Guest Opinion | In San Juan County, “don’t vote, boo!”

||| FROM STEVE BERNHEIM |||

Voter turnout in typically participatory Orcas Island took a hit this mid-term election, dropping to the lowest level since 2007: only 58% of registered voters in San Juan County returned their ballots in this November’s midterm general election. (https://results.votewa.gov/results/public/san-juan-county-wa/elections/20261103)

San Juan County sometimes votes at high rates (more than 88% of registered voters in every presidential election since 2008) and the previous record low voter turnout for a midterm election was 72% in 2014.

The highest voter turnout for a midterm election was 84% in 2018 and since 2007, the average voter turnout for midterm elections – before this year – had been 79%. Before 2015, voter turnout was never lower than 62% in any November election.

But the seven years of lowest voter turnout have all occurred since 2015. (Find voter data at https://www.sanjuancountywa.gov/1230/Archived-Elections.)

While islanders famously get charged up when a president is on the ballot, when the less glamorous races are up for grabs, more than ever, San Juan Islanders just “boo.”