2009.06.10
Barren ballots in the NRV
We're writing an editorial for Sunday's NRV Current about the ballots NRV voters will confront in November. Now that the filing deadline has passed, there are too many uncontested races. That's not healthy for democracy.
RSS feed 
I remember this was a big problem in Hampton Roads too. The areas that were firmly Democrat would be uncontested, because no person with an R next to their name could ever get more than 20-25% of the vote, no matter what. Same for the Republican areas...no D could top 30% or so. So, in those areas, there was never a contest, other than the primaries. A good half or more of races went uncontested, including the state level seats. The remaining races would be flush with campaign money since both parties would consolidate their focus. You could tell that it hurt turnouts. In uncontested races, turnouts were a good third lower.
Comment by Other John — June 10, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
The politics of personal destruction is also not good for our Democracy and it is hard to find saints walking the streets much less wanting to enter politics. Until serving your country is treated with the respect it deserves and MONEY is not the be all and end all, the situation will not improve. Competition does not always bring out the best in us.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — June 10, 2009 @ 7:22 pm
A glance back at some of the voting history gives me the impression that when there is a lot of focus at the Federal level, people tend to lose interest in the local and state. All elections are LOCAL! Regardless of what happens at the federal level, what happens in your backyard, in your state, will be determined by who it is handling what comes from the federal side of things. It is those state officials who will be determining where money goes, what projects get done, what laws are passed affecting you and your life. This is particularly true with a Dillon Rule state, such as Virginia, where elected state officials have the right to dictate what your county, city, or town government is allowed to do. It is not unlike preparing a meal where the federal government provides the ingredients and it is up to the state and local government to prepare the meal from those ingredients. If you care about what (how) you get served, you will pay attention to who is doing the cooking.
Comment by Carol Lindstrom — June 11, 2009 @ 12:12 pm