As election day approaches, there is a push to get everyone registered and voting. Clerk and Recorder Paul López of the Denver Elections Division has been hosting Democracy Town Hall events for the community leading up to the November 5 Election Day to make sure everyone in every corner of the city votes.
On Tuesday, October 22, López and panelists Naomi Amaha from the Denver Foundation, Bianka Emerson from the Colorado Black Women for Political Action and Jeff Fard from the Brother Jeff’s Cultural Center held a roundtable discussion at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance to engage with the community members about the importance of voting and to encourage them to cast their ballots.
The meeting was attended by López’s division team members, panelist supporters, and a couple of Hispanic and African American residents who wanted to learn more. In addition, the meeting was broadcast live on Facebook to reach audiences who were unable to attend.
“Communication has to happen in person; we have to make sure we are engaging with the community, especially when it comes to democracy,” López said. “The strategy behind these town halls is to one, make sure we are engaging but also focus on areas of the town where we [Denver Elections Division] identify that folks are not returning ballots, where we have sent ballots and those ballots are not coming back. The return rate is very, very low.”
López was referring to neighborhoods with low ballot return rates, including Montbello [4.9% average return rate], East Denver, Westwood [5% average return rate] and parts of Sun Valley. According to López, there are 560,000 registered voters in the city and county of Denver, but a large number of eligible voters remain unregistered. According to the Denver Elections Division’s voter statistics website, there are 464,828 active voters and approximately 89,000 inactive voters.
The difference between active and inactive voters is that active voters are the ones who are turning in their ballots filled out. According to López, inactive voters are ballots that are returned to the Denver Elections Division because the individual’s street address cannot be verified or their information has not been updated.
“At the end of the day, we want to create cultural participation and, no matter what election is being administered, we are participating,” López said. “We want to get to the point where what we are expecting for the presidential election, to be an 85%-90% turnout, is the same for a municipal election, which typically is a 37% turnout.”
Continuing their discussion, the panelists were asked about the importance of families encouraging one another to vote and how the youth are affected when parents do not set a good example by not voting. López emphasized that people aged 18-to-24 are not “showing up” to vote.
According to the Denver Elections Division, the 18-to-25 age group has the lowest ballot return rate compared to the other age groups. As of this month, 46,367 ballots were issued to those aged 25 and under, but only 1,668 were cast, resulting in a 3.6% return. In comparison, the return rate for people over the age of 65 is 26%.
“I just don’t think city engagement is sexy to young people,” Emerson said. “It’s not cool; if we understand what policy-making is and how important it is, people will show up. My mom would take me to go with her to vote when I was a little girl. My parents grew up in the Civil Rights Movement; this generation doesn’t hear those stories at the kitchen table. Their parents aren’t even voting so why should they?”
Fard begs to differ. “I would say that the folks that don’t show up, are exercising their voice,” Fard said. “They might not be doing it in the way we want them to do it, but I believe the young people are engaged. Young people that don’t vote generally are from households that don’t vote. It’s hard to blame the young people for what they are not doing when 40% of folks who are eligible to vote are not voting.”
Fard adds that the young people who are showing up are from households that are encouraged to vote and want change in their country.
“My history is that my mom made me vote at 18, and she went with me to make sure I was registered. I have been voting ever since then, and now I am 68 years old so I have been voting for 50 years,” said Pat Duncan, a Denver native.
“Every time there is an opportunity to include ourselves politically, we should, we must and it is our responsibility for the future for ourselves and country,” Fard said.
For more information about voting and Election Day, you can call 720-913-VOTE or you can visit the Denver Elections Division website.
