Turnout
Posted by DickH on 06 Nov 2008 at 05:03 pm | Tagged as: Greater Lowell, Lowell
Town-by-town statistics on voter turnout in Tuesday’s election showed percentages in the 70s and 80s for the towns but only 61% for Lowell. To put these figures in context, I compared the turnout for the 2008 election with the figures for the 2004, 2000 and 1992 elections. The format is Town - 2008 -2004 - 2000 - 1992.
Lowell - 61% - 59% - 58% - 78%
Billerica - 83% - 77% - 72% - 86%
Chelmsford - 85% - 81% - 78% - 90%
Dracut - 74% - 69% - 67% - 85%
Tewksbury - 79% - 78% - 74% - 92%
Tyngsboro - 78% - 80% - 78% - 91%
Westford - 82% - 81% - 82% - 91%
For everyone patting themselves on the back for this week’s turnout, the 1992 stats are an eye-opener. Here’s another statistic: the percentage increase in registered voters from 2004 to 2008 then 2000 to 2004:
Lowell - +6% - +5%
Billerica - -1% - +2%
Chelmsford - 0% - +3%
Dracut - 0% - +3%
Tewksbury - +5% - +3%
Tyngsboro - +13% - +5%
Westford - +6% - +9%
I looked at the number of registered voters the Sun said Lowell has. 52-Thousand. I look at the number of residents the census says Lowell has, 104 Thousand. And I have to wonder if either of those numbers is accurate.
If you look at the census population then half of the people living in Lowell are registered voters?
I am not one to advocate purging voter registrations but it seems to me that the numbers don’t jive.