Worcester's Municipal Elections, 2013 - 2023

There is an election every year, whether municipal, state, federal, or some combination thereof. In Worcester, elections for municipal government are held every other year, on odd-numbered years. Whether voting for City Councilors, Mayor, or School Committee, Worcester's elected local government has the opportunity to change hands regularly. The Research Bureau has long written about Worcester's municipal elections, including many this year, including  Bureau Brief-Worcester's 2023 Election, a Primer  (May 2023) and  Understanding Worcester's Charter  (October 2023). This StoryMap presents Worcester's general municipal elections between 2013 and 2023, with a special focus on individual races in  2021  and  2023 . The hope is to generate interest in elections going forward, and to present to voters a clear and indisputable fact: turnout for municipal elections is low, and many elections -- especially contested elections in districts -- hinge on sometimes just a few hundred votes or even just a few dozen. Voting precincts, those smallest of boundaries to help organize City Council districts, polling stations, and the like, see candidates separated by sometimes a handful of votes. The common adage is that every vote counts; that is especially true in municipal elections with low turnout. Indeed, between the 2013 and 2023 municipal elections, turnout ranged from a 2013 low (14.44% of registered voters) to a 2015 high (21.35% of registered voters). 2017 (15.26%), 2019 (17.28%), and 2021 (16.56%) barely budged past 17% of voter turnout. And what does that look like? That means that, in 2021 for example, of 104,595 registered voters only 17,326 cast ballots in the election. Compare that to the turnout for the presidential election the year before: of 111,318 registered voters in 2020, 71,932 cast ballots -- that's more than 64% of registered voters. Still, despite not rising above the absolute percentage turnout of 2015, 2023 did have the highest total turnout in the last ten years, with 21,877 voters (out of 112,326 registered) turning out to cast a vote in their municipal election.

While there should be high turnout for every election, local elections are crucial: they determine how city budgets are set, set priorities for for public safety and street redesigns, how money is spent in schools, and so much more. This series of maps will briefly touch on general municipal elections from 2013 to 2019, and then on individual races from 2021 and 2023.

The following four maps show turnout on a precinct by precinct basis for Worcester's elections from 2013 to 2019, and includes some information about the preliminary elections in the text as well, if there was a preliminary election that year. Click the arrows on the right and left of the maps to scroll through each of the four.

The 2021 preliminary election saw Districts 1 and Districts 5 contested by three and four candidates respectively. Of 47,950 eligible voters, 4,977 cast ballots for 10.38% turnout. The general election saw ten candidates run for at-large City Council seats, of which four also ran for Mayor. Districts 1, 2 and 5 were contested; 3 and 4 were uncontested. Eight candidates ran for six School Committee seats. Of 104,595 registered voters, 17,326 cast ballots for 16.56% turnout in this particular election.

The dashboard below shows turnout by precinct for November 2021. The three lines on the bottom left will open the legend. Clicking on a precinct will show a pop up with information about the number of registered voters, cast ballots, precinct-specific turnout, and the percentage of votes the precinct contributed to the vote total city wide. On the right, you can find a scatter plot that shows the relationship between the number of registered voters and ballots cast in the election. Clicking on any dot will highlight the corresponding precinct on the left.

For 2021, The Research Bureau has included a number of additional maps besides simply overall turnout percentages by precinct. First, for election for Mayor, this map shows the percentage of votes received by each candidate on a precinct by precinct basis (click on the pie charts for more information about each candidate in a precinct). The winner, Joseph M. Petty, received more than 60% of the overall votes for Mayor. The charts themselves are placed over a map showing each precinct's ballots cast as a percentage of the city wide total.

The tables to the left show the top and bottom five precincts by voter turnout within the precinct, as well as a the top and bottom five precincts by number of cast ballots.

Second, we've included three additional maps, one for each contested District seat. In 2021, these were Districts 1, 2, and 5. These maps show the margin of victory of candidates in each precinct they competed in. Colors in each precinct represent the percentage of the total vote that the winning candidate received on election day; darker colors indicate a higher percentage. The number labels on the map shows the difference in votes between the two candidates. Positive numbers indicate that the election day victor won in that precinct; the larger the positive number, the greater the margin of victory. Negative numbers indicate that the other candidate won more votes in a precinct, and the size of that number indicates the amount. Neither positive nor negative numbers indicate anything about the candidates themselves other than whether they won on election day. These values were calculated simply by subtracting the number of votes that the victor's opponent received from the number the victor received. Values that are closer together indicate that the precinct was more closely split. Click on a precinct to see the exact number of votes and the percentage that each candidate received, as well as the specific margins that candidates differed by in each precinct.

The 2023 election has two important differences from the municipal elections that came before it. First, redistricting occurred after the 2020 Census, creating slightly different arrangements of precincts, including the addition of a few more. But, perhaps most importantly, the 2023 election is the first with a new School Committee arrangement. While previously there were six at-large seats for School Committee, now there are six district seats and two at-large seats for the Committee -- which means that there are far more opportunities for contested seats leading to preliminary elections in the future. And in fact, the preliminary election did have a contested School Committee district race -- District E had three candidates vying for two spots. On the City Council side, Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5 had contested races. In District 1, 2, and 5, three candidates ran for one of two spots on the November ballot. In District 4, five candidates did the same.

