not using it now? The good news about this new generation is that we are good at being social media activists, but how are we making tangible change in the world?
To whoever is reading this, if you live in the United States and are above the age of 18, then go pre-register, register, inform yourselves, and just VOTE. Every single election, whether you consider it big or small, is important, and there are more positions in government than just the president. Along with that, simply having a pretty sign does not make them a good fit for the job. So, research your candidates and know their platform, or what they stand for, and advise your parents, siblings, extended family, friends, and everyone you know to do the same. The legitimacy of our democracy is on the line.
If you are a United States citizen, click here to register to vote.
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