The Primary—A Disappointing Turnout

I was excited to vote in the Primary this year. In Columbia Heights, we had several candidates running for school board, mayor and city council making it necessary for a primary in all three areas.  

After I deposited my vote, at around 5 p.m., I looked to see how many people had voted in Columbia Heights Precinct 5 and was very disappointed to see that only 111 had taken the time to vote. After stating my disappointment, one of the election judges stated that we needed to have 120 voters to even make 10 percent of eligible, registered voters.

With all the clamor about how voter ID will keep people from voting, I don't think we have to worry about that. What we need to worry about is voter apathy or at the very least voters not realizing that their votes do make a difference. Maybe we need to do more education as to how the voting system works, starting at the Caucus level.  

To have the privelage of voting for qualified candidates in the General Election you need to be part of the Primary. It is those voters that show up in the Primary who determine who will be on the ballot in November. If your preferred candidate didn't make it and you didn't vote at the Primary, you have no reason to complain.

Take a look at the Secretary of State Election result page:

Columbia Heights Mayor winners moving on to the General Election:  Gary Peterson and Bob Odden

Columbia Heights City Council winners moving on to the General Election:  Bobby Williams, Bruce Nawrocki, Stan Hoium, and Catherine Vesley

The results from the Columbia Heights School Board Race:

The top six Columbia Heights School Board winners that are moving on to the General Election are:

Ted Landwehr, Lori Meyer, John Larkin, Keith S. Roberts, Grant Nichols, and Mike Peterson

Congratulations to these winners! Those who showed up to vote—pat yourselves on the back! The rest of you, shame on you!