An average 27.8 percent of registered Margate Republicans cast ballots at the city’s 24 voter precincts in the January 2012 Presidential Preference Primary last week - almost seven percentage points better than Broward County’s 21 percent average.
Of 7,287 registered Margate Republicans, 2028 voted: 24% for Mitt Romney; 23% for Newt Gingrich and 4.8% for Ron Paul. The remaining 976 votes were cast among Republican non-starters Michele Bachman, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum and John Huntsman.
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When compared with numbers from the last Presidential Preference Primary in 2008 when John McCain won the Republican candidacy for President, 34 percent fewer Republican voters turned out at Margate polls this year (3,076 votes vs. 2028 votes).
Though voter turnout in Margate fairs well when compared to County numbers, it pales in comparison to the state’s overall 41 percent average voter turnout.
Without micromanaging why voter turnout seems to get worse with each election, whether it be Presidential or municipal, the fact remains that a minority of voters in number are progressively making decisions for the majority, who are failing to make it to the polls. For instance, the majority of Margate Republicans didn't vote in the Presidential Primary this year, which means only a minority of Republicans were heard in the city.
Another shocking Margate voter statistic: of the nearly 33,000 registered voters in the city, a mere 2,000 voted in the city’s 2011 municipal election to replace Commissioner Arthur Bross, who passed months earlier from cancer. That’s six percent of eligible voters. If left to continue, bad voter turnout will not only subvert the political system by design, it will surely erode the democratic process, which the majority counts on the ensure tomorrow’s freedoms and constitutional rights.
Why don’t more Margatonians vote?
Past excuses include but are not limited to: “I don’t like any of the candidates” / “I don’t have the time’ / and “Why vote, my vote doesn't count” or some derivative of these - excuses not exclusive to Margate, but used again and again by registered voters across the U.S. – a country known around the globe as a foremost Democratic society, at least for now.
Margate will to have to find a way to overcome its "lack of voting" problem if citizens are to expect elected officials to fairly represent them in the future. The city has a municipal election in November when all five city commission seats are up for re-election. For those seeking change in the city, it's vital to know who the candidates are and the issues they represent. Most importantly, you need to get yourself to the polls. This way a majority consensus can occur and the interests of a majority preserved in the city.
Politicians aren't wholly responsible for the problems faced by Americans in their cities, counties and country. "We the People" are responsible too, in particular when so few vote at the polls where a citizen's voice counts as "one" and is heard. The Broward Map on this page points to a dire situation where the majority of Republicans in the county didn’t vote in their own Presidential Primary last week, a constitutional privilege bestowed the Party. Understandably, some Republicans have died or outmigrated to other parties since the last Presidential Primary, while others have moved out of the county or just don't vote anymore because of their lack of faith in government. Reasons vary.
Hopefully Margate will buck the City's low-voter trend come November 2012.
For more information on Republican turnout in Broward for the 2012 Presidential Preference Primary Click Here.
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