The primary elections for city offices held September 9, 2003, were barely noticed by most New Yorkers. Significant only in the lack of attention they garnered, the primaries were one of the lowest turnout elections in recent memory. Although there were a couple of close races, in the end, no incumbents were defeated.
Although low turnout is considered by many to be an example of what is wrong with the voting process, it doesn't always have to be a sign of foreboding. Sometimes low turnout is an indication that the electorate is basically pleased with the ways things are, and doesn't feel an overwhelming need to make major changes.
And history would back up that theory. Heavy voter turnout tends to produce change: getting rid of an incumbent or putting a different party into power or changing the entire make-up of a legislative body. Conversely, low voter turnout can be expected to send incumbents back for another term, or reward prohibitive front-runners, or shore up the dominant political party structure.
Not always, of course. But usually.
So low turnout can be a sign that voters are satisfied, or at least not extremely disgruntled. But low turnout can also be an indication of an electorate that feels disconnected from the political process. If voters feel their vote isn't going to matter, or isn't going to count, or isn't going to be counted, this will understandably turn them off the idea of making the effort to get to the polls. And if they feel there is no difference between the various candidates running, and no real choices available to them, and no potential for change pending the outcome of the election, they will be further alienated from the process.
Whatever the reason for low voter turnout, it is far from the ideal. The basis for the efficacy and legitimacy of a representative democracy is the concept of consensus: of everyone's opinions and choices having been equally weighed and the majority, or at least the plurality, emerging.
In party primaries, there is a marked correlation between the increasingly low turnout and the declining influence of political parties themselves. It would be difficult to mark the causal connection: whether the low turnout led to the lessened influence of political parties, or the reverse, the weakened party structure is the reason for the lower turnout.
In either case, political party primaries have always been an insider's game: so-called "family business." The party faithful, those few who are heavily involved in party organization and activities, are the ones who consistently turn out and vote. The up side is that decisions about who will represent the party on the general election ballot are made by those who are well-informed about who is running, who are aware of what those candidates represent, and who are actively seeking an advocate for their concerns.
The down side is that this tends to produce two major candidates (if that; in many districts only one party manages to field a candidate at all) who are the respective choices of a tiny percentage of the voting age population, at either end of the political spectrum.
And the low turnout in this year's primary is especially significant as New Yorkers prepare to vote on a ballot question in November. In the matter of city elections, should the party primary system be abolished, and replaced with a non-partisan election? If the law was changed, and New York did go to a non-partisan election, the party primary would be replaced by an open election, and any registered voter would be eligible to vote for his or her choice, regardless of party enrollment or affiliation. The top two vote getters would then move on to the run-off, which would replace the general election.
Advocates of the proposed system argue that ending party primaries will increase voter turnout. And this is one possibility. It is also significant to note, however, that in an adversarial system, candidates tend to focus on persuading active voters, not engaging new ones. Most campaigns are not interested in increasing voter turnout overall, only in turning out their own known supporters.
And in a general election, the work of Get Out the Vote, or GOTV, has historically been a function of the party. It would be difficult to predict who would take on the expensive and exhausting task of coaxing and transporting millions of people to the polls on election day once the party system was no longer in effect.
Turnout on election day can be affected by any number of factors: the weather, traffic patterns, the overall political climate. And it is also significant that this year's party primary and the November general election are an exception to the regular election schedule. New York City had the same round of elections just two years ago, but instead of serving the normal four-year terms, city officials were elected to two-year terms in order to incorporate the latest census data.
But whatever factors may affect turnout, it remains, for now, largely predictable. Voting, while a choice, is also a behavior. Like many behaviors, it is not only purposeful, but habitual. And changing a habit, good or bad, is never easy.
Susan Reefer is a Republican pollster and media strategist. She is based in New York City.
There is a bill in Congress to prohibit the use of the word "French" by U.S. citizens - French fries would have to become freedom fries; French toast, freedom toast; French Canadians, Freedom Canadians. This at least is the claim of a satirical Web site linked to by Patriots On Parade, one of several Web sites put together by New York City high school students as part of the sixth annual Digital Day Camp, the brainchild of a non-profit organization that focuses on new media education, Eyebeam.
Each year, Digital Day Camp picks a theme; this year, it was civil disobedience. In particular, the program focused on alternative methods of disagreement and protest among many communities. This year's projects included a spoof on homeland security, Homelandschmecurity, which features a satirical cast of fictional super heroes like "Duct Tape Man," "Gas Mask Man," "Detention Center Man" and " Shoe Inspection Man"; Classism Stinks, which includes man-in-the-street interviews about sanitation issues, and photographs of garbage, with the goal of highlighting the difference in garbage problems between rich and poor neighborhoods; and Sweatcampwhich uses a comic approach to probe child labor and sweatshops.
