On Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters across Miami-Dade County took to the polls to vote in a variety of local elections. Five municipalities held local elections with a range of charter amendments and city council seats on the ballot.
There were multiple seats on the ballot, but here are some of the most interesting results from the night. All three incumbents running for city commissioner in the City of Miami faced strong challenges. District 1’s incumbent, Alex Díaz de la Portilla was arrested in September — charged with money laundering and misconduct. Despite these charges, Díaz de la Portilla got 36% of the vote and that election is headed to a runoff, when no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, so the top two candidates run again, head to head.
In Miami Beach, the Mayoral position is up for grabs, since three-term incumbent Dan Gelber is not running again. This election also resulted in a runoff between Steven Meiner and Michael Gongora, which will take place on Nov. 21.
Despite the importance of a lot of these races, turnout this year was also incredibly low. In Homestead, Fla., just nine percent of registered voters cast a ballot. Across the county, this number only reaches 14% of registered voters.
“When you hold an election in off years, the turnout is going to be lower,” private consultant and campaign volunteer Marika Lynch said. “Having elections in off years helps incumbents, fewer people are paying attention and the incumbents are much more likely to win.”
2023 is an off year for elections, with the midterms happening in 2022 and the upcoming presidential election in 2024. This drop in voter turnout is not unique to Miami, and regions across the country face this same problem.
The reasons why people do not vote are complicated. One data set shows that the top reason people do not vote is that they are uneducated about the candidates, followed by being unaware of the local issues, as the second highest response.
“Most of the decisions that affect our lives are made at the local level, and even at the state level, and those are decisions like how our schools are run, how much funding our schools get, etc. ‘Is there enough public transportation so that we’re not stuck in traffic all the time? Is the garbage being picked up on time?’ Those are all made by local bodies, and if fewer people are, [voting] we need more people to come out to really have their voices heard on those types of issues,” Lynch said.
All upcoming runoff elections will be on Nov. 21.
