From Deseret News archives:
BYU at the center of nonvoter vortex
A Deseret Morning News analysis of the unofficial results of Tuesday's general election found that the 10 precincts with the lowest voter turnout in all of Utah County are centered around the BYU campus.
Although there are about 7,000 registered voters within the precincts' boundaries, only 890 showed up at the polls, an average of about 12.8 percent per precinct. Precinct 38 — which is bordered by 600 North, University Avenue, Bulldog Boulevard and 150 East — reported the lowest turnout in all of Utah County at about 6.8 percent.
Utah County auditor Bryan Thompson said the low numbers are in accord with ongoing trends in communities with high college student populations.
"Traditionally the student areas, especially in the heart of town, don't have as high a turnout for municipal elections," he said.
Thompson also said that during the Provo primary elections earlier this year, one polling place for precincts surrounding Brigham Young University had only five voters by 3 p.m.
Patrick Nord, former president of BYU College Democrats, wasn't surprised by the low numbers.
"That appears to be the national trend," he said. "It breaks my heart actually."
Nord, an economics major who now resides in Salt Lake City, said most college students don't feel a connection with the local community and don't see the point of participating in municipal elections.
"Unfortunately, with most students, if candidates don't go out of their way to connect with students, they won't get out and vote," he said.
Other precincts in Provo and Orem also reported low voter turnout, but auditors say those percents were due to human error. Three precincts — 19, 30 and 32 — held the elections at the same location in Orem.
When voters arrived, the ballot judge, who encodes the code voters put into the machine, processed most of the ballots as being cast in precinct 19, said Sandy Hoffman, Utah County elections clerk. As a result, that area reported a 165 percent voter turnout while the other two precincts only reported 1.2 and 2.6 percent.
Elsewhere, other cities saw high percentages of voters turn out. Fairfield, about 36 miles northwest of Provo, recorded a voter turnout of 70 percent. City Recorder Courtney Soffel said a proposed landfill created huge controversy that drove a majority of the town's 80 registered voters to the poll booths. Referendum 1 also had its effect, she said.
In the last municipal election, only 40 percent of Fairfield's registered voters exercised their constitutional right.
