As I'm about to go to bed at 10 minutes until 3:00am on Election Day (technically the morning after), the local news sites are abuzz with the news that the Denver Police (including the SWAT team) have been called in to help count. Apparently, the turnout in Denver was around 47%. To put this in perspective, the last time the turnout was just barley above 40% was when a critical tax measure was on the ballot (in 2005, Referenda C & D were the hot button issues on the ballot all over the state as they proposed to temporarily overturn the Libertarian-foolishness that is TABOR). The conventional wisdom was that this election would have a turnout between 30 and 35%. Not even close.
This turnout is remarkably higher than anything those in the "know" were expecting for our fair city. Why?
I have some theories. First, I think the youth vote (18 - 35) will have played a big role in this election. Secondly, I think every age demographic has turned out more than the pundits expected. The reason being that they wanted to vote for the mayor's civic improvement initiatives (A-I). These common sense property tax increases (which amount to peanuts for Denver property owners) will enable our city to stop being penny-wise and pound-foolish and actually keep our civic infrastructure (museums, libraries, cultural facilities, etc.) up to snuff. Mayor Hickenlooper rules. Funny name, serious mayor.
So the verdict will be (you heard it here first) that young people care about their beloved Denver and that everyone in this fair city wants to see it blossom. This is what democracy looks like.
