“Decisions are made by those who show up.” Aaron Sorkin, The West Wing
On October 1, in Lee, approximately 85 registered voters showed up and made decisions about four issues:
Whether to reimburse the LePrevost family, owners of 104 Center Street, $8,535.21 for damages to their residence sewer line. Passed
Whether to spend $17,500 on a tire machine that changes and balances tires within the town’s new Fleet Mechanic Department Passed
Whether to continue to have a Board of Public Works, a volunteer group, oversee the town’s water, sewer and water supply conservation or to have the Superintendent of Public Works process water connections, hydrant use, and issue water or sewer bill abatements. Passed
Whether to reorganize the town’s zoning regulations to make way for bylaws pertaining to battery energy storage systems (BESS) as Lee lacked permitting regulations covering renewable energy projects – a new Clean Energy section of the local bylaws. Passed
The population of Lee is approximately 5,719 with about 4,784 registered voters. 85 voters is 1.7% of eligible voters. That is a very small percentage to make big decisions.
It was a Special Town meeting, and perhaps attendance at the annual Town Meeting is better. That is true in all of the 18 towns in South County, but not by much. For example, Great Barrington has a population of about 7,172 with 5,180 registered voters. The seven-year average attendance at Great Barrington Town Meetings was estimated at 269 or 3.75%. At the annual Town Meeting in May, 2026, there were 340 voters or 3.78% present.
An increase at annual Town meeting? Yes. However, an increase from 1% to 3% of registered voters deciding for a town of thousands may not be a hoped-for outcome.
The population of Stockbridge hovers around 2000 with about 1700 registered voters. Attendance at the Stockbridge Town Meeting is usually about 300 or 17.6% of registered voters. It seems across South County, the smaller the population, the larger the percentage of registered voters who shows up. The population of Alford is 481 with 410 registered voters. Fifty-two, or 12.6% of registered voters, voted at the last Town Meeting. A two-digit percentage is better than a single digit; however, the bottom line is this: in none of the 18 towns in South County did the attendance reach a majority of registered voters. In a country where, we say, majority rules, nowhere does a majority show up and rule.
There seems to be a great deal of overwrought news coverage about the midterm elections and the possibly tricky, unfair, and illegal things the party in power may do to stay in power. Seems we could be equally impassioned about the number who simply do not exercise their right to vote.
We could do two things: vote and do a better job of getting a bigger percentage of voters to take part. Or is it up to them, and all we can do is remind them: use it or lose it.