Voter Turnout Was Pretty Low For This Year’s Primary

Now that the 2025 New York State Primary has come and gone, communities all over the Empire State have a better idea of what things are going to look like in November when the general election happens.

In New York City, New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani scored a major victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary over former Governor Andrew Cuomo. In Buffalo, New York State Senator Sean Ryan also pulled a similarly strong victory over Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. Smaller communities all over New York saw some surprising results in their primaries.

However, one thing that happened, which unfortunately isn't that much of a surprise, is that voter turnout was still pretty low. But considering how much people complain about the state of our political system, you'd think the numbers would be higher.

Buffalo Sees Low Voter Turnout In Primary Election

Based on preliminary voter data that has been made available from the Board of Elections, several key primary races in Western New York saw less than 30% of eligible voters turnout to cast their vote.

According to 2025's Erie County Apportionment and Enrollment data, which was published on February 24, 2025, there were more than 629,000 registered voters in the county, and some key races broke down like this:

• The Republican Primary for Amherst Town Supervisor saw 2,937 votes cast, with Dan Gagliardo winning the race with 56.8% of the vote. However, Amherst has more than 23,000 registered Republicans in the town, giving this race a voter turnout of around 12%.
• The Republican Primary for Orchard Park Town Supervisor had 1,547 votes cast by residents, with Joseph Liberti earning a big victory in the town by winning nearly 77% of the vote. But only around 18% of voters in the towns with more than 8,300 registered Republicans came out to vote.
• The numbers in Buffalo's Democratic Primary for Mayor aren't much better. 26,465 votes were cast in the election, with Sean Ryan winning by earning more than 46% of those votes. However, with Buffalo having more than 96,600 registered voters, this means that more than 70% of the city decided to stay home.

Given the numerous complaints people have, it's challenging to understand why voter turnout is so low. Do you have any ideas or suggestions on how to get more people to participate in elections?

We, in America, do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.
Thomas Jefferson, Third President Of The United States