Elections committee aims to increase voter turnout
Imperial County has low voter turnout. Some people think they know why.
Brawley resident Rusty Garcia said he understands why some people would not vote.
“They’re kind of disheartened with the idea of why vote, it’s not going to count, there’s so much problems going on. So, we lose interest in the young people and of course we lose interest in the elderly – why vote?” Garcia said.
The Imperial County Board of Supervisors has been listening to community complaints about problems in the past elections.
Brawley resident Eric Reyes said some people are losing faith in the local voting system.
“There was a large uproar from many voters of Imperial County who felt that the Voters Registrar’s Office did not perform in an efficient manner in communicating to the public as to what was going on with the election, after the election. And in the days after there was more information that came up that put kind of doubt into people’s minds as to how elections are done. And that damages the electoral process, damages democracy and damages people’s faith in the electoral process which is very important,” Reyes said.
To fix this, the Board of Supervisors formed a new elections committee consisting of 16 residents countywide. Their focus: to streamline and improve the Registrar’s Office.
“To make the Voter Registrar’s more efficient, more public friendly and more able to answer questions more readily than they are currently. It’s very reclusive, which is a detriment to democracy in our community,” Reyes said.
Garcia said he wants to restore the faith in the election process for the people.
“Small committee that makes a large contribution to turning things around for imperial county. More people actively involved will get actively involved in the decision those politicians make that affect our daily lives,” Reyes said.
The elections committee could meet as early as next week. Reyes and Garcia are very excited. They are hoping to be able to improve voter participation this way.
