Oakland County Primary Turnout Down 25.7% from 2020, Here’s How Your Town Did
(Kurt Metzger, Feb. 28, 2024)
Oakland County, MI- While the number of registered voters in Oakland County has risen by 62,272 (6.3 percent) between the Presidential primaries of 2020 and 2024, the number of voters in 2024 was 93,013 fewer, a decrease of 25.7 percent.
Total turnout fell from 36.9 to 25.8 percent.
Both sides of the aisle have faced internal contention. Within the Democratic Party there is a contingent that opposes Biden’s foreign policy decisions, with a movement urging voters to select “non-committed.” In Oakland County 12.5% who picked Democratic ballots made that choice. Overall, Democratic turnout fell by 54.2%.
On the Republican side, Trump is the clear front-runner, but a vote for Haley could be seen as disagreement with the former President. In Oakland County, Haley garnered 33.5% compared to Trump’s 61.4% of the votes. Turnout for Republicans was up by 58.1 percent, though we don’t know how many of those were Democrats picking a Republican ballot.
But apart from those divisions, the outcome was quite predictable on both sides, which may have contributed to the lower turnout.
A Pleasant Ridge resident summed up the situation in a way that many people feel – ”The candidates are a foregone conclusion. Folks want to vote in elections where they think they’ll make a difference.”
HIGHLIGHTS (OR LOWLIGHTS) FROM THE DATA
- All communities, with the exception of Clarkston and Sylvan Lake experienced an increase in Registered Voters. The largest increases were seen in Lake Angelus (30.1%), Lyon Township (15.1%), and Groveland Township (13.3%).
- Voter role cleanup/maintenance continues to be an issue, as inflated voter roles lead to decreased turnout results. Let us use Pleasant Ridge as an example. The latest Census estimates show the voting age population to total 2,100. The total registered voters’ number is 2,459 – 17.1 percent more. ‘Houston…we have a problem!’
- Voter Turnout decreased in every community (accompanying chart ranks all on 2024 turnout) but South Lyon, where it increased by 0.1 percentage point.
- Turnout rates ranged from highs of 40.9 percent in Huntington Woods (down from 64% in 2020) to a low of 11.4 percent in Pontiac (down from 19.5% in 2020). [I must recognize Novi Township for actual highest turnout of 51.4%, but we are only talking 138 registered voters.]
- In 36 communities, votes for Republican candidates outnumbered those for Democrats. In 14 communities, Democrats received the most votes. Madison Heights had a virtual tie – 2.195 votes for Dems/2,197 votes for Reps.
The voter apathy in the primary is palpable. The election season is really just beginning. Many twists and turns will follow. Oakland County will be under a great deal of scrutiny (as will Macomb) as election season moves forward. It was a vital component of Biden’s win in 2020. Not sure what to predict for 2024.