In case you missed it, there was a gubernatorial election on Tuesday.
No need to panic. It was only the Democratic primary.
Primary elections are noble efforts to some. But, in practice, the state that was the home of notable democratic pioneers like Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and George Washington doesn't seem to care much about selecting candidates to represent a party. In the 2005 primaries, about four percent of registered Montgomery County voters came out to vote, split almost evenly between the two parties. Statewide, a total of 6.6 percent of Virginians voted in gubernatorial primary elections.
And yet, despite the fact that more people pack Burruss Hall to see Third Eye Blind than vote in a Montgomery County primary, the county spends around $3,000 per voter to hold primary elections. It seems like a disproportionate amount of spending, to put it kindly.
Whether or not you believe primaries are worth your time, we should all make sure that tax money is being spent efficiently. It is unfortunate that primary turnout is so low, but running more poll machines is not going to solve that problem. For that, you would need a major shift in local and American political culture.
The major issue lies in the fact that just about as many resources go into a primary election as a general election. There were as many precinct locations open to voters on June 9 as there were last November, when hundreds of people stood in line for several hours. The distance between Gilbert Linkous Elementary and Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, two Blacksburg polling locations, is 0.2 miles. It takes seven-tenths of a minute to drive from one to the other - going the speed limit.
It is certainly a Virginian's right to have a say in who represents his or her party. About 8,000 Republicans were involved in the nomination of Bob McDonnell as the GOP candidate. By contrast, over 175,000 voters came out for the Republican primary in 2005. Even with low turnouts, primaries get more people involved in the democratic process.
They are also a great way to learn more information about the candidates running for office, providing more opportunity for a broader range of potential candidates. Consider Creigh Deeds, who was relatively unknown before landing his Washington Post endorsement and is now the Democratic candidate for governor. Elections bring up stances on issues, candidate records, and, one would hope, rational debates, which are all important in the democratic process.
It isn't a matter of whether primaries are a waste of our resources. They don't have to be. The State Board of Elections should make a judgment call on how many resources to put into each election in any given year. Some years will be bigger than others.
In time, a larger primary election budget may become necessary. As media coverage and current events cause more people to take an interest in politics, more people seem to have something to say about politicians running for office, which we assume leads to voters exercising their right to actually have their say.
After all, Montgomery County doubled its Democratic primary voter turnout this year. There may be hope for democracy yet.
The editorial board consists of Sara Mitchell, Phillip Murillas, Thandiwe Ogbonna, Daniel Lin, and Geri Roberts.