Primary 2015: The case of the missing voters

At stake were nominations for the mayor's office in the nation's fifth-largest city and three vacancies on the state Supreme Court - the first time in more than 300 years that so many high court seats were available.

Voters, evidently, were unimpressed.

In Philadelphia, 70 percent of registered Democrats chose not to cast ballots in the mayoral primary Tuesday. In the city's four neighboring counties, more than 85 percent of those eligible failed to vote, according to county records. In Bucks County, the figure was better than 90 percent.

The dismal county numbers appeared to be in line with those of recent primaries, and the city's showing represented the lowest level of participation in a primary not involving an incumbent in at least 30 years.

Why such a lack of interest?

Based on various surveys, "we have the largest number of voters who say they mistrust the government," said G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin and Marshall College's Center for Politics and Public Affairs.

"I would not rule out a continued slide in turnout. The millennials have the highest level of distrust, and they have little interest in politics."

That said, he added that so much of turnout is personality-driven, how people respond to individual candidates and issues.

Madonna said that in the case of the Philadelphia primary, the voters might have viewed education as a critical issue but weren't necessarily galvanized by it. Nor were the candidates, including the winner, former Councilman James F. Kenney, particularly electrifying - or polarizing - he said.

"The campaign that Kenney ran was more based on organization, line up support, line up the unions," he said.

Outside the city, the counties offered few compelling races, with the mayoral campaign in Chester being an exception.

As for the high court races, voters interviewed said they had little acquaintance with the candidates, even though the winners of the fall election might end up ruling on high-impact cases involving fracking and redistricting.

"It's always hard with the judges, and no one knows anything about them," said voter Dorothy Perkins, a Philadelphia Democrat.

"That is the sad reality of judicial elections," said David Thornburgh, chairman of the Committee of Seventy. "You get a very small number of people voting."

Ironically, the low turnout helped Democrats in Delaware County, according to party chairman David Landau.

In a county long ruled by Republicans, Democrats now hold a razor-thin registration margin, but the GOP dominated the ballot. GOP judicial candidates cross-filed so their names appeared under the labels of both parties, and Democratic council candidates were booted from the ballot on technicalities.

With less traffic at the polls, Democratic Party workers had time to explain the write-in procedure to nominate council candidates and to counsel people on whom to vote for in the judicial elections.

In the end, the endorsed Democratic candidates won.