Editorial / The shame of not voting in a town election

When national stakes are high, Westporters have a habit of going to the polls in large numbers -- a 90 percent turnout in 1992 when Bill Clinton ousted George H.W. Bush; 86 percent in 2000 when George W. Bush edged Al Gore; 86 percent again in 2008 when Barack Obama topped John McCain.

The average turnout here for the last five presidential elections is nearly 87 percent, proof that Westporters relish their right to vote, right?

Not so fast.

The 2007 municipal election drew a just 35 percent of registered voters -- the lowest of any Westport election in two decades; 50 percentage points lower than any presidential election at least as far back as 1992.

Turnout was only marginally better in the 2009 town election, when even a first selectman's contest scared up only 41 percent of voters.

Tuesday is Election Day, and the Westport ballot has no national contests.

But this election is about the potholes on Riverside Avenue, not Pennsylvania Avenue. It's about the taxes on your house, not the White House. It's about the school your child attends, not federal subsidies for school lunches in poor cities.

Not planning on going to the polls this time? Figure your neighbors will get the job done without your vote?

What's one vote anyway?

In Sugar Land, Tex., earlier this year Amy Mitchell won a seat on the city council by one vote.

Fred Henry is the mayor of South Amboy, N.J., because he got one more vote than Mary O'Connor last fall.

Jose Morales, not Anthony Silva, sits on the Stockton, Calif., school board because Morales got 2,302 votes to Silva's 2,301.

The history books attest to the power of one vote.

In 1800, Thomas Jefferson was elected president by one vote in the House of Representatives after he and Aaron Burr tied in the Electoral College.

Deja vous in 1824, when Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams deadlocked in the Electoral College, then Adams won by a single vote in the House.

The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, passed the U.S. House of Representatives by one vote in 1918. In Tennessee, the last state to ratify the amendment, it passed the state legislature by -- you guessed it -- a single vote.

Westport has serious decisions to make on Tuesday about the town's controversial finances, downtown development, education and other issues. But election officials and party leaders have struggled to drum up interest.

As in the 2007 town election -- the one with the shameful 35 percent turnout -- the town's top job is not on the ballot Tuesday. First selectman Gordon Joseloff has two more years on his term.

The top positions up for grabs are seats on the finance board -- town's fiscal watchdogs. With the discovery earlier this year that municipal retiree-benefit costs had been grossly miscalculated and underfunded, the town's entire financial system has come under a microscope. And the people who fill finance board seats will wield significant influence over town spending, taxes and town debt.

Seats on the planning and zoning commission also are up for grabs at a time when divergent views of what downtown should be have polarized local activists. The people who fill those seats will have much to say about the town's future.

Also on the ballot are seats in the representative town meeting -- people who will represent your neighborhood. How close are those races? There have been recounts in three of the last four town elections, proving again that every vote counts.

Still thinking you may not vote? Think about Jefferson and Adams, Amy Mitchell and Jose Morales. Think about the fact that women can vote in Westport Tuesday.

One vote packs a lot of power. It would be shameful not to use it.