Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Confusion from 'Top two' primary
For the last couple elections, Wash state has been using a 'top two' primary for state offices, and has been voting entirely by mail. News media still haven't adjusted to either innovation.
The problem with the 'top two' is understandable.
In most cases the remaining two candidates will be one R and one D as expected.
In some local districts where only one team is active, the primary will send two Rs or two Ds to the November election. This is effectively a 'nonpartisan' election, though it's not described as such.
Because the media are locked in horserace mode they end up treating a D vs R primary result as a contest with one winner, even though it's not really a contest. The D and R are not 'squaring off' against each other, and neither one will win at this stage. In theory they have only risen to the top of a much larger set of potential candidates, though the other potentials don't really exist.
It's an ambiguous and unfamiliar situation, so I can't blame the media for having trouble with it.
= = = = =
The misrepresentation of mail voting is just stupid. Media breathlessly encourage us to make our vote count on election day, and try to build up suspense toward that fateful Tuesday. Nobody's listening, because the interested citizens have already sent in their ballots immediately after receiving them.
(I still do the latter, though I no longer see the point. This season's ballot contained exactly zero candidates worth the trouble of making a mark, so I had a little pointless fun. Wrote in names like Goldman Sachs, Ridpath Hotel, and Partly Cloudy. Since Goldman Sachs is the guaranteed winner in all elections, I might as well vote for them directly instead of by proxy.) ¶ 5:33 AM
The problem with the 'top two' is understandable.
In most cases the remaining two candidates will be one R and one D as expected.
In some local districts where only one team is active, the primary will send two Rs or two Ds to the November election. This is effectively a 'nonpartisan' election, though it's not described as such.
Because the media are locked in horserace mode they end up treating a D vs R primary result as a contest with one winner, even though it's not really a contest. The D and R are not 'squaring off' against each other, and neither one will win at this stage. In theory they have only risen to the top of a much larger set of potential candidates, though the other potentials don't really exist.
It's an ambiguous and unfamiliar situation, so I can't blame the media for having trouble with it.
= = = = =
The misrepresentation of mail voting is just stupid. Media breathlessly encourage us to make our vote count on election day, and try to build up suspense toward that fateful Tuesday. Nobody's listening, because the interested citizens have already sent in their ballots immediately after receiving them.
(I still do the latter, though I no longer see the point. This season's ballot contained exactly zero candidates worth the trouble of making a mark, so I had a little pointless fun. Wrote in names like Goldman Sachs, Ridpath Hotel, and Partly Cloudy. Since Goldman Sachs is the guaranteed winner in all elections, I might as well vote for them directly instead of by proxy.) ¶ 5:33 AM
