June 1, 2022
The Down-Ballot Blind Spot: Why the Biggest Elections Are the Ones Nobody’s Watching
Turnout for a congressional race will likely clear sixty percent this cycle. Turnout for the school board race on the same ballot, same voters, same trip to the polls, usually lands under twenty. That gap, not any single scandal or slogan, is the real story of civic participation. That gap is the actual story of civic participation where national politics is absorbing nearly all the oxygen while the offices that touch daily life most directly get decided by a fraction of the electorate. Why the Gap Exists National races have narrative. They have two familiar parties, a clear scoreboard, and
