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Paltry election turnout should spur changes to the primary system

3 min read
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The municipal primary election came and went last Tuesday so quickly that if you blinked through the campaign, you probably missed it. And judging from the low voter turnout, most people did.

Unlike the bitter presidential election we all endured last year, there was very little interest in this primary election. Turnout was a paltry 19.2 percent in Washington County, making Greene County’s 28.7 percent turnout look robust in comparison.

That’s unfortunate, because the positions decided in these judicial and municipal races will probably impact our daily lives more than the federal elections. They’ll also have a long-lasting impact on our counties.

Brandon Neuman, a four-term state representative from North Strabane, easily won the Democratic nomination for Washington County judge and narrowly secured the Republican nomination over opponent Phil Melograne. His sweep means Neuman has already secured the seat and will walk into the general election this fall with victory already in hand. It also means thousands of independent voters will have absolutely no say in who Washington County’s next judge is.

The same situation happened in Greene County, with David Balint easily winning both the Democratic and Republican nominations for district magistrate in Waynesburg.

Both highly-publicized races are now finished. Over. Done.

This isn’t to diminish what both candidates did to secure their nominations. Their hard work and campaigning paid off.

It’s the system in which we elect judges that is flawed.

If the judicial system is supposed to be a nonpartisan branch of our government, then why are we inserting party affiliation into these campaigns? The same should be the case with county row offices, such as district attorney, controller or even coroner.

Think about it: Does anyone really care if their coroner is a Democrat or a Republican?

Each candidate should be judged on his or her own merits and be selected by the entire electorate. Unfortunately, most of these local government, school board and judicial races are decided in the primary, when voter turnout is abysmal and independents are barred from participating.

That leaves us with only a few options in which to change the system.

First, the state could allow independents to vote in off-year primary elections by giving them the option to select one party ballot or the other. It won’t be popular with the partisans, but neither is the status quo.

Another option would be to no longer allow candidates for judge or school director to cross-file their nominations. Pick one party and then line up against a competitor in the grand finale during the fall election.

The final option would be to totally remove party affiliations from judges, school directors and county row officers, and then let the entire electorate vote on the candidates in a runoff election in November. The primary could be used to set up that runoff election between several of the top candidates.

None of these options will make everyone happy, but something must be done to ensure as many people as possible are able to cast their ballots in our local elections. Until then, that paltry turnout will continue to leave an ugly mark on our democracy.

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