There’s been a big uptick of interest in local politics in Worcester the past few weeks.. I’m sharing this story again that I wrote in March which details data from @WRRBureau on municipal election voter demographics as I think it’s relevant rn. https://www.masslive.com/worcester/2020/03/whos-deciding-worcesters-elections-new-worcester-regional-research-bureau-report-finds-small-portion-of-supervoters-determine-citys-municipal-elections.html

Many are upset with council’s decision last night to approve the fiscal 2021 budget, which gives the WPD a $254k increase. I think this data from the research bureau can help provide context to Worcester’s council and their voting record.

The premise of the data is this: “Worcester’s electorate is not representative of the city’s larger community, instead representing a smaller portion of white, middle-class voters that reside in single-family homes.”

Let’s look at some numbers: “Around 17% of registered voters in Worcester voted in 2019 - 63% of those voters live in a single-family home, compared to 44% of all residents.”

“the report finds that around 29% of 2019 voters were voting in their fifth straight municipal election - these voters would be classified as supervoters.”

“Across the 50 precincts that make up Worcester, and determine a voter’s polling location, the percentage of returning voters is skewed. In fact, the city’s West Side has a substantially higher percentage of voters, the report states.”

“The average voter age in the 2019 Worcester municipal election was 58.2 years old, the report claims.”

“Further demonstrating the discrepancy in age amongst voters, the report reveals only 10 percent of under-55 registered voters turned out, while 28 percent of registered voters over age 55 did.”

“This means residents over 55 made up 62 percent of 2019 voters, despite being only 37 percent of registered voters and 30 percent of voting-age Worcester residents.”

This of course brings up a whole other conversation about polling location accessibility and other factors.

I do know, however, I’ve seen the same people voted in to council year after year without any real challenge. If you are unhappy, and want change - VOTE in municipal elections, or better, start a campaign.