We are still waiting for the full picture of what happened in this year's Primary Election, and likely will be for a few days. This is normal, and expected, in part due to the number of write-in campaigns by people who decided they wanted to run a bit too late into this year's election cycle to be able to get on the ballot.
What is clear, however, is that the turnout was low. Very low.
Preliminary data from the unofficial results -- certification won't be for a few weeks -- shows a total voter turnout of 23.57% in Clinton County, with 30.24% of the 6,131 registered Democrats and 25.80% of the 13,260 registered Republicans showing up at the polls (or mailing in their ballot).
Of course, due to Pennsylvania's closed primary system, our 2,988 registered Independents were unable to participate, which is its own topic.
This is a notable dip compared to the last comparable Primary Election -- 2021 -- which featured most of the same positions. In 2021, Clinton County saw a total turnout of 29.64% -- six percent higher -- with 31.73% of 7,317 Democrats and 32.81% of 11,808 Republicans showing up.
Everyone loves to complain -- in general, but about our local, state and federal governments' failings especially.
Voting is the system by which we, the citizens, can make changes to these systems and try to bring them more in line with our goals and values.
When only 20% of a population cares enough to take the easiest, most basic step towards making their world a better place, it paints a grim picture.
To be clear, we understand that it can be frustrating, and challenging, to take time out of your day -- for a massive array of reasons, many of which are, let's face it, valid.
But nobody is asking you to run for office. You aren't the candidate sitting in front of a polling place hoping for people to talk to -- people who will never show up.
Prospective candidates sacrifice far more trying to get their campaigns off the ground, in terms of time, money and energy, than the voter who has to take a few minutes out of their day once (or twice if you count the fall election).
For some local races, a threshold of 100 write-in votes is required for the candidate to appear on the fall ballot.
It turns out, this is an incredibly difficult bar to reach when turnout is this abysmally low.
Let's look at Lock Haven City Council, which has three open seats. There was only one candidate on the ballot for Democrats and only one candidate on the ballot for Republicans.
For Democrats, there were 407 total votes cast for this race. That means that Brenden Berthold, who had announced a write-in campaign on the Democratic side, would have needed to achieve a quarter of the overall vote. Whether he did or not remains to be seen: though 107 write-in votes were recorded on the Democratic ballot, it is not yet known if he reached the 100-vote threshold.
For school board races, there's an additional twist: candidates for these races can cross-file, allowing them to appear on both ballots.
Consider another write-in campaign, for Keystone Central School Board. Downtown businesswoman Aly Di Costanzo, a Democrat, was running a write-in campaign for KCSD's Region VII seat.
A quick look at the election results for this race -- once again, unofficial -- shows a total of 181 votes on the Republican side, with 7 write-ins, and 160 on the Democrat side, with 37 write-ins. Even if we assume that every one of the votes was for Di Costanzo, which is a bold assumption, the number of votes she could have received is still lower than the candidate John E. Miller, a registered Republican who cross-filed.
You can argue that this is an issue with candidates -- that they were a poor match for the electorate for this, that or another reason -- or that they should have tried harder, advertised more, knocked on doors more, filed sooner, or any of a thousand other quibbles that could have possibly allowed them to perform better.
At the same time, however, if more people simply show up, Berthold probably locks it up instead of being on the bubble. If more people do their research, Di Costanzo likely secures more of the Democratic vote share and allows for an actual race in the fall for that seat.
To be clear: this is not a knock on Miller, who may well have put in the work necessary to secure those votes. It would, however, be somewhat unusual for so many Democrats to break rank if they were aware there was an option.
Regardless, this is another seat which is no longer a competitive race on the fall ballot.
Admittedly, party affiliation matters far less at the local election level -- it is far more important to a healthy local community that there are people who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy by running for local offices, many of which are thankless jobs under the best of times.
You may disagree with a candidate's beliefs or policy choices -- which is fair and reasonable. But they deserve to be defeated on the fall ballot, if they are to be, and not by people simply choosing to stay home in the spring.
Competition is good: for business, for athletes, and for politicians.
We believe that unopposed candidates are a far bigger problem than a contested race where the candidates need to actually articulate their beliefs and be responsible and beholden to the electorate.
Safe politicians breed lazy policies -- out-of-touch elites who effortlessly cruise to victory without needing to ever consider another viewpoint or feel compelled to actually do their jobs on behalf of the voters who put their faith in them.
Regardless of your party affiliation, contested races are healthy for our electoral process. At a base level, Clinton County's Democratic minority wants to be represented -- and our Republican majority should want the strongest candidate for a given race, who can best serve as they are likely to win. But for this to happen, the voters need to care: they need to show up, and they need to learn about the candidates and make educated choices.
Obviously, you can't make people care. But local government is one of those things in life where you get out what you put in.
If you choose to sit out, for whatever reason, that is your decision.
But don't be surprised when that decision comes back to bite you in the behind later, as unopposed candidates -- who you may or may not agree with -- skate through because nobody was paying attention.