The Hiller Instinct: Voter Turnout

The secretary of state estimates turnout today will be between 10 and 25 percent of the state's 4.1 million voters.

Ten percent! The state has only dipped below that number once in a primary, and that was in 2000, when 9.4 percent turned even though no one on the ballot had an opponent.

And, in 2008, 14 percent of the state's voters turned out, even though the Republican candidate for Senate was unopposed, and John Kerry had only token opposition.

So why in a big race with many candidates is turnout today so small?

My guess is because we know the truth. We're not replacing Ted Kennedy, because we can't. Whomever we send to Senate will do less and be less. And we're not even sure Washington is listening to us.

So voting today can turn into one more memory of Senator Kennedy, and how it used to be. And that could be enough to make many voters just take a pass at the polls.

Live in the newsroom, I’m Andy Hiller and that’s my instinct.

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