Democracy is not a spectator sport

The votes are in and once again a relative few made decisions for everyone.

For as much as we hear people complaining that government doesn't represent the people, few bothered to hold up their end of the bargain and vote in Tuesday's municipal elections.

Those who did turn out in Cedar Rapids - less than one out of every five - overwhelmingly returned incumbents to the City Council. Turnout was as low as 5 percent of eligible voters in some precincts. Citywide, participation in the vote for the library levy was only 16.2 percent.

Even hotly contested council and mayoral races in Marion weren't enough to motivate more than a fraction of eligible voters. More than 20,000 possible ballots were left uncast as participation registered 19.2 percent.

In Hiawatha, 21.6 percent of voters turned out to usher in a new mayor. In a Robins contest where voters decided between four candidates for three seats, less than 11 percent of eligible voters took time to vote.

In fact, the tiny town of Prairieburg was home to the only contested race in Linn County where more voters cast a ballot than stayed home. Almost two-thirds of Prairieburg voters - 69 out of a possible 120, or 57.5 percent - chose who would lead their community forward.

Low turnout was expected in many Johnson County communities because of uncontested races, but Iowa City should have been an exception. It wasn't. And the choices made by 15.18 percent of eligible voters there have set the stage for a massive shift in city policy.

These numbers should be a lesson to those who would complain that a handful of people have undue influence on our municipal governments. In fact, when so many people decline to perform their civic duties, they do.

Low turnout in municipal and school elections isn't new, nor is it unique to Iowa. Through the years, many possible solutions have been proposed.

School and municipal elections could be moved to even years to correspond with national and statewide races. Election officials could automatically send absentee ballots to eligible voters, or offer more satellite or early voting stations in places convenient to the public. Making voting easier and more convenient is a reasonable course of action that state lawmakers should pursue.

But the bottom line always will be that government for the people and by the people demands participation of the people. No doubt, the people who voted Tuesday understand that. We hope more voters get the message, too.

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