Younger voters impact

The voter turnout for the mayoral and city commission elections was about 31 percent for each precinct, with the mayoral race leading with 32.4 percent. “I think it’s highly unlikely that some of these people couldn’t win,” said Corey White, a 22-year-old junior biology student from St. Petersburg, referring to the amount of run-offs. Tallahasseans still face three run-offs before the City Commission is officially complete. Candidates must receive 50 percent plus one of the votes to win the election outright. If not, the top two candidates compete in the Feb. 25 runoff. Mark Mustian, seat 1, and seat 5 incumbent Allan Katz are the only candidates who do not have a run-off for their positions. Haynes A. McDaniel, who lost the seat 5 election, said that although he did not win the race, he will continue to push for his issues. One of his main issues is the date elections are held. The elections were moved from November, when the general elections are held, to February. “I think we’d only gain by having elections in the fall,” McDaniel said. “I think we only do it for one reason – to protect the incumbents. A challenger has a hard time in a one-month period making a dent.” Although, the 30 percent turnout rate was good for Tallahassee, which historically has low voter turnout, some people didn’t think that was enough. “I’m disappointed more people didn’t come out and vote,” said Jamil Brown, a 21-year-old senior civil engineering technology student from College Park, Ga. “It seems like when you’re in a smaller city, more people would come out and vote, as opposed to when you live in a city like Atlanta.” However, Brown did think more young people voted. “I think it’s good to see a young person in the runoff,” he said. “That might mean more students came out to vote.”