On November 7, 2023, 19.47% of registered voters in the city cast ballots in the municipal election (there was also a special State Senate election. Those ballots were only available in six precincts, and contributed an additional 2,708 ballots to the total. While those numbers are included in the city's unofficial precinct by precinct total, the maps below reflect only the municipal ballots cast).

These next two maps show turnout on a precinct by precinct basis (the blue map on the left) and what percentage each precinct contributed to the total number of votes cast citywide (the orange map on the right). Use the slider in the middle of the map to switch between each of them. Click on any precinct to see more information about the votes cast in that precinct, including if there is any difference between the number of municipal ballots cast and special state senate election ballots cast. Click the bottom left of the map to see the legend for both maps; darker colors indicate higher percentages.

The two charts to the right show the top five largest and smallest turnouts by first percentage, and then by number of cast ballots within that precinct.

In terms of overall percentage, Precinct 1-3 (with 1407 registered voters and 528 cast ballots) had the highest overall turnout, with nearly 38% of registered voters casting a ballot in the municipal election (1-3 is in City Council District 1). Four of the top five turnouts were in District 1. One (9-5) is in District 5. Precinct 2-6A had the lowest turnout, with 21 cast ballots out of 591 registered voters, for a turnout of 3.55%. 2-6A is in District 1, but is a new split precinct created for the new school committee districts. The precincts 8-2, 10-5, and 10-4A are in District 4, and 4-1 is in District 2.

In terms of number of cast ballots, again Districts 1 and 5 have the top five precincts by ballots cast -- three are in District 1 and two are in District 5. Of those, 9-5 had the highest number of cast ballots at 953 of 2753 registered voters.

In terms of fewest cast ballots, most are new split precincts that were created for the new school committee districts. 2-6A was again the lowest, with 21 ballots cast. 3-3A, 3-5A, and 4-2B are in District 2. Precinct 6-4 is in District 3.

The map above shows the vote for mayor in 2023. Click the arrows on the top right to expand the view. Each precinct is colored by the amount of votes that were cast for mayor in that precinct. Each circle shows the percentage of the vote that each mayoral candidate received on election night. Click on any precinct to see a breakdown of the information in that precinct.

Below is a dashboard to compare winning at-large candidates (in both City Council and School Committee) between 2021 and 2023. Clicking on any precinct will show you more information about that precinct. Clicking on the three stacked squares on the top right of each map will allow you to switch between different candidates. An eye with a slash through it indicates that that map is currently not being shown. An eye without a slash indicates that a map is being shown. Only one map can be active at a time (make sure that only one eye is "open").

Finally, these final maps show each contested district in 2023, in City Council Districts 1 through 5 and School Committee Districts C and E. These maps show the margin of victory of candidates in each precinct they competed in. Colors in each precinct represent the percentage of the total vote that the winning candidate received on election day; darker colors indicate a higher percentage. The number labels on the map shows the difference in votes between the two candidates. Positive numbers indicate that the election day victor won in that precinct; the larger the positive number, the greater the margin of victory. Negative numbers indicate that the other candidate won more votes in a precinct, and the size of that number indicates the amount. Neither positive nor negative numbers indicate anything about the candidates themselves other than whether they won on election day. These values were calculated simply by subtracting the number of votes that the victor's opponent received from the number the victor received. Values that are closer together indicate that the precinct was more closely split. Use the buttons on the right to click through to the specific map that you want to see. Then, click on a precinct to see the exact number of votes and the percentage that each candidate received, as well as the specific margins that candidates differed by in each precinct.

While they happen every two years, municipal elections in Worcester simply do not draw the interest (or turnout) that midterm or presidential elections do. Turnout from 2013 to 2023 hit a high in 2015, and while steady, has yet to surpass it. While it is trending upwards -- and 2023 was 3% points higher than 2021 -- it is nowhere close to the 64.62% of voters who turned out to cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election.

Despite the fact that the percentage of turnout in 2023 did not beat the 2015 high, it was significant for another reason: it was the highest total amount of cast ballots and registered voters in the last ten years. While 2015 might have had nearly 22% turnout, it had the fewest registered voters (93,460). 2023 had both 21,877 cast ballots, breaking the 2015 ballot total, and 112,326 registered voters -- putting it in the number one spot for sheer number of ballots and voters when compared to the last five municipal elections. 2023 had more than 4,000 more cast ballots and nearly 7,000 more registered voters. With effort, this momentum should continue in the 2025 municipal election.

Another aspect of turnout in Worcester is that, when looking at the top and bottom precincts by turnout percentages, the same areas of the city are frequently present. While not every precinct has the same number of registered or eligible voters (and that is certainly going to impact the turnout in those areas) it is worth considering how to increase turnout in low turnout areas. Some basic ideas could include targeted information campaigns towards voters, and more attempts to increase awareness of absentee and early voting opportunities (this year, early voting took place entirely at the main branch of the Worcester Public Library). Additionally, this year the Worcester Public Schools actually had no school on election day; whether this had an effect on turnout cannot quite be known with the data we currently have, but it is worth considering how such actions could increase the opportunities that voters have to make it to the polls on election day itself.