No Conspiracy in Primary Election Victories

Dear Readers,

about the elections drew some comments both here and around town.

The questions raised centered around elections where some folks felt that they are disenfranchised such as and . 

If you voted in the republican primary you could vote for the Commission Chair election but not in the District election. If you voted in the democrat primary you could vote for the District post but not the Chairman.

Both elections were decided in the primaries. There are no opponents to the winners in the general election. There is not some conspiracy here its just the way the law and the political parties have decided to conduct their elections over the many years.

Many other states have the same system. Some states do things differently where you can vote in either party election. You could have voted for the Chair in the republican race and the democrat in a different post all in the same primary.

In the general election (November) you can vote for candidates for various elections no matter what primary ballot that you voted in the primary. I realize that this still is confusing. 

History
Lets stick to Georgia's system. For many years when the democrats were the main party the elections were decided in the primary. This is because there were no republican candidates for the general election.

Now, our state usually has candidates for most elections from both parties. The word "usually" does not imply all the time as we have witnessed and will so again in the general election. Again, this is no conspiracy its just a lack of candidates.

I admire persons who put themselves up for election or re-election whether I support them or not. Its a tough row to hoe. You have to go out and raise money unless you are fortunate in having money on your own or willing to take out another mortgage. Even a small city election such as city Council Member can easily cost $5,000+.

And then there is campaigning such as door-to-door which can be frustrating because few citizens vote (about 15% of registered voters). And then we are not that well informed about civics so you have folks who have no idea about what you are running for and what is involved.

Our cynical electorate does not help matters. This is one reason that my very first article was mostly a civics lesson and maybe I have to repeat that more often. In fact, persons who read Patch on a regular basis can become better informed about what is going on, especially articles about City and County government.

In the following weeks I will return to many of the topics that were printed back in the winter and spring. I hope that you will read those and then if you see fit follow through. 

Thanks for reading,

Tom Bevirt