Uninterested parties: Voter registration low despite historic mayoral election

The voter honeymoon is over.

Despite having an open seat for mayor for the first time in eight years in the city of Syracuse, residents are showing little interest.

"We had lines out the ying-yang last year," said Ed Ryan, commissioner at the Office of Onondaga County Board of Elections, about the number of people who turned out to register to vote in 2008. "Nobody came around this year."

The election of President Barack Obama boosted voter registration numbers across the country, raising the Onondaga County count over 75 percent.

"There are 290,000 citizens registered," Ryan said, "and about only 110,000 will vote."

The mayoral election in Syracuse is a three-horse race: Common Councilor-at-Large Stephanie Miner is the choice of the Democratic party; Steve Kimatian, a former NewsChannel 9 executive, is running on the Republican ticket; and Otis Jennings, former commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs has picked up the Conservative Party line.

Despite the potential for making history, as Syracuse has never had a female or black mayor, election talk is barely above a murmur this year.

"This race is as low key a mayoral race as I've seen in my 40 years here," said Robert McClure, a professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

McClure cites an overall decline of newspapers, television stations and political parties as reason for public disinterest.

"As all these institutions crumble, the mechanisms that make elections visible and meaningful - as they crumble, the election itself becomes more hidden, less meaningful," he said.

McClure said he thinks the Internet has hindered the electoral process, despite making candidate information easily accessible.

"As I understand the modern media environment, it disaggregates," McClure said. "It slices people up into narrower and narrower niches. That's at some level, anti-democratic, it's anti-collective."

The low turnout in voter registration this year is not for lack of trying by the candidates and their supporters.

Kimatian, the surprise winner of the Republican primary in September, used personal connection as a central method of campaigning.

"We've been out in our grassroots campaigning, going door to door in every neighborhood in the city," said Fran Coudriet, campaign manager for Kimatian. "He's been out every day talking with people. We really think that's what turned out a lot of people for Steve in the primary."

The Steve Kimatian for Mayor campaign made a commitment to put information about the Republican candidate, appearing before law students at the College of Law several weeks ago.

"Since the beginning, way back when we started petitioning, we've handed out hundreds of voter registration packets," Coudriet said. "We've helped register quite a few people; we have personal connections."

The Jennings campaign has used the Internet as a vital tool in its campaign, similar to the successful tools used by the Obama campaign, including Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter. Jennings recently launched a video blog on his campaign Web site, posting a clip with his children and commentary about the use of Tasers in schools.

The Miner campaign declined to comment for this article.

SU's College Democrats explained the weekly commitment some students are taking to inform the community of their candidate.

"We go out every Saturday and canvas the neighborhood in support of Stephanie Miner," said Kyle Rapone, president of the SU College Democrats. "Yet the number of students involved this time around has dropped significantly."

SU's College Republicans diverted its focus from the mayoral campaign, instead committing to the campaigns of SU alums.

"They've been our primary focus thus far," said Daniel Fitzpatrick, the president of SU's College Republicans. "We're going to be doing our campaigning with Kevin Kuehner within the area, and our campaigning with Matt Rayo outside the area will go hand in hand with our campaigning with Steve Kimatian.

Kuehner is running for County Legislative 16th District, and Rayo, a 2008 State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduate, is running for common council in the 1st District.

By campaigning for the entire party line, the SU College Republicans look to stem the receding tide of voter apathy, a trend McClure has been following for sometime.

"If you look at single races in the last couple of decades, it's true it seems there has been a modest, but clear decline in turnout," McClure said. "This mayoral election here is operating in that same environment."

kcleach@syr.edu