Voting patterns in the United States tend to run inversely proportional to their local impact. Many people will come out to vote for president, while a special election for a community position will draw very few voters.

That’s understandable, given how much power a president has to affect everyone’s lives. But local positions could have a more immediate impact on day-to-day life, such as the look of a neighborhood or the character of a road. It’s not a president, after all, who will determine whether you can get a building permit.

This year’s elections fall in the middle of that spectrum. A midterm election includes every member of the U.S. House of Representatives, roughly one-third of the U.S. Senate, and many governors, including in Connecticut. In this state, it also includes every member of the state General Assembly, as well as state treasurer, comptroller, attorney general and secretary of the state.

There’s a lot at stake. But since there is no presidential election, we can expect turnout to fall well below 2020 numbers, though likely above what we’ll see in next year’s local elections. Increasing turnout should be a goal for every political leader, regardless of party, because the outcome affects everyone. It’s in all our interests to have more people’s voices heard.

Unfortunately, not every elected official acts that way. Too many take steps to limit voter turnout, putting up obstacles to potential voters and making it harder to register, or to even know if you might be eligible. This is done in the interest, supposedly, of preventing fraud. But we have voluminous evidence to show that voter fraud, where one person impersonates someone else or tries to vote multiple times, is vanishingly rare, and has never been shown to happen sufficiently often to sway an election.

As candidates prepare for the final sprint to Election Day, they are consistently harping on turnout as the key to victory. It’s vital that as many people as possible make their opinions known and cast their vote for these important positions. That shouldn’t be controversial.

There’s no political angle. Both parties benefit from more voters turning out, as recent federal elections have demonstrated. It’s up to everyone to boost voter participation.

— Hearst Connecticut Media