If you’re familiar with American elections, you know about a key problem: low voter turnout. Across the board, from municipal elections to big presidential years, many Americans simply aren’t taking part in the process.
Consider just a few examples. In the 2021 elections in New York City to pick the new mayor and City Council, only 18 percent of New Yorkers made it to the polls. In Chicago, in 2023, it was just 35 percent. The 2022 midterms set a modern record for voter turnout, but still, 50 percent of Americans stayed home.
It turns out voters aren’t the only ones who are not showing up. Our research finds that our democracy is also suffering from an extreme lack of candidates.
Our analysis of the last four general elections (November 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023) found that nearly 70 percent of the positions on the ballot went uncontested. For a long list of important government positions — state legislator, city councilor, judge, sheriff, tax assessor and more — only one certified candidate was on the ballot, typically the incumbent. In other words, the majority of the American government isn’t chosen by voters, but rather elected by default.
The same was true in the latest batch of primary elections this spring. Although both parties failed to contest a majority of positions this primary cycle, the problem was significantly worse for Democrats, with nearly 75 percent of primaries going uncontested, including hundreds of congressional seats.
This isn’t trivial. For large portions of our government, incumbents are safely re-elected cycle after cycle, knowing they will have no need to campaign or be accountable to voters.
After multiple cycles of uncompetitive races, voters rightfully tune out and lose touch with their local officials. While the scale of the problem is new to many, most Americans have experienced a lack of candidates firsthand. In voting booths across the country, bewildered voters have to scroll through page after page of positions with only one candidate available. Most voters just skip voting on these positions altogether. Can you blame them?
At BallotReady, we are passionate about closing the information gap so that voters stay connected with their local government and get informed ahead of voting in local elections. We believe that by informing voters of when, where and how to vote in every election, we can significantly raise voter turnout.
But, based on our own research, we acknowledge that’s only part of the problem. America needs more candidates. Voters have to have something to vote for. That’s why we’re working on new tools not only to show voters their ballots, but give them opportunities to see where they can run, down to the local level.
Our hope is that more people will leave the voting booth this fall energized to nominate someone, or appear themselves on another ballot soon.
America needs a candidate revolution. It starts not only by promoting voter turnout but also addressing the problem of candidate turnout as well.
Alex Niemczewski is CEO and Kunal Goel is growth lead of BallotReady.
Governing’s opinion columns reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Governing’s editors or management.
