The WashCo Chronicle has acquired the "proof" or "draft" ballot for Washington County, and is providing the ballot for the convenience of our readers.
There are three separate ballots. One ballot for Democrats, one ballot for Republicans, and one ballot for all other party members and independent voters.
Primaries are very important to local elections - your choices can make a real difference.
Something important to note - for positions which allow you to pick more than one candidate, it's important to realize that you are not required to pick the maximum. For example, if there is one specific candidate you would like to see elected to board of education, and you don't want to vote for others, not only are you not required to vote for additional candidates, but it could be counter-productive to do so. You see, the winners of the primaries are determined by totaling the votes for each candidate.
For example:
- Bob votes for candidate C, D, and E. He really wants candidate C to win the primaries, but he picked D and E because he can vote for three.
- Sally votes for candidate A, C, and E. She also wants candidate C to with the primaries, but picked A and E because she can vote for three.
- David votes for candidate A, D and E.
- Mary votes for candidate A, B and D.
Now, let's tally the votes.
A: 3
B: 1
C: 2
D: 3
E: 3
So the winners of the primary would be:
A: 3 votes
D: 3 votes
E: 3 votes
But what happens if Bob and Sally only vote for one candidate?
- Bob votes for candidate C
- Sally votes for candidate C
- David votes for candidate A, D and E.
- Mary votes for candidate A, B and D.
A: 2
B: 1
C: 2
D: 2
E: 1
Now the winners of the primary look a little different:
A: 2 votes
C: 2 votes
D: 2 votes
So what happened? By voting for additional candidates beyond the one they wanted, Bob and Sally accidentally voted candidate C out.
So keep in mind Bob and Sally's mistake when voting at the primaries, and only vote for the candidates you want in office, even if that means not voting for the maximum number of choices.
Here are the categories voters will be able to decide on.
All voters (even independent) will be able to vote for:
- Board of Education (Vote For No More than Three)
Democratic and Republican voters will be able to vote for:
- Governor/Lt. Governor
- Comptroller
- Attorney General
- Congressional Representative - District 6
- House of Delegates - District 2A (Vote For No More than Two)
- County Commissioner (Vote For No More than Five)
- Judge of the Circuit Court - Judicial Circuit 4 (Vote For No More than Two)
- Treasurer
- Clerk of the Circuit Court
- Register of Wills
- Judge of the Orphans' Court (Vote For No More than Three)
- Sheriff
Democrat voters will be able to vote for:
- Democratic Central Committee Female (Vote For No More than Five)
- Democratic Central Committee Male (Vote For No More than Five)
Republican voters will be able to vote for:
- Republican Central Committee (Vote For No More than Nine)
A preview of the 2014 Primary ballot, including candidates, can be found at:
