Recent poll data indicates voter turnout in Maryland and D.C. for the 2008 general election was below the expected level in the 2008.
Some AU faculty and students blame decreased turnout on the fact that Republican presidential nominee McCain was behind in the polls. Others say long lines kept voters away on Election Day.
The Maryland State Board of Elections' records indicate voter turnout, calculated by the percentage of ballots cast out of the number of registered voters, actually dropped statewide - from 78 percent in 2004 to 76 percent in 2008.
In D.C., preliminary statistics indicate voter turnout dipped below the 2004 and 2000 election statistics, according to The Washington Post.
The final information, according to the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics Web site, showed turnout increased by approximately 3 percentage points to about 60 percent.
Despite the local dips in turnout percentages, AU student interest level in the election was extremely high, according to Kennedy Political Union Director Bill DeBaun.
"If you go back to election night and remember the raw energy in the Tavern as people watch the election results come in, [our campus's involvement] speaks for itself," he said.
However, in the context of greater regional polls, AU is an anomaly regarding political engagement, DeBaun said.
"I don't think that [AU] is a microcosm of the United States," he said. "Our level of engagement and interest is not going to be representative of the entire United States."
The relatively low voter turnout in the area could be blamed on the low polling of the Republican Party.
Alicia Prevost, Associate Director of the Center of the Congressional and Presidential Studies (CCPS) in the School of Public Affairs, said, "Pollsters said there was no way for McCain to win, which depressed Republican and Democratic turnout."
"Long lines for early voting made people think they would have to deal with them on Election Day," she said.
Voter turnout could have dipped due to the personal inconvenience of voting, according to Jenn Wivell, a junior in SPA who works with Prevost for CCPS.
"Like in many elections, the same people seemed like they couldn't get out to vote," she said.
On the other hand, some motivations for staying in on Election Day were based less on apathy and more on the poor approval ratings of President Bush.
AU College Republicans President Luke Kraus said Republican turnout was down because members of the party were upset over President Bush's performance in office.
"They also saw McCain as a backlash against conservative values and some didn't want to support him," Kraus said.
Maryland and D.C. residents likely felt like their votes would not count because both jurisdictions are so predominantly Democratic, said AU College Democrats President Luke Falcon Sapp.
"It didn't matter if people in D.C. and Maryland voted," he said. "They were going to go Democrat."
Despite the 1 percent decline in voter turnout, the raw number of registered voters went up by 358,599 in Maryland, and the total number of votes cast increased by 223,375 from the 2004 election, according to the Maryland Board of Elections Web site.
In D.C., the number of voters registered went up by 42,842 and the number of votes cast increased by 24,614, according to the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics Web site.
The increases, especially in voter registration, may have caused the decreased voter turnout percentage because of the nature of the formula, Prevost said.
"We had a jump in registration numbers, so the denominator increased, making the overall percentage smaller," she said. "There is some controversy over methods of calculating this, but to me, it's important to be consistent over the years."
Kraus and Sapp said that this election was important for both the Republicans and Democrats.
"[This election] was good for the Republican Party," Kraus said. "Now they can get their act together and return to their roots and core values of keeping government responsible."
On the other hand, the victorious party has a bright future, Sapp said.
"The election shows that Americans are willing to put their faith in Democrats, and for the first time since 1994 we have a unified government to get things done," he said.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
