Make voices heard at polls

If you voted early in the primary/nonpartisan election, your civic obligation (that one, anyway) is discharged, at least for the time being.

If not, today is the day. And as usual, we urge all registered voters to make their choices at the polls and make their voices heard in determining the leadership of the community, state and nation.

Unfortunately, as staff writer and columnist Tim Chitwood has reported and we have commented on editorially, among the choices many voters will be forced to make will be the choice of which races they’d prefer their voices to be heard in. Due to curious details of the electoral and party primary processes, some of these elections are mutually exclusive.

Voters can choose a Democratic, Republican on nonpartisan ballot. The nonpartisan races — today, those include Superior Court judge, two Columbus Council and four Muscogee County School Board posts — will be on all of them. No problem so far.

But the holders of four important local offices will be decided in the Democratic Primary, because the winners today will face no Republican opposition in November. Those races are for Municipal Court judge, Superior Court clerk, Municipal Court clerk and Muscogee County marshal. Only voters who choose a Democratic ballot can vote in those races. Voters with Republican or nonpartisan ballots can’t.

For many, the hardest choice might be between weighing in on those offices or the 3rd Congressional District seat vacated by the decision of incumbent Lynn Westmoreland not to seek another term. No fewer than seven Republicans are seeking that nomination, which means a runoff is more than likely. And if there’s a runoff, only those who vote on Republican ballots today will be eligible. Likewise, if there should be a runoff in the four-candidate Democratic race for the U.S. Senate seat held by longtime incumbent Johnny Isakson, only those who vote on Democratic ballots today can vote in that race.

As we have said before, this is a glitch in the process that lawmakers need to address. But for now, nothing about it in any way mitigates the importance of voting, even if the choice of races is a difficult one. (Sample ballots are available at voting precincts, and online at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.)

Meanwhile, Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan ballots will all count in the races for Superior Court judge, Columbus Council posts 4, 8 and At-Large, and Muscogee County School Board posts 1, 3, 5 and 7.

There’s not a single unimportant race to be decided, or a single unimportant vote that will go toward deciding any of them.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Make voices heard at polls."