UW-Madison students turned out in huge numbers for last month’s presidential election.
Yet only 6 percent of students took the time to vote on a plan to build a new campus student center two years ago.
Now a group of several hundred students is upset that the new building will cost $96 per student, per semester. Over a college career, that could total $800 or more.
The lesson — for voters of all ages — is simple: Local elections and referendums matter. They can even have more effect than state or national elections on ordinary people’s lives, services and expenses.