For the last two weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have volunteered for the Ohio Democratic Party’s phone bank, speaking with local candidates across the state and interacting with potential voters. Our task was to collect data on voters’ knowledge of the candidates, their affiliations, and voting plans. However, most had no interest in providing this information, and those who did were already set in their choices. People who were uninformed were not interested in hearing about Sherrod Brown, or any of the local election candidates. Two of the candidates I called on behalf of were running for Erie County Commission, Leslie Murray and Marcus Harris, and many people did not care about the local elections at all. I quickly realized that the biggest challenge wasn’t a lack of candidate knowledge—it was a deep-rooted voter apathy. The experience opened my eyes to the complexity of mobilizing voters, especially for local elections. It also raised questions about how political engagement varies across demographics, and why so many voters seem to care so little about local politics, despite its direct impact on their lives.

Voter Apathy

When cold-calling voters, my main task was to collect data about their knowledge of candidates, their political affiliations, and voting intentions. What I found, however, was a consistent wave of indifference. The majority of people I contacted had no interest in sharing information or even discussing candidates like Sherrod Brown or any of the local office hopefuls. It seemed as though the mere mention of an upcoming election—especially a local one—was met with annoyance. When I introduced myself as a volunteer for the Ohio Democratic Party, even over the phone I could sense the eyerolls of the people on the end of the line, because from aggressive attack ads, social media posts, morning talk shows, and bumper stickers, politics seem inescapable, and to be honest I understand why some might be over it. 

This isn’t new—voter apathy, particularly toward local elections, is well-documented in political discourse. What struck me most, though, was the level of disinterest even among registered Democrats. When calling people, I could see information about the person, such as their age, registered party, and whether or not they had requested a ballot yet this year if they were voting absentee. I chose to start by calling registered Democrats who had requested a Democratic Party ballot for this election. People who should, in theory, care about shaping their local governance, considering they are intending on voting in the next three weeks. I was shocked when voters either didn’t know about the candidates or were completely uninterested in learning more. There’s a sense of frustration when you realize that decisions made at the local level—like property taxes, school funding, and infrastructure projects—often have the most immediate effect on voters’ daily lives, and yet, these are the very elections they overlook.

Local elections, as this New Yorker article outlines, offer elected officials far more leeway to pass radical or impactful legislation than national figures, who face layers of checks and balances. The article explains that despite the support of abortion access across the state of Ohio, the state’s Generally Assembly passed a ban, and the state legislature has swayed extremely red in the last few years, with Democrats holding only 7 of 33 Senate seats, and 32 of 99 seats in the House. 

The two local candidates we were campaigning for at the phone bank were running for County Commission, which can decide on things like zoning laws and property taxes, shaping communities for decades, yet it seems that local and state government is not properly representing the fairly moderate views of the state as a whole, and that doesn’t seem to be changing since the voters I talked to still didn’t care. 

The Demographic Divide

One trend that became very clear during my time at the phone bank was the age of the voters we were calling. The data provided beforehand included voter age, and more often than not, I was contacting older individuals—people aged 60 and up. The older demographic tended to be either firmly set in their political views or completely disinterested in discussing local politics. While some knew their candidates and were polite in their responses, others were outright hostile, clearly frustrated with being “pestered” about upcoming elections.

Older voters tend to vote more often but are less likely to change their views, often informed by partisan TV outlets. Younger voters, however, may be easier to engage because many issues—like climate change and student debt—affect them more directly. Younger voters also tend to be more politically engaged on social media, but they are harder to reach through traditional methods like phone banking, as they often don’t have landline phones and may be working during the day. Different methods of outreach, such as targeted social media campaigns or surveys, might be more effective in communicating with younger voters.

Why Local Elections Matter

What surprised me the most about this experience was the stark contrast between how much power local officials hold and how little people seem to care. Voters tend to show up in larger numbers for national elections, driven by high-profile candidates and major media coverage. But local elections are often decided by only a small fraction of eligible voters—yet these are the elections that can radically change the landscape of a community.

Take Erie County, for instance, where the local commission race involving Leslie Murray and Marcus Harris saw widespread voter disinterest from the people I talked to. These local officials could influence decisions like the allocation of funding for schools, public health initiatives, and local infrastructure projects. Yet, when I mentioned the race to voters on the phone, many brushed it off as unimportant. It was baffling to me, given how directly these elections would impact their everyday lives.

The same goes for candidates like Sherrod Brown, whose policies are deeply tied to the livelihoods of Ohioans. But when voters don’t care, or worse, don’t even know the names of the candidates representing them, it creates a disconnection between government actions and citizen needs. Political disengagement leads to lack of representation, and just voting in presidential elections does not address everyday issues that local public officials could. In Katherine Cramer’s book “The Politics of Resentment”, she discusses how state-level politicians will listen to wealthier voters, who are able to win elections for candidates that do not truly represent the population due to low turnout among those of lower socioeconomic status. 

The Challenge of Reaching Voters

One of the most frustrating aspects of phone banking is realizing how little voters want to engage with the democratic process. I understand why to a degree—I wouldn’t pick up a call from a random number and want to give information about myself. People are skeptical of political calls, and think politicians and party-affiliated organizations are disingenuous. Many also see voting as a hassle, especially for local races. But the reality is, local elections can be just as, if not more, important than national ones.

When I mentioned candidates running for the Erie County Commission or Ohio Senate races, the common response was, “Why should I care?” It’s difficult to make someone care about something they’ve already dismissed, especially when their day-to-day struggles often seem disconnected from the promises of politicians. But that disconnection is exactly what local politicians have the potential to change—if only voters would listen and engage.