Election results reveal a low voter turnout for the City of Lawton

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - The September 12 election yielded surprising results on Lawton’s voter turnout with roughly 6% of registered voters actually taking to the polls.

According to the Comanche county election board there are approximately 40,000 registered voters in Lawton. Out of those people, around 2,400 actually cast a ballot. Which passed the Ad Valorem Tax at just over a 1% margin. A difference of 41 votes, which shows how effective the individual vote is.

Compare this to the 2017 election for the first ad valorem tax, where a total of 2,038 votes were cast. A similar but still low number.

“Obviously, we would like to have one hundred percent of the vote for the proposition. Now, obviously, that doesn’t ever happen, and this was a lot thinner win than we would like to have; but what that tells us is that we were not aggressive enough, early enough, with our, transparency,” said Mayor Stan Booker.

Mayor Booker said they’re going to be taking a more transparent and aggressive strategy for future city elections.

According to the election board, Lawton has always had a low-voter turnout.

While at the courthouse 7News spoke with a person who voted “yes” for the Ad Valorem tax.

“Have you driven on the roads around here? Have you seen the buildings around here that need to be pushed down,” asked Felicia Maddox. “Our city’s in shambles.”

Maddox said local elections are the most important elections for your voice to be heard.

“It’s important because I have grandchildren, and they have to grow up in this world, and if I don’t advocate for them now, I don’t know who’s going to advocate for them when I die,” Maddox said. “There will be nobody here to advocate for them, and if I don’t teach them how to advocate for themselves, then the world is not going to get any better.”

Maddox added voting is a privilege that we have that other countries don’t and it’s important to take advantage of it.

“If you missed this election for whatever reason, there will be other municipal elections,” said Booker. “We encourage you to get involved with your municipal elections. They determine the future of our city.”

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