2023 was anything but a calm year, but 2024 is already shaping up to be a much, much busier year. And the calls have already started: “The 2024 election will be the most important of your lifetime.”
Each election is the most important in some way, whether the defining issue is the Iraq War, civil rights or growth right here where we live, but it’s exhausting when the alarm is sounded every two years. We’re listening to the same track again, and the lyrics aren’t even different from 2020.
State and national politics aside — chances are you already feel a certain way about the president and the governor — it is immensely important that you, yes, you, vote in local elections in 2024.
With the presidency on the ballot, turnout for the 2024 election is expected to be much higher than it was in 2022. The 2020 election brought 77 percent of Volusia County’s registered voters to the polls. It was a big year for local elections, too, with the head seat on the Volusia County Council up for grabs as well as seats on city commissions and councils across the county.
In 2022, turnout was only 55 percent. Just over half of the registered voters in Volusia County made enormous decisions about local politics. And in Volusia, only about 80 percent of residents are even registered to vote at all. Those decisions, whether you cast a vote or not, impact 100 percent of people in Volusia, and even those beyond the county’s borders.
What was up for grabs in 2022? Nearly the entire DeLand City Commission, most of the Deltona City Commission, a majority of seats on the School Board, all but one seat on the County Council and even more.
There aren’t as many local seats up for election in 2024, but there are still key elected roles across Volusia in play. Seats on the County Council — including the county chair — the Volusia County sheriff, the county’s tax collector and seats on every municipal commission.
That’s why it’s important that you pay attention and ensure your voice is heard in 2024. State and national politics are incredibly important, but on a day-to-day basis, the County Council and your City Commission are likely to affect you just as much if not more.
Have strong opinions about where you live? Don’t sit this one out.
Make sure your voter registration is up to date, read up on your local government — The Beacon isn’t a bad place to start — and maybe even consider running yourself. After all, the best time to get involved is yesterday, but that shouldn’t stop you from starting today.
Because even if it doesn’t seem like it, there’s a lot at stake. I guess the hits are hits for a reason — 2024 could very well be the most important election of your lifetime.
