I updated the spreadsheet that I first created a couple of years back to include a new tab and comparisons for 2019 (vs. 2018 & 2017).  The results are pretty disheartening.  Overall voter turnout for precincts that have a vote in elections affecting Middletown dropped to 19.00%.  Which is the low point for the three years I've been tracking (which isn't a long time, but just since I started compiling data).

Link is http://bit.ly/7Nov17MiddletownVoterTurnout

There was an interesting change in that Warren County's Precinct #215 (Turtlecreek Township F) no longer votes in Middletown related races, but Precinct #221 (Turtlecreek Township L) does.  Turtlecreek F is generally the area bounded north and south by Greentree Road and Route 63, with Union road as the west border and Armco Park Lake / Shaker Creek as the eastern border.  So mostly Shake Run and the Racino.  Turtlecreek L is basically the Butler/Warren line to the west side along the I-75 corridor from Lefferson Road to the north down to just south of the outlet mall.  Maybe there was some redistricting in Warren County in the last year and L is a new precinct, not sure.  Otherwise there were really no changes to precincts.

Not a single precinct had an increase (or push) on voter turnout, with the least drop being just less than 14% and the highest being almost 50%.

I'm somewhat surprised to see that kind of a change given the large amount of publicity in the amount of candidates running for mayor/council this election cycle.  However, since there were no state or federal offices up for vote, nor were there any levies or ballot initiatives this year, it would definitely be a factor.  Not a lot of ads on TV or radio because local races don't get a ton of money dumped into them beyond yard signs, billboards, and social media.

But again it goes back to the point I made back in 2017 that anytime wesee someone saying that the majority of the people in this town think one wayor another, know that they're just making it up because the numbers prove themajority don't care enough to have an opinion.

There are scores of facebook groups to discuss Middletown issues that are actively used on a daily basis.  Some groups have as many as 25,800 members and get heavy traffic.  I stopped counting at 50 different groups.  And as a participant in several of these, the "other side of things" here in town is well represented.

I like this site, have been here for many years, and will continue to do so.  John is awesome for providing this forum and keeping it around, no doubt about it.  But this bulletin board site, like so many others similar to it, are seeing dwindling use due to the advent of the age of social media and Web 2.0.  There's less and less of a need for a separate site when it can easily be a page or a group on facebook, or a thread on Twitter, or Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, etc.

It isn't that people are no longer discussing either side of the issues in our town, they're just not doing it here as much anymore.