Editorial: Time to vote today

Today’s a big day in Minnesota politics, but a significant number of folks likely won’t care.

The opening sentence in Don Davis’ story in Monday’s Daily Globe started with the words, “Tuesday’s primary election could slip by with little notice.” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, the individual in charge of Minnesota’s elections, anticipates a maximum turnout of 400,000 for today’s primaries — or, a little less than 12 percent of our 3.5 million eligible voters.

So, why will so many people probably not bother showing up at the polls? Here are two reasons we’ve come up with:

l Lack of interest/no compelling races. Let’s say, for instance, you’re a Republican voter. Tom Emmer, that party’s endorsed candidate for governor, has virtually no competition today, and is almost assured of advancing to the general election. So, why go out of the way to participate in the primary in the first place? Sometimes an enticement may be some type of multi-candidate race on a more local level, but in many places (southwest Minnesota being no exception), this sort of intrigue is uncommon.

l Politics burnout. Many people are tired of hearing about candidates and their campaigns, and we’ve still got three months until the general election. Once people know for sure who’s running in November, they may be more likely to take a bit of time to consider the choices (or, they’ll vote strictly on whatever party line to which they adhere). Or, they may simply throw up their hands today and say, “I don’t know any of these people” or “I don’t want to vote for any of these people.”

Say what you want about primaries, but they are important and a part of participatory democracy Americans can enjoy. There are many, many places that don’t enjoy this sort of luxury; a thing we often take for granted. The least far more than 12 percent should do is vote.

Tags: opinion, editorials, election, primary, voting, minnesota