Do You Live In Politically Motivated or Politically Apathetic Fair Lawn?
A Patch analysis of three years of election data teases out how often different parts of town go to the polls on election day.
Photos
Pdfs
Nearly 72 percent of registered Fair Lawn voters cast ballots in the presidential election last November, down from 77.6 percent in 2008.
Of those who voted, a majority put their trust in Barack Obama, who received 54.1 percent of Fair Lawn's vote in 2012 and 53.2 percent in 2008.
Elections held in non-presidential years show predictably lower turnout. Only 39 percent of registered voters participated in the 2011 borough council election, for example.
In any election, however, there are pockets of Fair Lawn that get out the vote and others that stay home.
Analysis of voting data from the 2008, 2011 and 2012 elections has revealed four "high turnout districts" and four "low turnout districts" in town. Where does your neighborhood fall along that spectrum?
There's nowhere in Fair Lawn that gets out of the vote better than District 19, where a higher percentage of registered voters cast ballots in 2008 and 2012 than in any other municipal district.
District 19ers, perhaps subconsciously motivated to vote by their proximity to Fair Lawn's political and educational hubs, comprise the district directly across Fair Lawn Avenue from the library and municipal building that stretches south to Morlot Avenue, encompassing Forrest School and abutting Fair Lawn High School.
If you live in District 15, home to many of the borough's renters on Pollitt and Chandler drives, you're a resident of what is perhaps the most politically apathetic section of town. Coincidentally, it's also the most likely to vote Democratic.
Below I've generated a list of high voter turnout and low voter turnout districts in Fair Lawn, based on data from the 2008, 2011 an 2012 elections.
*Districts listed in bold are ones that finished in the top 5 or bottom 5 in the percentage of voter turnout in at least two of the three elections analyzed. See the attached Fair Lawn election map to get a better visual idea what districts comprise your part of town.
High Voter Turnout (Districts 5, 9, 12, 19)
| Voter Turnout - 2012 | Voter Turnout (Council) - 2011 | Voter Turnout - 2008 |
| 71.8% - District 19 | 46.7% - District 5 | 77.44% - District 19 |
| 69.1% - District 23 | 46.2% - District 13 | 76.59% - District 9 |
| 68.9% - District 12 | 45.3% - District 14 | 76.48% - District 3 |
| 67.9% - District 9 | 40.7% - District 4 | 75.32% - District 5 |
| 67.4% - District 5 | 40.2% - District 12 | 74.62% - District 1 |
Low Voter Turnout (Districts 2, 15, 17, 22)
| Voter Turnout - 2012 | Voter Turnout (Council) - 2011 | Voter Turnout - 2008 |
| 62.5% - District 11 | 32.2% - District 22 | 67.9% - District 15 |
| 63.1% - District 15 | 32.2% - District 21 | 68.5% - District 2 |
| 64.1% - District 20 | 33.0% - District 17 | 70.7% - District 17 |
| 64.6% - District 2 | 33.2% - District 15 | 70.8% - District 13 |
| 64.6% - District 17 | 34.7% - District 6 | 71.1% - District 22 |
Polling Stations
| Districts | Place and Address |
|
19 |
JOHN A. FORREST SCHOOL; 10-00 HOPPER AVENUE |
| 16,17 |
FAIR LAWN HIGH SCHOOL; 14-10 BERDAN AVENUE |
| 11,12 |
FAIR LAWN RECREATION/COMMUNITY CENTER; 10-10 KIPP STREET |
| 22, 23 |
MEMORIAL MIDDLE SCHOOL; 12-00 1st STREET |
| 18 | LYNCREST SCHOOL; 10-16 MORLOT AVENUE |
| 1,8,9,10 | WARREN POINT SCHOOL; 30-01 BROADWAY |
| 2,7 |
THOMAS JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL; 35-01 MORLOT AVENUE |
| 3,6 | MILNES SCHOOL; 8-01 PHILIP STREET |
| 4,5 | EDISON SCHOOL, 36-21 FAIR LAWN AVENUE |
| 13,14 | RADBURN SCHOOL, 18-12 RADBURN ROAD |
| 15,20 |
MAURICE PINE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY |
| 21 | WESTMORELAND SCHOOL; 16-50 PARMELEE AVENUE |
Ezra P.
8:16 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
I suspect that one needs to consider voter location during the day to voter turn out relative to where they live and need to go. For instance, if your child is in a school - that you vote at - then you are probably more likely to vote. I cannot find the maps online (after the failed website) - but it would be interesting to see where the districts are relative to the voting center. The voters at the community center for instance - really are not as close to those that vote at Forrest. Forrest is close to other voting districts - like the library (two blocks away), the High School (four blocks away), Lynncrest (further south). People who vote at the community center (which is about 4 blocks from the high school) come from closer (in the immediate vicinity)- and further away. For instance, the community center gets people who live south of Morlot, and east of Plaza Road - while people south of Morlot and on the West side of Plaza vote at Warren Point - I am not sure if district 11 or 12 is closer to the community center - but might reflect the high and low voter turnouts from these two districts.
Show me the Money!
9:28 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
A larger cause for concern than turnout is who is turning out. We have a large share of "low information" voters. If there was a way we could make them even moderate information voters, we would all be better off. In the interim, lets hope they don't vote.
FLResident98
11:03 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
What do you mean by "low information voters"?