Helping My Community Learn Why Local Elections Matter

Posted by Forbes on February 3, 2026

The disconnect between low voter turnout and the major impact of local elections inspired Manuela Bulgaro, student and President of the Criminal Justice Club at Raritan Valley Community College, to organize a nonpartisan event called “Why Local Elections Matter.”

When people talk about elections, they often picture the national stage of the presidential election. Everyone knows the presidential candidates and their stances on issues. But the truth is, the level of government that affects our daily lives the most is local. Local and state officials make decisions about our roads, schools, public safety, property taxes, and community resources. But paradoxically, these elections consistently see the lowest voter turnout.

Part of the reason why local voter turnout is so low is that people don’t understand how local government functions or how deeply it affects their daily life. Curious to see how local government worked in practice, I began attending township committee meetings. At one meeting, I watched a resident step up to the microphone to talk about the flooding that kept affecting his neighborhood. The committee members listened, thanked him for bringing it to their attention, and assured him that someone would be sent to address the issue and clean the storm drains to prevent future flooding. It struck me to see democracy working at this level. Here, party politics didn’t matter; what mattered was the shared goal of improving the town to better serve its citizens regardless of how big or small the issue is. After speaking with many college students who are more active than their peers in politics, I realized most had never even heard of a township committee — let alone participated in any election beyond the presidential one. That reality inspired me to create Why Local Elections Matter, a nonpartisan event I organized at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC).

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