On Tuesday, November 3rd, voters in Indianapolis decided the future for the next four years in Marion County as they elected a new mayor and new city-county council. The voters that showed up to the polls Tuesday voted in Democrat Joe Hogsett  handily over Republican Chuck Brewer by a margin of 62 to 37%.

The Democrats scored another victory with a win of the majority of the seats in the City-County Council 13 to 12. This marks the first time in Indianapolis history that the Democrats control both the Council and the Mayor’s office.

Even though the elections decided who would be the city’s leaders for the next four years, according to Fox-59 we saw only 22.69% voter turnout among the 660,000 registered voters in Marion County. That is the lowest turnout in over twenty years; Indianapolis hasn’t seen this low of a turnout at the polls since 1991.

Voters in Indianapolis were even more apathetic in the primary elections in May, as only 7% of voters voted in those elections.

Lack of interest among the voting age is a rising issue in America today and especially in municipal elections on non-presidential election years.  For example, in 2008 when now President Barack Obama won the oval office, a record turnout of 63% showed up to vote.

This was the largest turnout among eligible voters since 1976.  Obama’s campaign was led by a grassroots effort and his message of “Hope” and “Change,” which along with Obama’s youthful appearance and energy spread an enthusiastic wave across the country as young and minority voters came to the polls in record numbers.  Just two years later, only 42% of the voters showed up in the 2010 midterm elections.

There are a multitude of reasons why voters, and especially younger voters, do not vote in elections. When asked why she did not vote last Tuesday, senior Regan Wagner said, “I just really did not care about the election.”

The low turnout in Marion County and across the country is a sign of voter disengagement, lack of interest in the candidates, and the feeling that the individual voter doesn’t think that their vote counts. Voters in general want to feel as though they matter individually and the idea of every vote counts is popular message spread by politicians around election season.

It is ironic that the lack of voter participation and level of civil disengagement is so high in the country that formed the concept of democratic elections in the modern era.  For example, typically around 60% of American voters vote on Presidential years and only 40% vote during the mid-term elections.

According to fairvote.org, in countries where voting is a much newer right, such as Turkey, voting rates are as high as 86%. In Australia, where voting is mandatory and those who do not participate are fined, voters came to the polls at a rate of 94% in 2014.

Throughout the country the number of Americans who don’t vote and who simply do not care is rising,especially so among young adults.  The voting apathy appears likely to continue to plague our country and will remain a pressing issue as our country faces a presidential election in 2016.