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Paul Van Buskirk

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    Voting

    Lessons from a local election 57 years ago for boosting turnout now

    Paul Van Buskirk
    September 17, 2020
    Cohoes, N.Y.

    In 1963, 85 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the city elections for Cohoes, N.Y. Last year, turnout for the city's municipal election was just 24 percent.

    City of Cohoes, NY | ricky-from-left-field | Flickr

    Van Buskirk is an engineer and urban planner who has been active in politics since the 1960s. This summer he self-published "Big Mike, Uncle Dan and Me: How I Beat 20th Century New York State's Most Corrupt Political Machine."

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