Sound Stories. Sound Voices.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
You are on the KUOW archive site. Click here to go to our current site.
Elections

Is voter engagement going the way of bowling leagues?

A ballot drop box in Seattle
KUOW Photo/Liz Jones
A voter exercises their constitutional right. Vanishing breed?

The election results were just certified -- and voter turnout was a historically low 37.1%. That shatters the previous low... of 38.5%, in the 2015 election. We went to vote by mail in 2011 to increase turnout. What gives? To find out, Bill Radke spoke with Christopher Mann, associate political science professor at Skidmore. Tl;dr? As its voting rate declines, Washington has lots of company across established democracies. Mann also mentions local media as one potential way to stop the slide.

Year started with KUOW: 1985 – 1986, 1991 – 2004, 2012