South Dallas struggles to get out the vote. It can’t afford problems at polling places.
Getting voters to show up at the polls for local races is a feat every time, and Dallas’ record is embarrassingly bad compared to other major cities in the country. Our typical voter turnout for municipal elections is about 10% or less. Now turn to Nashville, Tenn., where 24% of registered voters elected the Metro Council in 2019, or Chicago, where 35% of voters cast ballots in the municipal general election that same year.
Still, a turnout of 10.7% of Dallas’ registered electorate for the City Council races this spring a depressing statistic counts as a small victory given that the last council member-only elections drew just 7.6% of registered voters in the city.