Do you suppose Rochester voters will do their civic duty and show up at the polls on November 5?

Participation in city elections has been low for years, but I was astonished at the dismal turnout in the September primary. The people who have fessed up about not voting say they figured Tom Richards would win the mayoral race handily, so they didn’t need to vote. This is profoundly troubling, on two levels:

First, they see a responsibility to vote only in close elections – only if they’re afraid their candidate is going to lose. Second, they see no responsibility whatsoever to vote for school board and City Council.

I’m simply speechless.

Let me say right here that this isn’t another plea for people to support the candidates this newspaper has endorsed. We’ve had our say. But for Pete’s sake: the city – its residents, its services, its schools – face enormous challenges. All of us have to be involved in meeting those challenges, and that includes voting. And on Primary Day last month, most Rochester Democrats stayed home.

Here’s the problem with that:

Voter registration in Rochester is so heavily Democratic that Democratic primary winners are virtual shoo-ins in November. Only registered Democrats can vote in the primary, though. Which means that Republican, Conservative, Working Families, Independence, and Green Party voters, plus more than 19,000 people who don’t want to be affiliated with any party at all – in total, 36 percent of the city’s registered voters – are pretty much shut out of the democratic process.

The Republican Party has mostly stopped fielding city candidates. Third parties are trying to break through, but they’re heavily outspent and outmanned. The political system is literally rigged against them.

So Democrats select the mayor, the members of City Council, and the members of the school board.

And most Democrats don’t care enough to vote.

The mayoral primary in September featured two candidates who differ dramatically in how they think the city should be run, and who will take us down very different paths. The five City Council incumbents had four challengers. Ten people ran for the three open school board seats. And around 23 percent of registered Democrats cast votes in that election. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats in the city simply couldn’t be bothered.

So here’s my lecture: People in numerous other countries would give anything to be able to vote for the officials who run their governments and their schools. People – in this country and in others – have died pushing for the right to vote. At this very moment, the right to vote is under attack in some parts of this country.

And Democrats in Rochester are too blasé to vote.

So thanks to the 15,000 or so Dems who did turn out on Primary Day. And thanks to Lovely Warren and her impressive campaign supporters, who have been wearing themselves out to elect her.

Thanks to the Greens’ Alex White and all the other candidates who are challenging the Democrats for whom a veritable handful of people voted in September.

And thanks to Tom Richards (who was pulled out of retirement into public service and then, despite the trauma of having a desperately ill son, agreed to seek re-election in that primary).

The rest of us owe all these folks (and yes, all the Democrats on the ballot, too) the respect they’re due. We owe them our presence at the polls on Election Day.

And here’s the thing: Given this city’s challenges, it is a very risky thing to have relatively few voters choosing the people who guide its future. Rochester will be far better off if the people in charge – the mayor, the members of Council, the members of the school board – know that all of us care about what they’re doing. And that more than a handful of us have placed our trust in them.

This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2013.

Mary Anna Towler is a transplant from the Southern Appalachians and is editor, co-publisher, and co-founder of City. She is happy to have converted a shy but opinionated childhood into an adult job. She...

9 replies on “How much do we really care about democracy?”

  1. Though voting is important, I detect a hint of sour grapes in that people didn’t come out to vote for the “right” candidate, ie. Tom Richards. But I agree with the sentiment of voting. However after that, we all need to be quiet. This is a representative democracy, not the Athenian Assembly. Our opinion is irrelevant until the next election.

  2. This will probably be censored, as so much of the real conversation about the mayor’s race:

    A hint of sour grapes?

    The proportion of Rochester voters has gone largely unchanged–the population is declining, so too then, are absolute votes. Warren won the primary by the largest margin IN HISTORY– a history that you deem insignificant, apparently. I know for a fact that Warren’s camp did a ton of voter reg work. How much do you think Richards did? ZERO, because it wasn’t in their interest to register voters.

    Where is your outrage about the TurnOUt’s unethical campaign practices: their lack of disclosure, the misleading information, not to mention THEIR LACK OF CANDIDATE? And where was your outrage when Duffy defeated Norwood by less than 2,000 votes?

    It should be noted that your outrage over voter turnout lines up perfectly with the messaging of the TurnOutForTom crew, Rochester’s own Tea Party. CityNews has become their echo chamber, their very own FOX news.

    I thought City was the paper for the voiceless, willing to take tough policy stands for the people. You’ve become a mouthpiece of the establishment.. PERIOD.

  3. In the end Tom Richards is just playing games with the voters and the people trying to revive his campaign. He endorsed Warren and yet will not stop the last minute efforts to get him elected. Any respect I had for Richards is now gone.

    Richards is just adding to the confusion and offers another reason why people are turning away from voting.

  5. We can all agree that more people should vote. If for no other reason than that smaller turn outs tend to favor the fringe elements of the political parties.

    As to the rest of Ms. Towler’s lecture…

    Along with the right to vote comes the right to enroll in the party (or no party) of our choice. If this results in an overwhelming number of citizens being enrolled in the same party in a given area, so what? No one is shut out of the democratic process UNLESS their party-of-choice refuses to field a candidate. That there are no Republican or Conservative candidates for mayor or city council is the fault of each party’s leaders, NOT the process. The Greens haven’t a prayer of winning, but that hasn’t stopped them from running. That the Republicans and Conservatives consistently refuse to put forward candidates while consistently whining about the way the city is run speaks loudly about their lack of respect for their party members in Rochester, their lack of faith in the efficacy of their message, and speaks even louder about the fact that they’d rather complain then do anything to fix what they claim are the city’s problems.

