All Elections Are Important

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill famously declared that “all politics is local”. You can take such a statement in a variety of ways, but there are some profound truths hidden in there. Like it or not, elections are critically important to our everyday life.

The 2013 General Election is on Tuesday, November 5, and voter turnout is expected to be extremely low. If not for the usual crop of campaign signs littering landscapes everywhere, most people may not even know which offices are up for election.

All federal offices, such as President, Senate and members of Congress run in even-numbered years, along with statewide offices like Governor and the State Legislature. In the odd-numbered years, local offices such as borough council, township supervisor, school board director, along with countywide row officers and judges are elected.

One of the major problems impacting local elections is a lack of competent and qualified election officers, the people who work in the polling places to ensure elections are carried our fairly. A common complaint I hear from these workers is that many aren’t even paid minimum wage for their work, which entails thirteen-hour days twice per year. It’s a fair and valid concern; if we can spend ungodly amounts of money on campaigns, is it unreasonable for the people actually conducting elections to ask for compensation of at least the minimum wage?

I recently introduced HB 1777, which would increase the salaries of election officers to a range of $15 to $17 per hour. This is a modest but fair increase over the current system, which allows workers in small rural precincts to receive less than the minimum wage. If we want fair and honest elections, we need to make sure we have enough competent and qualified people running them.

The counties are responsible for paying election workers, and the cost would be minimal since they’re only being paid two days per year. Getting enough people to do this work is a real problem. Earlier this year, voters in Washington County showed up to vote at a polling location with no workers and were unable to cast their ballots. With many elections being decided by razor thin margins, this is unacceptable.

Increasing election officer compensation would actually save the counties money. Ask any county that has been through a recount or a legal challenge how expensive the process can be. If counties can’t adequately staff polling places to allow people to vote, they’re begging for a very expensive legal nightmare in a close election. It’s responsible, it’s affordable and it protects the integrity of the democratic process.

As for the November 5 election, most people don’t seem to care a whole lot about local elections unless they personally know the candidate. That isn’t just my opinion; the voter turnout numbers speak for themselves. It’s really unfortunate, because so many of these races have a far greater impact than most people may imagine. It matters who your township supervisors or borough council members are. It matters who is on your local school board. It really, really, matters.

Decisions are made by those that show up. Ask questions, demand answers and go vote on November 5. Now more than ever, it really matters.