DOVER, N.H. (AP) – Dwindling attendance at town meetings has some people wondering if the age-old tradition is going the way of covered bridges.

“My head tells me town meetings, as they have been for the last several hundred years, are not likely to survive,” said Robert Putnam, a Harvard University professor and author of the book “Bowling Alone.”

“My head tells me this is a kind of a very attractive relic, like a covered bridge. … I really think covered bridges are beautiful but we don’t use them.”

It’s a concern shared by many small-town officials.

“People are too scattered” to vote, Rollinsford resident Frank Kuhlmann told Foster’s Daily Democrat.

“I talk and talk to people. I’m on the historical committee. I try to do things in town and I would hope other people would do the same thing.”

But that’s not what’s happening. Turnout at town meetings is declining in many New England communities.

It’s not uncommon for 10 percent or fewer of the total voting population to show up. Turnout in New Hampshire tends to be higher in communities that have adopted secret ballot voting, but few people show up when the warrant articles are actually debated and amended.

One of the state’s biggest proponents of secret ballot voting, Roy Stewart said town meetings are an odd place to shape local government.

“It’s crowded. You’re rubbing thighs with the guy or gal next to you,” he said. “It’s very uncomfortable, it’s very embarrassing, it’s very intimidating and it gets acrimonious.”

In South Berwick, Maine, with a population of roughly 7,000, only 50 people typically show up to town meeting, said Town Clerk Barbara Bennett. “It is very sad,” she said. “It’s even worse when we have the special town meetings.”

According to people who study civic engagement, there are a variety of reasons for the decline in voting.

Those experts note that American society is increasingly mobile. The more people move, the less connection they have to their communities.

In addition, people are working longer hours and many commute to jobs outside their hometown, county or even state.

“We have a lot of people that are living in town but don’t really feel connected to the town,” said Joe Ford, a Lee selectmen and a retired political science professor.

John Andrews, executive director of the Local Government Center in Concord, said people don’t have enough time to vote.

But one Dartmouth College historian refuses to sign on to the gloom and doom.

“Low turnout is a sign of health,” said Jere Daniell, who has published articles on New England town meetings. “It means that if a government is functioning well, you have low turnout. If there are a lot of concerns in the town, basically a lot (more) people turn out.”

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