Local Election Run-Offs

[Smiling JOe]

I understand that with the non-partisan races such as the School Board Race, if a candidate doesn't receive at least 51% of the votes, the top-two finishers go to a run-off.

Cecilia Jones won only 36% of the votes in the Dist 5 BCC race, with 64% of the voters, voting against her (in a sense). Not being close to having a majority vote, should there not also be a run-off in these other partisan races? Personally, I think all of the County races should be non-partisan, and that would fix the problem, but if we are going to have them be partisan, shouldn't we be making sure we are getting the better of the top-two candidates?

 

[mossyhead]

Cecilia Jones won only 36% of the votes in the Dist 5 BCC race, with 64% of the voters, voting against her (in a sense). Not being close to having a majority vote, should there not also be a run-off in these other partisan races? Personally, I think all of the County races should be non-partisan, and that would fix the problem, but if we are going to have them be partisan, shouldn't we be making sure we are getting the better of the top-two candidates?

SJ I agree with you 100% the issues that divide the parties on a state or national level have little to do with local politics. It is crazy for some to have to change party just to get to vote. That has been the case here in Walton County as long as I have lived here (34 years) you had to be affiliated with one party or the other in order to vote in a local election. I am not sure what it will take to change that but we should work together so that Walton County will be represented by the best possible elected officials. And along the same lines the commission races should go back to only district voting. Even though in a sense they represent the whole county, we would not want the voters in Miami to select our State Representative.

 

[organicmama]

Along the lines of having to switch parties to be able to vote "totally" in a primary... I considered switching, but then didn't do it. So I was one of the few Dems that voted as a Democrat. But it's silly because then I couldn't vote the way I wanted to. Felt a bit screwed by the whole system because of it. To me, that's not a fair system because it's very, very one-sided.

 

[wrobert]

Along the lines of having to switch parties to be able to vote "totally" in a primary... I considered switching, but then didn't do it. So I was one of the few Dems that voted as a Democrat. But it's silly because then I couldn't vote the way I wanted to. Felt a bit screwed by the whole system because of it. To me, that's not a fair system because it's very, very one-sided.

You got to vote in every race in which a winner would have been decided, didn't you?

 

[DFSboy]

I understand that with the non-partisan races such as the School Board Race, if a candidate doesn't receive at least 51% of the votes, the top-two finishers go to a run-off.

Cecilia Jones won only 36% of the votes in the Dist 5 BCC race, with 64% of the voters, voting against her (in a sense). Not being close to having a majority vote, should there not also be a run-off in these other partisan races? Personally, I think all of the County races should be non-partisan, and that would fix the problem, but if we are going to have them be partisan, shouldn't we be making sure we are getting the better of the top-two candidates?

Smiling JOe,

I believe what Party (mostly Republican or Democrat) a particular candidate has joined, own his/her own will, helps? identify that person to the voters. One should be guilty by association (good or bad.) If you don't agree, just wait until the November sheriff's race here in Walton. The thing I disagree with is a Universal Primary. For example, I say if a Democrat does not run for office, and only Republican candidates run, then allow only Registered Republicans to vote in that race. Therefore, Democrats should have done a better job in identifying and encouraging possible Democrat candidates to run and represent their Party.

The Democrat Party in Walton is presently doing a poor job, apparently. Let's keep Party Politics; School Board too.

 

[Smiling JOe]

That sounds a bit like hogwash, DFSboy. (No insult intended. I don't even know you.) I just question how parties should play a role in a race, like the Sheriff's Office. Does a Republican Sheriff enforce different laws than a Democratic Sheriff? What about the Clerk of Courts? Does a Republican Clerk keep different records than a Democratic Clerk? That just doesn't add up, in my book. Is a Republican Mosquito Control Board Member supposed to spray more poisons into the air than the Dem? Is the Democratic County Commissioner supposed to build more parks, homeless shelters, and govt cheese programs than a Republican Commissioner? I just don't get the point of having party politics at the County level, except maybe when it comes to a Judge, who interprets the Law.

 

[organicmama]

You got to vote in every race in which a winner would have been decided, didn't you?

Yes, and I still feel that the local population's choices are misrepresented when it comes to having to vote specifically in one party or another in a local election. I agree totally with MossyHead that local politics and issues are very different from state and national levels and need to be able to be handled differently.

 

[Danny Burns]

I just think that the person whom the residents of the county think can perform the job best should get the job, regardless of party. When I moved here 8 years ago and started to register to vote as an independent, the clerk looked at me like I was from Mars. Once she explained the weird system to me, I understood why.

 

[mossyhead]

Probably the best way to resolve the question of whether local candidates should run non partisan or not would be to have it on the ballot & let it be decided that way. Of course as we have seen in the past, unfortunately, the majority will not vote unless it is in a general election.

 

[wrobert]

That sounds a bit like hogwash, DFSboy. (No insult intended. I don't even know you.) I just question how parties should play a role in a race, like the Sheriff's Office. Does a Republican Sheriff enforce different laws than a Democratic Sheriff? What about the Clerk of Courts? Does a Republican Clerk keep different records than a Democratic Clerk? That just doesn't add up, in my book. Is a Republican Mosquito Control Board Member supposed to spray more poisons into the air than the Dem? Is the Democratic County Commissioner supposed to build more parks, homeless shelters, and govt cheese programs than a Republican Commissioner? I just don't get the point of having party politics at the County level, except maybe when it comes to a Judge, who interprets the Law.

Yet that is the race that party politics are specifically prohibited by statute.