Local elections determine leadership and policies that directly impact the day-to-day lives of citizens. Local officials—from school boards and city councils to judges and county commissioners—make decisions on everything from zoning laws to policing strategies, as well as funding for schools, parks, libraries, and infrastructure projects. Despite the importance of local elections, these contests receive much less attention than national ones. Combined with a lack of accessible information about candidates and issues, this often leads to low turnout and a disengaged citizenry.
When you vote in local elections, your voice carries more weight than it does at the national level because you’re voting on local decisions that affect you and your community. For example, your elected leaders determine how to spend money allocated from your taxes. Voting is the best way to ensure that your hard-earned dollars are being spent wisely and that critical services like public safety, libraries, and roads get the funding they need to function.
Sadly, many of the cherished principles and ideals of local democracy are at a crisis point. Low voter turnout in off-cycle local elections results in a disproportionately small and unrepresentative pool of voters, and organized interest groups—most notably, teachers’ unions—are increasingly wielding outsize power over the direction of local government. As a result, local governments are becoming less and less likely to authentically reflect the democratic will of their constituents. This is why it’s so important that we all take a personal vested interest in local politics and voting.
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