Looking at the numbers in more detail: The 14% voter turnout is calculated using the registered voters from last year. Last year's election saw a surge in voters because of the contentious presidential race. So the number of registered voters for this election is artificially high.
Voter turn out is always higher in Presidential years because of the media coverage (and in the Governor elections). In a city race, you will not see candidates buying advertising on TV (too expensive); you don't see media providing much coverage of Minneapolis City elections (Minneapolis City population is less than 10% of the market for the major papers or TV). All this means that the race is much less visible to the general public(and this is even more true for a primary election). Low precincts: W2 P4 .78% -- U of M dorms and the "Frat row" account for more than 95%. Students are not back yet. Also, voting was unusually high in the Presidential election. W2 P 11 2.26% --almost the same, but does have some non-dorm housing in the Neighborhood between the 94 exit and Oak Street. W3 P1 2.14% --Dinkytown east of I 35--mostly student housing. Not sure about why 5-7 and 4-9 were low (5-7 includes the major re-development of the North side public housing area) High precincts: W2 P2 32.13%--the part of Seward south of Franklin, next to the river--just east of my house. (Just south of Cam Gordon's home. Cara Letofsky lives right in the center of the precinct.) > 2) W7 P2 29.55% > 3) W8 P7 28.81% > 4) W13 P6 27.39% > 5) W13 P7 26.76% On average, all of the high precincts are higher income areas (all bordering the river or a lake except 8-7) sheldon ............................... Sheldon Mains DFL and Labor Endorsed Candidate for Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees http://www.MainsForLibrary.org [EMAIL PROTECTED], 612/618-7149 Mains for Library Committee, 2718 24th St. E., Mpls 55406 "It is incredibly important to this country that we have people who run libraries that actually believe in reading books instead of burning them." Howard Dean > -----Original Message----- > From: Aaron Klemz > > Questions of overall turnout are interesting, but I'm > fascinated by the unevenness of turnout. So I went and did a > quick look see of the highest and lowest turnout > precincts: > > Lowest (by percentage): > 1) W2 P4 .78% > 2) W3 P1 2.14% > 3) W2 P11 2.26% > 4) W5 P7 5.12% > 5) W4 P9 5.14% > > Highest (by percentage) > 1) W2 P2 32.13% > 2) W7 P2 29.55% > 3) W8 P7 28.81% > 4) W13 P6 27.39% > 5) W13 P7 26.76% > > We talk about high and low turnout wards, but the > numbers tell a complicated story of wide precinct > level swings in turnout. In my home Ward 2 - the > highest turnout and two of the lowest are in the Ward. > > A shout out to my neighbors in my home precinct (W2 > P2) for leading the city in turnout. Any theories > about the outliers as to why they are so high or low? > Part of the problem I have in interpreting the results > is that I'm not as aware of the different precinct boundaries, but > those of you who live in these precincts might offer theories as to > why. > > aaron klemz > cooper > W2 P2 Voter > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Aaron Klemz, Minneapolis, Minnesota > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > REMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at > http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in > violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > before continuing it on the list. > > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic > Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: > mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
