Tag / 2016

by Michael Janairo

2016 Year in Review with Photos

Wall of Masks hanging at a store called Nim Po't in Antingua, Guatemala

Masks at Nim Po’t, Antigua, Guatemala

Fuego Volcano erupts near Antigua, Guatemala, with clouds turning black with ash and red with fire

Fuego Volcano erupting, Antigua, Guatemala

Deborah Zlotsky and Crit Streed at La Tortilla Cooking School in Antigua, Guatemala

Learning to cook, Antigua, Guatemala

Michael and Deborah in front of Robert Indiana's "Love" sculpture at Sixth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan

Valentine’s Day, New York City

Signs on a hike for Snow and Wolf Jaws trails, and Deer Brook Trail, and the High Water Route

Hike near Lake Placid

Michael and Deborah in Lake Placid

Lake Placid

Deborah and Max swap their faces in an image using the Snapchat app

Deb and Max play with Snapchat

In a subway car in Seoul, nearly everyone is one a mobile device, except for one man who is reading a Bible

Subway, Seoul, South Korea

Deborah Zlotsky speaks to a group of Samsung Art and Design Institute students in the shade of a tree, Seonyudo Park, Seoul, South Korea

Samsung Art and Design Institute students, Seonyudo Park, Seoul, South Korea

A tour guide in traditional clothes and straw hat leads visitors toward the Main gate of Changdeokgung Palace

Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea

Lily pads in a pond amid traditional buildings in the Secret Garden, Seoul, South Korea, of the Changdeokgung Palace

Secret Garden, Seoul, South Korea

A wall of screens at the Samsung D-light Store, Seoul, South Korea, shows names and faces of visitors, including Deborah and Michael

Samsung d’Light, Seoul, South Korea

Two young women in traditional costume visit the traditional Hanok Village in Jeonju, South Korea, and take selfies with a selfie stick

Young visitors to the traditional Hanok Village in Jeonju, South Korea

Vesta, Deb and Michael on the rocky coast of Maine

Maine

Deborah Zlotsky wears white coveralls before picking poison ivy

Poison Ivy eradication prep

Low water and worn rock at Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, New York

Buttermilk Falls hike, Ithaca, NY

Max Seiler, Michael Janairo, Deborah Zlotsky post outside voting site in Delmar, New York

Election Day 2016

Glasses raised in a toast with Janairo family at Mitchell's Fish Market at the Galleria in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Thanksgiving Dinner

by Michael Janairo

Fun with numbers, primary-election style

As the primaries continue, I was wondering about turnout. Everyone says turnout is so important. Is there a connection between primary turnout and general election turnout? And how many people have the early voting states turned out?

I wanted numbers:

From the Des Moines Register on the Iowa caucuses:

Republicans counted more than 180,000 caucusgoers, topping their 2012 attendance record of 121,503 by an estimated 60,000 people.

But they didn’t have the Democratic Party numbers. I found those on Bustle.com:

Many precincts were delayed in reporting the Democratic results, but early Tuesday morning, the Iowa Democratic Party announced that171,109 Iowans participated in its caucuses. That’s a fall from 2008, which saw 239,000 vote in the Democratic caucuses throughout the state.

For New Hampshire, I found this from the Union Leader:

A record 542,459 ballots were cast Feb. 9, including a record number of Republican ballots: 287,683. Democrats cast 254,776 ballots, well below their record of 288,672 in 2008.

And for Nevada, Bustle.com reported the Republican turnout:

More than 75,000 Nevada Republicans caucused Tuesday night

AP had the figures on the Democratic side:

Officials say about 84,000 Nevada Democrats participated in Saturday’s caucuses, which is nearly 30 percent fewer than in 2008.

So it seemed like a thing – that the primaries were bringing out more Republicans than Democrats. And if turnout is so important, then maybe this isn’t a good thing for Democrats?

Then I read this in Vox:

The first is historical. Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida and a voter turnout guru, notes that in 2000 the Republican primary turnout ran ahead of that for Democrats (by around 3 million votes), and yet Al Gore won the popular vote over George Bush.

And that was echoed on NPR.com:

McDonald pointed out that in 2000, Republican primary turnout was much heavier than it was for Democrats — and that election between George W. Bush and Al Gore ended up essentially deadlocked until the Supreme Court intervened.

So the stories were basically trying to say that there isn’t a strong relationship between primary and general election turnout. That the percentage of registered voters voting in primaries and caucuses is far lower than the number expected for the general election, and still far lower than number of registered voters. Then again, only 55 percent of the voting eligible population actually voted in 2012.

Being reminded of the 2000 vote, decided by the Supreme Court? Not very encouraging. If only more people voted.