Wealthier people are more likely to vote in off-year elections. And that means the 194 school levies on the ballot this fall are likely to be decided by the votes of the relatively rich, University of Dayton professor Dan Birdsong tells WYSO.
In a year without a state or national election, these decisions are made by relatively small groups of people.
“It’s skewed to the people at the, kind of the higher end of socio-economic status right now,” said Dan Birdsong of the University of Dayton. Older and wealthier people are more likely to show up to the polls in off-year elections. At least one recent school levy, in Brookville, came down to a precise tie on its first count, and levy issues in Centerville have been defeated by narrow margins consisting of just a few dozen people.