I'd vote if I could but I'm not a Citizen, so I'm not allowed. Someone vote for me!

there could be a question on the ballot that asked us whether or not the defense department was allowed to test nuclear weaponry on swan island, and 40% of this city still wouldn't vote.

so i'm not surprised by the apathy.

i know so many people in this city who would from all outward appearances seem to be progressive and well informed and smart, and in reality couldn't give two shits about politics and how anything is being run in this country or in this city. not give two shits, that is, unless it was a band with perfect hipster attire singing about politics.

i don't think one person i know personally volunteered, worked, or got off their asses in any way for the kerry campaign during 2004, as an example.

again, big surprise.

i'm shocked.

Thanks for bringing me down, Lyle.

In the run-up to the '04 elections, there were at least a dozen times when a pair of folks from various political organizations would ask for access to my apartment buildings to get people to register to vote. Not a peep this time around.
Is it partly because I haven't seen any stories on local television news programs about there being an election coming up?

It's an off-year, May election, with fairly heady, tedious issues at hand that aren't easily distilled into the 15-second sound bites TV news requires, and to top it all off, there aren't really built in constituencies for either side.

I think that issue of not really having a rabid support base on either side (like you would for an abortion measure, or marijuana decriminalization) means there won't be any big, last minute get-out-the-vote efforts, and that could push the final numbers down further than even b!X thinks.

Well, we're at 12% so far today. I think we'll make at least the low end of that 15-21% range that the last three off-year elections predicts. Heh. Whoopie!

It is sad given the fact that Portland considers itself and behaves like such a politically forward city. Yet only 20% of us vote for a major change in government. I voted and mailed my ballot within days of receiving it. I'm hardly a strong politically minded person.

I guesstimated 18% turnout at the time ballots dropped. Please, please good people of Multnomah County, prove me wrong!

I had hoped for a higher turnout, always the eternal optimist. I sent in my own absentee ballot last week. But I'm not surprised by the low turn out for something this wonky, although it was also one of my main arguments against putting something this important on a special election ballot.