Overall turnout in the Nov. 3 election, which was 21.08 percent, was actually pretty good by municipal election standards. But if you look at Bethlehem, you’ll see two different cities, with turnouts as low as 2.76 percent in one precinct to as high as 30.25 percent in another. It was that way in 2011, too. I decided to ask some of the experts who look over these numbers on a regular basis. These would be Bethlehem’s elected officials.

According to Northampton County Councilman Ken Kraft, it’s always been like that. Move along. Nothing to see here.

It has been that way for some time, agreed Mayor Bob Donchez, who explained that the low turnout is on the city’s Southside and around Pembroke Village. But he tsays it was not always that way. If I could go back to the 80s, I’d see a very robust turnout on the Southside with lots of vote for Republicans. Many Southside residents moved to the north side or the outlying townships.

Unfortunately, that will have to wait for another day. Online turnout only started being posted in 2008, thanks to changes recommended by a much-criticized elections committee and implemented by former Director of Administration John Conklin.

Controller Steve Barron, who lives in North Bethlehem but still is the president of the South Bethlehem Historical Society, claims that, at one time, ethnic Southside clubs like the Windish Hall mobilized during elections and had great Get-Out-the-Vote efforts. Now they are primarily just social clubs.

City Council President Willie Reynolds agrees with Donchez’ assessment that the reason for this is socio-economic. People who live on the Southside now are mostly Hispanic with limited incomes, and many have more pressing concerns than voting, like putting food on the table. I was told that if I could compare poverty rates in different precincts, I’d find it is highest in the districts with the poorest turnouts.

Reynolds could not be sure, but believes that Hispanic voters are used to voting for all offices at one time, instead of elections conducted every year, as is the case here. He noted that on a state level, there’s been no rush to adopt reforms that might increase turnout, like early or even online voting.

Thus, those who could benefit most from a vote on a local level are hurting themselves.

Because of this poor turn out, candidates in Bethlehem also tend to steer clear of the Southside when going door-to-door and do not know the concerns of a significant segment of the population.