Suburban early voters stay home

Mayors say schools interest still high

Early voting in six suburban referendums on whether to form new municipal school districts ended with almost 35,000 fewer voters than those who went to the polls the first time the schools were on the ballot in 2012 early voting.

Suburban mayors said the low vote turnout this year is no indication of a drop in support for the so-called munis, separate municipal school systems that would be operated outside the unified school system. “I don’t anticipate the percentage to be any less. I think our vote was like 87 percent in favor in the referendum last year,” said Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner.

His town had 12,681 early voters in 2012 compared with 4,848 this year. Joyner said this year’s one-issue special election was not as much of an attraction to voters as last year’s countywide elections, which included state and federal elective offices on the ballot.

The Shelby County Election Commission agreed. “Some people feel like it’s kind of a rerun,” said commission chairman Robert Meyers of this year’s early voting. And elections coordinator Richard Holden said turnout for special elections is “typically much lower” than for regular elections. As an example, he said, “A typical August election has about 40 percent of registered voters. A typical special election is about 8-12 percent of registered voters.”

While the early voting ended Thursday, the votes will not be counted until after 7 p.m. on election day, Tuesday.

Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy said she, like Joyner, is confident that Germantown voters are “committed” to forming their own school district. She said early voting for the single-issue special election has not created the same energy as it did the first time. “I don’t think we’ve had as many signs up in the neighborhoods as we did. But the people who are very supportive of the municipal school system are going to get out to vote.”

Millington Mayor Terry Jones said he had hoped to see a bigger turnout among early voters. Only 739 people voted in Millington this time compared with 2,935 in early voting last year.

Those numbers may be deceiving, since early voters are not required to physically cast Arlington 3,043 Bartlett 12,221 Collierville 12,681 Germantown 13,199 Lakeland 6,082 Millington 2,935 Total 50,161

764 4,468 4,848 3,983 532 739 15,334

a vote within their own municipalities. Some may have found it more convenient to stop by a different voting location closer to their offices or as part of another trip outside their own part of town. Still, Jones said the he hoped for a big turnout “because of the importance of the schools issue that we’re voting on. In the last election we had roughly a 65to-35 split voting for the new school district.”

He said those numbers should hold up in the early voting and in Tuesday’s vote. “I think so, and I’m hoping it will turn out a little more on the positive side.”

Rhodes College political science professor Marcus Pohlmann, an election an- alyst, said it is no surprise that an election in the heat of summer would produce a low turnout. “But I think the percentage of yes votes (for the municipal schools) will be high.”

Pohlmann said low turnout or not, the final vote likely will surprise no one. “I don’t think anybody much doubts the outcome ... I can’t imagine a scenario where it is going to be defeated.”