Kudos to the Southern Standard and WCPI for holding the March 26 political forum at the Warren County Administration Building.
The forum starts at 6 p.m. in the Magnolia Room. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this event and meet the candidates for various local offices. Candidates running in the Democratic Primary have been invited to speak to their potential constituents during the forum.
Contested countywide primary races include those for circuit court clerk, register of deeds, and sheriff.
All candidates in the sheriff’s race, including independents, will be encouraged to participate in the Southern Standard forum. As I understand it, this provision has caused some controversy and the primary (no pun intended) discontent is from the local Democratic Party.
Still, I think it’s a great idea to have all the candidates for the most contested local race face their rivals and the public tomorrow night.
The larger problem with the primary system in state and local politics is most folks don’t know much about it. And their lack of knowledge is compounded by their lack of interest. Even among the attentive public, the details of the primary system can be confusing.
For starters, there are two kinds of party primaries, closed and open. In a closed primary, only voters registered in a party may vote in that party’s primary. Makes sense to me. However, in an open primary, any voter can participate in any party’s primary. This loophole provides the motive, means and opportunity for so-called “crossover voting,” whereby voters from outside the party may help determine the party’s nominee.
By the way, Tennessee has an open primary system. Therefore, it allows Democrats and Republicans to vote in each other’s primaries for reasons noble and ignoble. For example, if you’re a Democrat, you might be tempted to vote in the Republican Primary for the weakest candidate, hoping that candidate will win the GOP Primary, but lose to the Democratic nominee in the general elections. If you’re a Republican, you could resort to the same mischief.
That said, regardless of how you view open primaries in Tennessee, I hope you’ll attend the political forum tomorrow night and become an informed voter for the candidates of your choice in the primary and general elections coming up in 2018 and beyond.
Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at tbv@bwmi@blomand.net.
