Freep: Only 1 in 5 Detroit Voters Decide Local Elections. Many Are From City's Most Prosperous Neighborhoods.

Edison Elementary School in Detroit (Photo: Rebecca Cook)

Detroiters, like citizens in other communities around the country, aren't shy about complaining about crime, city services, or the lack of development in certain neighborhoods.

But Nancy Kaffer, Khalil AlHajal, and Kristi Tanner write in the Detroit Free Press that only about 1 in 5 — or 20 percent — of citizens vote in local elections for mayor, city council and city clerk.

“No one should feel good about winning an election that 80 percent of voters sat out,” the opinion piece states. “But that’s exactly how Detroit’s last election was decided.”

In the last major election in 2021, the report notes, many of the 1 in 5 voters came from the city’s most stable, prosperous neighborhoods.

“It’s Palmer Woods, it’s Sherwood Forest, it’s Indian Village, it’s the University District,” Mario Morrow, a Southfield-based political consultant, tells the Free Press.

The Free Press writes:

Some candidates we spoke to say voters seem fatigued, unenthusiastic about the upcoming election, unsure if their votes matter.

For a dishearteningly large number of Detroiters, political engagement is just not part of daily life. For many of those struggling with housing, safety, schooling or just making ends meet, researching candidates and showing up to the polls is not a realistic ask, without significant intervention from respected leaders who can help them wedge this essential part of the democratic process into their lives.