With the 2018 primary election now in the history books, much has been written and said about the voter turnout in Hamilton County. The local election office says the turnout was just under 19% of the county’s registered voters. No solid numbers are available on how many eligible voters simply fail to register.
If measured as a percentage of eligible voters that voted in the local 2018 primary election, we have no solid figures. However, if you extrapolate national percentages locally, the percentage of eligible voters choosing to cast a ballot would be well into a single digit percentage.
Why do so few people choose to vote in a primary election? There are many theories, but I have one. It has to do political party identification.
Primary elections are essentially events for the two major political parties in America, Democrats and Republicans. The major parties use primary elections to choose their candidates to place on the ballot for the general election in November.
A major reason so few residents vote in primary elections is the lack of identification citizens have with either major political party. There is polling data to prove this on the national level.
The Gallup organization asked voters nationally this question: In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent? Gallup has been asking this question of the American public since 2004.
In the most recent poll asking that question, taken April 2-11 of this year, 24% identified as Republican, 29% Democrat and 45% Independent. A clear plurality said they are political independents, not affiliated with either major political party.
I am guessing Hamilton County is not far off those national figures. That would indicate low turnout in the primary election illustrates a lack of interest in either major political party.
Both political parties know they must attract independent voters to win any election. It will be a major challenge for Republicans & Democrats to appeal to the independent voter.
Since people clearly identifying with one of the major parties tend to vote in primary elections, both parties must guard against nominating candidates in their primary election process that would alienate the independent voter. But the primary system inherently tends to do just that in many instances.
Some states have open primaries. Others have a runoff system where you have a first round of elections in place of the primary, and the two top voter-getters face-off in the general election (assuming no one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote). That can lead to some odd situations, where two candidates from the same political party end up running against each other in the general election.
As long as a large portion of the electorate chooses not to identify with either major political party, primary elections will see low turnout numbers. Is it time for Indiana to look at options other than the current primary system?
