By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 20, 2018 | Next Tuesday, July 24, Gwinnett and Georgia voters will return to the polls for runoff primaries of the two major political parties and in non-partisan races. Runoffs are required under current voting rules when no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, plus one, that is, a majority of the votes cast.
We urge Gwinnett residents, if you have not early voted, to return to the polls on Tuesday and select your candidate in the runoff. Here’s why.
If results from previous runoff voting are any indication, Georgia will see an abysmal turnout. Perhaps no more than 10 per cent of the 500,000 registered voters in Gwinnett will go to the polls. The total voting could even be less than 10 per cent.
Let’s examine what a turnout of even as much as 10 per cent would mean. Mainly, it would show that by gathering five per cent of the total number of people eligible to votes in Gwinnett in a particular race, a candidate would win this runoff and be the party’s nominee in the November General Election. Yes, a small majority would send that candidate forward.
Look it another way. While the county has 900,000 or so residents, with as many as 500,000 registered to vote, if only 50,000 voted, a candidate could win the election by gaining 25,000 voters, just five percent of those registered. That means a super minority of people would send that candidate into the primary.
Such a poor voting turnout is not the type of elections that our Founding Fathers anticipated. Such apathy at the polling place speaks badly of democracy.
Remember, this is a runoff that picks a party nominee for the General Election. However, in one race, that determines a Gwinnett Superior Court, whoever runs this becomes elected, and will take office in January. (Why the Georgia Legislature provides judges to be elected on the days that the political parties pick nominees is anyone’s guess. It’s not right, and is one of GwinnettForum’s Continuing Objectives to improve our state by selecting judges at the time of the General Election, when most people vote.)
So, the upshot is that if you have not yet voted, please do so.
Now we reiterate our runoff endorsements, first printed in the July 3 edition, for the Tuesday runoff:
Republicans
Governor: GwinnettForum did not make recommendations in this race, since by design we have not spent 30 minutes with these candidates. We figure voters know more about this race than any other, and have made up their minds.
Lieutenant Governor: State Senator David Shafer.
Secretary of State: Brad Raffensperger
State House District: 97: Kipper Tabb
State House District 102: Paula Hastings
State House District 105: Donna Sheldon
Democrats
U.S. Congress, District 7: Carolyn Bourdeaux
State School Superintendent: Otha E. Thornton Jr.
Nonpartisan election
For Judge of Superior Court: Tracey Mason
LET US EMPHASIZE once more: if you are registered to vote in Gwinnett or any other county in Georgia, and have not voted yet, go to the polls on Tuesday, and do your part for democracy in participating in our state’s run off primaries.
Of course, if you have early voted already … one time is enough.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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