Happy New Year,
I had some free time so I wrote a Letter to the Editor (LTE) to the school newspaper. Find the text below:
Don’t dismiss local government
Looking at the official 2024 election results summary for Coconino County, there was an impressively high 78.29% voter turnout with over 70,000 votes cast. Scrolling through the document reveals the deeper reality of tens of thousands of undervotes – ballot races that voters left blank or underfilled – on state and local positions and propositions.
This election saw 1,413 Coconino County ballots with U.S. Senator blank, 2,442 for Flagstaff’s Congressional Representative, 33,016 for three Flagstaff City Council members, 34,418 for three Corporation Commission members who regulate our utilities, 56,448 for three Flagstaff School Board members, and many, many more. While some races (none of those listed here) draw undervotes due to lack of competition, it cannot be ignored that many are abstaining from the races that affect our communities most due to lack of knowledge, requiring more work to learn about, and not being viewed as important.
It is true that state and local issues require more effort to learn about. News and social media feeds are perpetually pushing national headlines while local news continues to die. Our local and state governments affect us most in our daily lives through education, city services, utility rates, recreation, infrastructure, individual liberties, transportation and more. While many in our capitol argue away, public servants closest to us work every day to make our communities better. If you have something you want to change, democracy isn’t just on election day. Your voice is needed in your community, not just your feed.
Brendan Trachsel © Copyright 2025