Oh, hi!
Election Day is over.
The signs will come down. The ads will stop. And most of us will happily stop getting political texts. But cities can’t let the engagement stop.
For months, residents heard the same message:
Your voice matters.
Register. Learn about the issues. Show up. Vote. And they did.
Here in Maricopa County, where I live, election officials projected turnout could reach 65%, near the highest midterm participation the county has seen in more than 50 years.
That’s a lot of people paying attention to government.
So what happens to all that engagement now?
The engagement gap
Here’s a statistic that caught my attention.
According to AmeriCorps’ research on civic life in America, 53% of adults said they voted in their last local election.
But only 9% contacted a public official. And just 9% attended a public meeting.
Think about that gap.
We can get people to participate in one of the biggest acts of civic engagement, voting, but we’re not nearly as successful at keeping them involved in the everyday work of their communities.
And that’s where I think cities have a huge opportunity.
Voting is one touchpoint
We tend to think about civic engagement in moments: an election, a public meeting, a resident survey.
But residents don’t experience their local government in moments. They experience it every day:
When they report a pothole.
Try to understand a new development.
Look for a parks and recreation class.
Question a utility bill.
Comment on an Instagram post.
Report an issue on 311.
That’s civic engagement too.
When I oversaw digital services and 311 in Gilbert, Arizona, I thought a lot about how we could make it easier for residents to participate in their local government. Not just when we needed something from them.
All the time.
Don’t lose the moment
Research on local elections has found that 30% to 50% of people who are mobilized to vote in one election will continue voting in future elections.
Participation can become a habit. So why shouldn’t we think about the rest of civic engagement the same way?
What if cities used the weeks after an election to invite residents into the next conversation? Ask one question on social media. Explain one confusing city process in plain language. Invite residents to weigh in before a decision has already been made. Make it ridiculously easy to report a problem and find out what happened next.
And most importantly…close the loop. If you ask residents what they think, tell them what you did with what they told you.
We spend a lot of time talking about voter turnout. Maybe the better measure is what happens next. How do we turn voters into participants?
The best resident experience isn’t just making it easier to interact with government. It’s making people believe their participation actually matters.
Talk soon,
Dana
About Dana
Former Emmy-winning television producer and Chief Digital Officer. Built Gilbert, AZ's national award-wining Office of Digital Government. Now helping city communicators tell stories that build trust.
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