RICHARDSON: A beginner's guide to voting
The headline is a bit misleading because this year, at least in Macon-Bibb County, even people who have been voting for decades might get confused. Let me explain.
First, some definitions: Nonpartisan means candidates run without declaring a political party (wink, wink, nod, nod). There are no primaries. If there are 10 people running for the same office, so be it. If one of them doesn't get 50 percent of the vote plus one, the top two meet in a runoff.
Partisan means candidates for office declare whether they're Republican or Democrat. There's a primary to choose the standard bearer for the party in the general election if more than one candidate in the party seeks the same office. If no candidate gets 50 percent plus one, there's a runoff.
All that's pretty straightforward, but it's about to get confusing. Voters will go to the polls March 1 for the presidential preference primary for Democrats and Republicans. There will be 13 names on the Republican ballot, two of which have already dropped out, former New York Gov. George Pataki and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. There are several other candidates on life support who may not be around after Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Democratic Primary will have four names. Three you'll recognize (maybe) and one, Michael Steinberg, whom you've probably never heard of.
It's the municipal elections where things get juiced up. Almost every position but two school board seats, some judgeships, some water authority seats and MWA chairman are up for grabs.
All nine members of the Macon-Bibb County Commission are up for election, as well as the mayor. The same is true for six of eight school board members, two of the water authority seats, coroner, Probate Court judge and two Superior Court judge seats. All of those offices are nonpartisan. Hold onto that thought.
Partisan races include sheriff, clerk of Superior Court, solicitor general, tax commissioner and district attorney. Why those offices are partisan is beyond my understanding. None of those officials ask about party affiliation before doing their jobs. It never enters their minds.
Now lets really get wonkish. On May 24 there will be an election for nonpartisan offices — and — a primary for partisan offices. But there is another level of complexity to layer on top of this. All state offices in the Georgia General Assembly — all 236 members — are up for election, too. Plus there is a U.S. Senate seat and some U.S. House seats to decide — all on the same day. Make sure you bring comfy shoes and some liniment. It's going to take a while. Oh, did I mention the constitutional amendment and commissioner for the Public Service Commission?
If a runoff is needed in any of the partisan or nonpartisan races, it will be held on July 26. Got that? Of course the big day is Nov. 8, if voters aren't all voted out by then.
Down in Houston County, one of the biggest races will be to see who will replace Superior Court Judge George Nunn. He's been on the bench for 30 years. He could have held the position until you-know-what froze over, but with his retirement there are three Superior Court judgeships on the ballot along with district attorney and a host of other offices on the county level.
The prospects, though, of unseating any of them is, in my humble opinion, slim, but this year, at least on the national level, my political equilibrium hasn't been worth a flip. I can say that with so many races on the ballot, the undervote is sure to be high.
My job is to keep it between the lanes locally. Those offices are the most important as far as I'm concerned. They have a lot more impact on our daily lives than the folks who live in the far off inside the Beltway Land of Washington, D.C.
Charles E. Richardson is The Telegraph's editorial page editor. He can be reached at 478-744-4342 or via email at crichardson@macon.com. Tweet @crichard1020.
This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "RICHARDSON: A beginner's guide to voting ."