Greater EMC Chamber Launches EMC Votes to Address EMC’s Voter Participation Problem

Greater EMC Chamber Launches EMC Votes to Address EMC’s Voter Participation Problem

New Community Intelligence research identifies a persistent voter participation problem in EMC. Now the Chamber is asking registered EMC voters one important question: “What is getting in the way of you voting?”

The Greater EMC Chamber has launched EMC Votes, a new community engagement initiative focused on increasing voter participation and strengthening EMC’s voice.

The initiative begins with the release of the Chamber’s newest Community Intelligence report, EMC Community Intelligence Series: Civic Participation & Voter Engagement, which examines eight years of election data to better understand voter participation across EMC.

The research documents a persistent problem. EMC voter participation trailed Montgomery County in each of the five general elections examined from 2016 through 2024. In the 2024 general election, 57,429 registered voters were represented in the analysis. Of those, 34,827 voted and 22,602 did not.

But documenting the problem was only the beginning.

The Chamber’s research also examined whether a common factor could help explain why participation is lower in EMC. The analysis tested relationships between voter participation and education, age, household income, homeownership, residential mobility, and race and ethnicity.

Some characteristics were associated with participation, but the data did not identify a single common factor that explains EMC’s voter participation problem. Even when EMC was compared with neighboring precincts with similar demographic characteristics, a participation difference remained.

“We tried to isolate a common issue that could explain what we were seeing, but the data didn’t support one,” said Mark Linabury, President & CEO of the Greater EMC Chamber. “That was important for us to understand. Rather than assume we know why people aren’t voting, we need to ask them.”

What is getting in the way of you voting?

The Chamber is now asking registered EMC voters who sometimes or regularly sit out elections to take less than a minute to answer One Important Question about what gets in the way of their participation.

The responses will help the Chamber better understand the barriers EMC voters experience and help guide the next phase of EMC Votes.

EMC Votes also recognizes the residents who already participate. In the 2024 general election, 34,827 registered EMC voters represented in the analysis cast a ballot. Their participation is the civic foundation on which EMC can build.

“We want EMC to show up,” Linabury said. “If our neighboring communities can show up, why can’t we? The more our community participates, the stronger EMC’s voice becomes.”

EMC Votes will follow a straightforward progression:

Understand the problem. Engage the community. Increase participation. Strengthen EMC’s voice.

Residents can answer One Important Question, read the full EMC Community Intelligence Series: Civic Participation & Voter Engagement report, and access official voting information through Montgomery County Elections at: gemcchamber.com/emc-votes

We want EMC to show up. Why can't we?