    And, at the risk of being called unpatriotic, the fact is that the oft-repeated statements about those who fought and died for OUR right to vote ignore the fact that most of those who died did so for THEIR right to vote. Namely the right of white males over 21. As to the rest of America’s potential voters, women did not gain the vote nationally until 1920. And blacks, despite the passage of the XVth. Amendment in 1870, realistically did not receive the permanent right to vote until the passage of the XXIVth. Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And those between 18 and 21 did not receive the right to vote until 1971.

  6. Today’s Turn Out for Tom Mailer was highly offensive. I guess desperate people can do those kinds of things.

  7. It just stuck me today what happened. While the democrats voted for Lovely, the republicans can’t vote in the primary. Apparently it is the republicans that support Richards.

  8. Rochester’ mayoral election: the city is ready to move on from Tom Richards while welcoming its new mayor Lovely Warren

    Last September, the primary voters of the Democratic Party elected Lovely Warren over the incumbent mayor Tom Richards; and yet, the sitting mayor was the candidate of the establishment. The election results left most people in shock, because no credible political analyst or statistical polls couldn’t predict the debacle of Richards ‘campaign. However, the supporters of Lovely, known as the ‘’Believers’’, were convinced and expected the positive outcome of their efforts. Now, after the party backed the winner of the primary election and Richards, graciously and with humility, withdrew his campaign and announced his support to his former competitor; still few Richards’s fervent supporters are working hard to put him back into office by using the back-door means through the Independence and Working Family lines. They believe their defeat came from the low turnout of their voters- i.e. the white electorate- and the ‘’ cynical tactic’’ attributed to Lovely campaign which is, allegedly, based on racial divide. Ironically, they are using the same tool which they formerly criticize their opponent of making use of.
    In fact, Liz Serling wrote an article: ‘’Tom Richards is who the times, and Rochester, need’’ in which she said ‘’and I really hope Lovely Warren continues to advocates a different type of voice about the tale of our two cities, because she is educated serious and passionate about our community’’. It is clear, this statement intent to discredit Lovely and to depict her as a divider of our communities. In doing so, one may think, the Richards supporters are engaging in the same strategy they are accusing their opponent of. Thus, this is a loaded concept that signals to the white communities of Rochester that, it is acceptable to reject Lovely Warren and reinstate their candidate in office. With her article, Liz is suggesting that Lovely Warren should stop telling the truth about the situation of our beloved city and find something else to talk about. I believe’’ the tale of our two cities’’ is based on the facts. Although, this reality doesn’t fall on Richards administration alone, because the situation has been there way before Richards became the Mayor. In addition I found misguided to ask Lovely Warren to bury the truth about the gap that exists between our different communities. How can you fix something broken, if you are ignoring the reality of it- to begin with?
    Now, what is clear is that, Richards’ friends are playing ‘’kitchen sink’’ politics, by throwing everything and anything on Lovely’ campaign. At first, they question her qualifications and skills; but it did not work well for them because her long experience as a public servant (city council member and president) shows she is more qualified than Richards at the time he became Mayor about three years ago. Then, they came up with Lovely Warren will not be an independent mayor. A well -connected friend of mine told me that ‘’those people cannot stand David Gantt and that is the main reason, they are doing this’’. However, they should remember Lovely is an independent individual, ‘’educated, serious and passionate about our community’’, if you want to believe Liz Serling’ words! Thus, you get to believe Lovely when she says ‘’I am an independent thinker. I have a Bachelor’ degree in Government, and I have a law degree. All those things I have earned on my own right and I stand on my own two feet’’. Finally, they are coming back to the accusation of racial divide. It’s a scare tactic intended to deny Lovely the majority of the’ ’white vote’’. However, their plight becomes a lost cause.
    In fact, I can assure you the call that Lovely Warren made has been already heard and answered, there is no going back. When she said ‘’ no one can look at this seat and look at the city and do it by themselves. It has to be all hands on deck’’, all the citizens of this city nodded their heads and said we support you and we are with you to overcome the challenges of our communities. As a volunteer with Lovely campaign, I can report to you about my experience acquired on the ground. For months, now, I have seen during my many walks door to door or working on the phone, there is a great interest of our communities in Lovely campaign and her agenda for this city. If you visit her campaign headquarters situated at the different locations you would find crowds of fine men and women from the white community working tirelessly for the success of her campaign. Believe me, none of them is what you may consider as ‘’crazy white liberal, do gooder’’. You also would see small business owners stopping by to express their support with cakes and candies as treats for the volunteers. These people are supporting Lovely because they know she is one of those few politicians who speaks her mind. They like the fact that she is telling it like it is. Who wouldn’t like to hear the truth out of the mouth of a politician these days? They are supporting Lovely because they believe in her agenda on the education of our children, safety of our streets and economic development of our city. Finally, they are supporting her because they know, she will use a great sense of pragmatism to solve this city issues.
    Amusingly, I red in different papers some ‘assertions’ from friends of Richards that, the revival of his campaign is worrying Lovely’ camp, however what they don’t realize is that, from the day they made public their intention, the volunteers became more excited and motivated than ever before. I also noticed the citizens of Rochester show more interest in Lovely campaign because they felt unfairness from the Richards ‘friends deeds. At the end their attempt became a vehicle of motivation and source of energy for Lovely people. Finally, I can say Rochester is ready to thank Tom Richards for his service (God bless him and his family) but our communities are moving on and are welcoming our next mayor: Lovely Warren.
    I am convinced that everyone will get out and vote, to do his/her part in supporting Lovely because no one would want to miss the boat that will make history- which is electing our next first female mayor. I can say I am proud of being part of it.

    Hammel Barry

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