Easier To Get Someone To Sign A Petition Than Vote

By Kleinheider Posted on November 13, 2009 at 4:04 pm

Pat Nolan on the feat pulled up by Jamie Hollin:

It appears for the first time in the 45-year history of Metro government, a sitting member of the Metro Council has been ousted from office through a re-call vote.

Given the apparent very narrow margin of victory (2 votes) for attorney Jamie Hollin over incumbent Pam Murray, the election results may look to some more like a nudge than an ouster. But give Hollin credit. He is the first person to ever remove an incumbent councilmember in the middle of a term of office. Going forward, you can bet that is something current and future council members will no doubt keep in mind as they decide how to handle their constituent services, zoning and even where they live and work (these were major issues for Hollin in his effort, first to call the election, and then to defeat Ms. Murray, who lives and works part-time in Detroit).

A special election never gets a large voter turnout. This one got less than 1200 voters, which is interesting because the petition drive got 1200 signatures to call the election, and Hollin got well less than half of that number (542) to win the race over Murray (540). Ironically, I guess that just goes to show how much easier it is to get people to sign a petition, than it is to get to them to the polls. That’s weird, but apparently true.

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