Presidential vs County Voter Turnout

As we saw in the last presidential election of 2020, voting numbers showed the highest turn out for any election in the 21st century with 66.8% of eligible voters casting their ballots. Though these high turn out rates may be setting a precedent for future presidential elections, will local elections get the same attention from voters?

Local elections are neglected by the American people though it is these elections that end up affecting us directly from our local schools to transportation. The 2020 election showed the country how important each individual vote was but the county’s voter turnouts still remain low without the recognition they deserve. 

With local elections for the Town of Huntington having just passed a number of days ago, bringing this issue to the forefront of Harborfields student’s minds is an important step in getting them involved in their community. With multiple government classes offered at Harborfields, some of the teachers have chosen to recognize local elections in a variety of lessons and projects.

This acknowledgement of local elections has gotten students' brains focused on getting to the polls and voting, but which do they view more important: the presidential election or local elections?

When asked this question, Gaby Garcia, a senior at HF said, “I think both elections are equally important but I do think that local elections are more pivotal when it comes to the effect on people at home.”

Senior Marina Bergin believes “Presidential elections are (more important), because they kind of set the trend for local elections and sway the peoples opinions in a way.”

While these students' opinions differ on which election they believe is more important, they don't disagree on the fact that the local elections voter turnouts are a direct effect of the pressure, and unnecessary importance placed solely on presidential elections while local elections are left in the dust.