Voter participation in the 2025 general municipal elections in Northampton and Lehigh counties reached its highest levels in over a decade, signaling growing engagement in local government.
In Northampton County, turnout for this year’s elections hit 40%, up from 33% in 2023 and 32% in 2021. This marks the county’s highest participation rate in at least 10 years, far surpassing the 21% turnout seen in 2015.
Lehigh County also saw significant gains, with 37% of eligible voters casting ballots this year, an increase from 31% in 2023 and 30% in 2021. The trend represents steady growth over the past decade, with turnout more than doubling since 2015, when only 20% of voters participated.
Elected officials attribute the surge to a combination of increased awareness of municipal issues and efforts to make voting more accessible.
“We turned out voters like never before in Lehigh County,” said current state representative and newly elected Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel in his victory speech. “There wasn’t just a blue wave, there was a blue tsunami. Allentown understood the assignment and understood what it needed to do.”
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt confirmed Pennsylvania held another secure election and thanked poll workers.
“Thank you to the hundreds of county officials and the approximately 45,000 poll workers who staffed 9,163 polling places so their fellow Pennsylvanians could make their voices heard today,” Schmidt said in a statement Tuesday. “Though Election Day falls only twice per year, most of these dedicated public servants work year-round to mitigate against potential problems when it’s time for voters to choose their elected officials.”
Election officials say the upward trend is encouraging, reflecting a more engaged electorate at the grassroots level.
Harrison Burns, a sophomore political science major at Lehigh University who voted in Bethlehem, said he is encouraged by youth voter turnout.
“It’s exciting to see that even in a double off-year when there are no federal races, students are still getting out to vote,” he said.
