In light of recent issues with the government shutdown and deficit deadlines, most Americans would be quick to tell you exactly how they feel about the goings-on of the federal government lately. However, how many of them can say they even know who their state senators are? What about the members of their school board? The fact is that a vast majority of the public is tragically under-informed about matters of local government.

The federal government is not the only topic on which people are willing to weigh in: voters are quick to conspicuously express their opinions on issues that hit them closer to home, such as decisions made in their children’s schools, local construction and maintenance projects, and changes to their schools’ or townships’ budgets. However, most are a little less eager to head out and vote for the local officials who have a major impact on these very concerns.

In May’s primary election, Pennsylvania averaged a mere 14% voter turnout, with 511,152 out of 3,467,761 registered Democrats and 384,370 of 2,747,093 registered Republican voting. By contrast, the 2012 presidential election drew a whopping 68% of registered voters, making for a worrisome discrepancy.

“I think the public does neglect attention to schools and local governance,” said Colin Likens, Honors Government and AP U.S. History teacher at North Penn High School. “A lot of really important decisions that affect the economy, affect our safety, and affect our quality of living are made at the local level, and people don’t understand or don’t pay attention enough.”

The disconnect between apparent voter concern and lack of turnout at local elections likely stems from the failure of locals to educate themselves on the candidates and issues at hand. However, dependable sources of information are often difficult to find.

“One unusual thing about local elections is that, because they’re serving a smaller community, there’s usually an assumption that you can learn about the candidates by asking people you know in the neighborhood,” said Likens. “Usually when someone’s running for [a local office], they’ve been fairly involved in the community already.”

Communities in this day and age, however, are likely less close-knit than they once were, making word-of-mouth an antiquated method of gathering reliable information. As a result, many potential voters, frustrated by the difficulty of making an educated decision, choose a candidate based on rumors or choose at random, or else are deterred from the elections altogether.

Locating a credible source of information, though challenging, is not impossible. Candidates in local elections often run their own campaign websites which provide a range of information concerning their political views and credentials. Additionally, organizations in the community such as the Teachers’ Union or the League of Women Voters as well as local newspapers and broadcasts frequently interview candidates to introduce them to the public.

With North Penn School District’s school board elections looming less than a week away, the hunt for information will be especially relevant to community members in the coming days.  As a small, local election with a low expected turnout, the school board ballot can be easily swayed by an extremely small margin of voters. Therefore, those in the district with voices ready to be heard have a perfect opportunity rapidly approaching, and there’s no better time than now to get to know the important politics taking place right in our backyards.

For further information on next Tuesday’s election, check http://www.smartvoter.org/

Statistical data gathered from:

http://www.politicspa.com/overall-pa-voter-turnout-between-14-17/48244/

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/voter_registration_statistics/