Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
A question that surfaced among people who were not registered as a member of any political party was why they were not allowed to vote for a gubernatorial candidate or other state or federal level offices during the recent primary election? Although registered voters from any political party can vote for any candidate from any party in the general election, primary elections are a bit different.
In both County Commission races, the County held what is referred to as a “Universal Primary Contest.” According to information provided by the Madison County Supervisor of Elections Office, this “refers to a contest in a primary election in which all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner of the contest will have no opposition in the general election. In a universal primary contest, all qualified electors may vote in the primary for that office, regardless of party affiliation.” This was the case in each of the local County Commission races.
In the other races, there were multiple candidates from both major political parties running for each office. This did not meet the definition of a universal primary. Therefore, only this electors who were registered in that particular party could vote for candidates in that same political party. Using a sports analogy, it is similar to members of a team selecting the captain of that team. Only members of the “Democrat” team can select their “Democrat” captain. If a person is not a member of either “team,” they are not allowed to select the captain of either team. One can only select the captain of his/her own team.
Early voting in the general election is set to begin on Saturday, Oct. 24. Election Day is set for Tuesday, Nov. 3. For more information on voting in Madison County, including how to register to vote, please visit www.votemadison.com, or call the Madison County Supervisor of Elections office at (850) 973-6507.