“we can’t really be sure that the people who are elected are representing the interests of all those people who didn’t vote.”

Allison Garfield:

Historically low turnout and tighter margins
The Dane County Clerk’s Office calculates voter turnout by the number of registered voters in the area. So on April 5, 81,104 ballots were cast out of a total of 359,983 registered voters in the county, according to the County Clerk’s office. Here’s how previous years have stacked up.

Running as a “ghost candidate” may be a tactic, and, if so, “it’s sort of a perverse tactic because it’s the opposite of what you would expect,” Burden said. 

Oftentimes, local candidates struggle to gain attention and disseminate their names.

“To see candidates shying away from all of that does suggest that it’s a kind of strategy because those things aren’t constrained by costs,” Burden said. “It may be that these candidates were hoping that the low levels of knowledge about all of the candidates might work to their advantage and let some of them sneak into office.”

“For that reason, both Canon and Burden said it’s good practice for voters to show up at polls, even in low-stakes elections.”

Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district has had any uncontested races over the past decade.