CLEVELAND — Downtown Cleveland voting precincts are seeing increases in voter participation at least partially due to increased efforts from Downtown Cleveland Residents (DCR).
"We want power, we're downtown, we want to have our voice heard," said DCR member Maggie Brock.
That's why she got involved with DCR when she moved downtown a year and a half ago, and why she started helping her fellow downtowners get signed up to vote.
"We registered 20 people in one day, which I was stunned by," said Brock, referring to the group's efforts on National Voter Registration Day.
The number of registered voters in the two precincts that cover most of downtown Cleveland, Precincts 3I and 3L, increased by more than 350 voters over the last four years. But that statistic can be complicated by the fact that there has been a large amount of population growth in and around those precincts (14,100 people in 2016 to 18,800 people in 2020 according to data from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance) and resident-turnover in a neighborhood that has mostly rental units.
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- Click here for voter participation data from 2012.
- Click here for voter participation data from 2014.
- Click here for voter participation data from 2016.
- Click here for voter participation data from 2018.
The percentage of registered voters downtown participating in elections has drastically increased, led by a more than 55 percent turnout in precinct 3I, which is east of the river and south of the stadium.
"It was one of the first things I did when I moved, register to vote," said downtown resident Pete Marek.
"It's incredibly important," said downtown resident Tamara Weg. "There's a lot of potential downtown that hasn't been actualized yet."
Part of that potential would make the neighborhood feel more like a community.
"The current climate, it's a lot of the status quo," said Weg. "Things have really been pretty stagnant since when I moved here three years ago."
Hundreds of apartments are under construction right now, but Weg points out there aren't many salons, retail stores or features like bike infrastructure in her part of the Warehouse District.
"Why are the sidewalks so small and why are the streets so wide," asked Weg.
In Playhouse Square, Marek says the concerns are the same.
"[Downtown] wasn't built for people," said Marek. "It was built for offices so we have concerns that need to be addressed: pedestrian walking, bike lanes."
If voters know what they want to change, Brock says what's left is for voters to show it at the ballot box.
"We need so many things to make this place where real people live and not just a place for transients," said Brock.
She says the next goal is to get voter registration literature into every downtown building lobby.
