As many pundits noted before last night’s election, Luther Strange needed a large turnout to win the runoff vote against Roy Moore in the Republican primary. Despite visits from President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, that didn’t happen and Roy Moore’s core base of ardent supporters more than carried the day.
While today’s news cycle has no shortage of speculation over why Moore won and why Strange lost, one thing is abundantly clear, the vast majority of Alabama’s voters didn’t bother to show up.
According to information on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website, only 14.39% of registered voters cast a ballot yesterday. That’s more than three percentage points lower than the meager 17.95% who turned out in the primary. Yes, runoff votes usually attract less attention, as do off-year elections and special elections.
Still, last night’s dismal turnout is particularly intriguing in light of the fact that the whole nation seemed hyper-focused on this race. Whether or not low voter turnout delivered the victory to Roy Moore is unclear, but what does seem obvious as the smoke clears today is that the media and a very small minority of engaged citizens cared far more about this race than most Alabama voters.
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