The winners of Saturday’s school board elections – who will shape how to fix education systems facing economic and learning challenges – will be selected by a relative handful of voters.
Four board seats are each being decided in the El Paso and Socorro independent school districts, the two largest school systems in El Paso County. By the end of early voting on Tuesday, the highest turnout for any of the seats was 3% of registered voters.
For one seat, Socorro District 3 in the area around El Dorado High School, fewer than 1% of those registered had cast ballots in early voting, according to an El Paso Matters analysis of county voting records.
The low turnout is a hallmark of school board elections. In 2021, the last time these same positions were up for election, 3.6% of registered voters cast ballots.
The only silver lining to such low turnout is that the individual power of those voting is magnified, because elections will be decided by so few voters.
In addition to the El Paso and Socorro school board races, voters also will choose two trustees for the El Paso Community College board and two seats on the San Elizario school board, as well as municipal elections in Anthony, Vinton, Horizon City and San Elizario.
Vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Registered voters can cast ballots at any vote center, not just the one closest to their homes.
The post Voters scarce ahead of Saturday elections for school board seats appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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