Last year, just about nine percent of people voted in the local election, and most of them were older adults. Because of this, a town subcommittee called Vision for Lexington is working on ideas to get more people involved in voting. Vision for Lexington put together a report this summer with suggestions like adding more ballot drop boxes, making mail-in voting. The goal of Vision for Lexington is to make voting easier and help people see why local elections matter.

They (Vision for Lexington) want to make a team that helps more people vote over the next few years. This team will include students from Lexington High School and Minuteman High School. In addition, the team will work to fix problems that make voting difficult for many, like not having a ride, language barriers, or not knowing when or how to vote.

One big reason why so few people vote in Lexington’s local elections is that most elections don’t have more than one candidate, so there isn’t much competition, and many people feel like there’s no point in voting. When there’s no real competition, people might think their vote doesn’t really change anything. To help with this, the Vision for Lexington report suggests setting up a public fund to support local candidates’ campaigns. The idea is that when more candidates run and elections become more competitive, voters feel their vote matters more, which motivates them to participate.

The report identifies that most people ignore voting because they do not realize how significant local elections are. As opposed to the national elections, local ones decide matters like school budgets, road development, and zoning. Nevertheless, people don’t realize how these decisions can impact their lives on a daily basis. The group believes that better civic education can fix this problem, with more classroom teaching and clearer advice on elections.

To help with all this, the subcommittee wants to support the Town Clerk’s office They also want to make Lexpress, the town’s bus service, free on election days to help more people get to the polls. Another idea is to improve the way voting information is shared, like posting more on social media and sending out clear guides about voting by mail. We even hold a “voting awareness day” to get the word out.