At a time when the music industry is filing lawsuits against 12-year-olds for downloading songs from the Internet, it is refreshing to learn of an organization that channels teen online savvy into activism and political engagement.
Another form of engagement by a New York non-profit is the mighty MOUSE, which teaches technology skills to public school kids. Since 1997, MOUSE -- "Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education" - has created "MOUSE Squads," as they are known, in some three dozen New York City public high schools and middles schools, recruiting and training students to set up and run a technology "help desk" in their schools. The help desks provide tech support for about 22 hours a week.
Almost a third of Squad members are girls and almost three quarters of MOUSE Squad students are Latino, Asian and African American. MOUSE is particularly interested in promoting young women's interest in technology. In addition to the MOUSE Squads, there are 1,500 volunteer tech professionals who have worked a collective 40,000 hours to put 50,000 teachers and students online in the past year.
Some of MOUSE's recent projects include building a community technology center in Washington Heights and installing computers and a technical training program in 14 schools in Central Harlem. The organization also ran a city-wide online newspaper contest for teams of high school students, in partnership with Bell Atlantic, The NY Times, iXL and Small World Entertainment.
MOUSE has also helped the city save over $400,000 for 36. "In these difficult economic times," said Councilmember Gale Brewer, a champion of the program, " MOUSE Squads not only save the city money that it would otherwise have to spend on outside technical support, but the program also teaches critical jobs skills that are absolutely essential in this new economy."
There are many other worthy tech programs for youth:
Computers for Youth is an organization that aims to improve the educational, social and economic prospects for low-income students and their families by providing them with home computers and the skills to use them.
Change for Kids is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving children's education in New York City's most under-funded public schools.
Voluntech aims to promote the equitable distribution of technology by bringing together volunteer technology experts with non-profit organizations, schools, and community groups.
City Kids aims to engage and develop diverse young people to effect positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. Their programs include CyberLinks which exposes youth to emerging computer technology.
Persholas provides career skills and rigorous on-site training for future computer technicians.
Laura Forlano is a doctoral student studying communication technology policy at Columbia University.
New York City Council Stated Meeting Report
Every two weeks the New York City Council meets for its Stated Meeting to introduce and pass legislation. As a regular feature, Searchlight covers these meetings and posts a summary of the bills passed.
STATED MEETING - September 17, 2003
Meeting Summary:
The members of the New York City Council spent much of the summer campaigning for reelection - not drafting new legislation - and so the council had a simple agenda for its September 17 meeting.
The council only passed one new bill (Intro 555) approving a new taxi station in Queens for a company called "A Ride For All." The new car service will be the first to exclusively provide vehicles that accomodate passengers who use wheelchairs or scooters. The company will begin with only five vehicles, but if demand is high enough it could quickly expand to 50 cabs or more, according to Councilmember John Liu who chairs the transportation committee.
The council approved the station by a vote of 48 to 0, but Lower East Side Councilmember Margarita Lopez warned that it should not be seen as a sign that the Bloomberg administration was meeting the transportation needs of disabled New Yorkers.
"The administration has been sitting on a mandate to provide bay stations with [handicap] accessible cars," said Lopez. "This piece of legislation is good, but it is a decoy."
The council also approved five new appointments to city commissions. Under the city charter, the mayor and the council must agree on certain appointments and these are routinely done with little debate.
However, the appointment of Rudy Washington, a former deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration, to the New York City Civil Service Commission drew criticism from some council members. In 1994, Mayor Giuliani dismantled a program that steered government contracts to minority owned businesses and Washington, as the commissioner of the Department of Business Services, oversaw the policy changes. Washington also sparked controversy when he shut down street vendors on 125th Street in Harlem and Fulton Street in Brooklyn.
"His record was horrendous," said Councilmember Charles Barron. "I think when we appoint people to positions as important as dealing with labor and workers, we need people who are more friendly to workers and create jobs."
Other members - including Dennis Gallagher and Helen Sears - spoke highly of Washington. "I have never known him to perform his work as a Republican or a Democrat," said Sears. "He has performed his duties as a public servant."
Washington's appointment was approved by a vote of 46 to 2; Charles Barron and Bill Perkins voted "no."
Alice Olick and Aladar Gyimesi were also appointed to the New York City Tax Commission, and Belle Horwitz and Robert Carver were named to the Environmental Control Board.
The next Stated Meeting is scheduled for September 30.
For an archive of past meetings and council votes, visit Gotham Gazette's Searchlight.