The vast majority of Long Beachers think voting sucks.
This isn’t cynicism; it’s the truth. Long Beach’s voter turnout in the 2014 election was just 22.1 percent—lower than Los Angeles County’s just-as-sad 25.2 percent. (Not to mention: California faced the worst voter turnout in its history in 2014. Apathy runs supreme in today’s digital world.)
The April primary for Long Beach’s election proved dismal citywide, with 11.5 percent of voters voting. Repeat: nearly nine out of 10 voters in Long Beach refused to show up, finding something more important that day than electing the people who will largely shape their district.
And yes, this is that pesky, oddly timed election when it seems like no one else in the world is having an election. The one smack dab in the middle of nothing. I get that. But, it’s an election. We’re talkin’ everything from leading and supporting development to creating (or taking away) parking, from how to address homelessness to creating tax measures and instituting minimum wage ordinances.
So when the cats at City Fabrick decided to take on voter apathy, they went about it in a way that eschewed former attempts at making voting sexy. (Yes, one attempt included involving WWE wrestlers. Le sigh.) The issue probably lies in the fact that there has yet to be any systematic effort to transform voting’s oh-dear-gods-why-do-I-have-to-do-this? perspective amongst citizens. The attempts at getting people to polls have been gimmicky one-offs that are more event-based than creative.
And this is where City Fabrick should be applauded: creating a tool kit rather than an event for polling places to become social spaces is not just innovative but proactive. It can be applied to more than one place. It can be molded to fit whatever demographic is being served in any particular precinct. It is malleable.
Surely, money helps and they needed it; the crew scored $153K from the Knight Foundation to help “Place Make the Vote” (PMTV) a reality. But when the time came to actually implement the idea, it proves that doing something on this scale is more difficult than it sounds—especially when you are trying to look out and activate neighborhoods and places that have historically low turnout points.
It goes much deeper than finding a food truck and band, and plottin’ ’em. In fact, what the behind-the-scenes details go to show is how City Fabrick delved into the thought process behind it all: design, graphic work, tchotchkes, hell, even laser-cut furniture than be reassembled endlessly.
What PMTV represents is something coming from Long Beach from an angle that no one in the nation has thought to do: bring it back to the simple fact that voting is a social thing and after voting, people should and want to gather, celebrate life, and celebrate being American (whether they’re proud of that or otherwise).
We can sit here over and over and over, breaking down why this election is important or why that election is important. Every election is important but all too often, we remove the human part of it all. The fact that we’re neighbors. The fact that we live with the decisions of our leaders, not just analyze them after they’ve been implemented.
So why not join a neighbor over a grilled cheese and talk about it? Because just as much as a politician makes a decision that alters your life, you’re making a decision that alters the life of everyone around you.
Brian Addison is a Long Beach resident and journalist who holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing from California State University, Long Beach.