A reminder that the stakes are high for March’s municipal elections
Excerpt: Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Wendy Sartory Link warned Wednesday that mysterious, official-sounding calls going to some voters in advance of the March 12 municipal elections may be an attempt at voter intimidation.
Link said she’s referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
A man’s voice on the automated robo-calls went to an unknown number of people Friday through Tuesday who had requested vote by mail ballots for the March 12 municipal elections.
Bottom Line: Well, that’s unfortunate if it’s it true that voter intimidation efforts are underway in advance of March’s municipal elections. Regardless it serves as a reminder of how important it is to inform and engage these local elections. Recently I broke out the latest average turnout for local only and special elections. It wasn’t pretty. We’re only averaging around 18% turnout for municipal only elections and a paltry 12% for special elections. But here’s the thing. Do you care about $3,458 annually? That’s what I calculated the average local tax burden to be annually in South Florida right now. These are the elections that decide how that money is being used and if your local taxes are heading higher or lower. Not to mention quality of life concerns you may have in your community.
Something tells me that more than 18% of people in South Florida care about $3.5k a year but many don’t even know what’s happening in their own town. If you’re not aware in March here are the elections taking place in South Florida:
Broward: 7 municipalities
Link to the elections: https://bit.ly/2U5uBgF
Palm Beach County: 16 municipalities
Link to the elections: https://bit.ly/2DWnBvv
Miami-Dade: 1 municipality
Link to the election(s): https://bit.ly/2SbvC4Z