Got a complaint about how Miami and Miami Beach are being run? Cast your vote Tuesday | Editorial

We sure do have a lot of complaints about the way things are run around here. The most obvious: the firing of Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo — yes, we fired America’s “best chief” after just six months — and Commissioner Joe Carollo’s embarrassing display, live on the internet, as he orchestrated the dismissal and made the whole city look bad.

But there’s a long list of other stuff, too. The dispute in Miami Beach over a 2 a.m. alcohol cutoff to curb out-of-control South Beach partying. A push — again by Carollo — to criminalize homelessness. Financial inequities that keep widening. A so-called tech wave that doesn’t seem to be helping locals. Rents that just keep going up. Mediocre-to-bad public transportation. Climate change gentrification. The existential threat of sea rise. And on, and on, and on.

You’d think the voters would be in an uproar, or at least paying attention — and they should be.

And yet just a tiny fraction of registered voters will cast ballots by the time Tuesday’s elections come to close, if history is any guide. And that’s terrible.

An ‘off-cycle’ election

Even though cities like Miami and Miami Beach voters are choosing commissioners and mayors and weighing in on important measures, this is not a presidential election year, when more people turn out to vote. It’s not even a mid-term election. It’s an “off-cycle” election — the off-off-Broadway of elections, when most people just aren’t engaged.

Not everyone is unhappy about that. Off-cycle elections like this one — about 11% turnout is likely — do tend to benefit some folks. Incumbents, for example, who are more likely to just stay in power. Hard-core supporters, too, because when turnout is low, a handful of votes can steer the election. If you don’t vote, you’re playing into their hands.

Low-turnout elections also allow those who win to make the misleading claim that they have “mandate,” even when a small portion of their district cast ballots. Miami’s own mayor, Francis Suarez, was elected in 2017 with 86% of the vote, something he often brings up. But only a little over 11% of all Miami’s eligible voters actually cast ballots in his favor. And the bulk of his votes, according to a Miami Herald analysis at the time, came from polling places where registered voters were generally Republican and over the age of 66.

Whose voices won’t be heard in a low-turnout election like this one? Young voters, for one, who generally sit out these elections.

So if you’re one of the many people — or organizations — griping right now about crime in Miami Beach or how Carollo is running the city more than the actual mayor, get off the sidelines. Quit complaining to your friends. They’re tired of listening to you, anyway. If you want to change things, vote.

Educate yourself about the issues and candidates, and vote in your local election. Early voting has ended but you can cast your ballot the old-fashioned way, at your precinct on Election Day. Don’t know where to vote? The Miami-Dade Elections Office can help you at www.iamelectionready.org or by calling their office at 305-499-VOTE (8683). Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In this politically fraught time, voting has never been more important. You want to keep democracy? Exercise your right to vote on Tuesday..

This story was originally published October 26, 2021 at 1:40 PM.