Imagine this: for decades, we the students of ASU have had the opportunity to elect a new university president every four years.
There are two “parties” to this election, and each has its own primary to select a nominee. Each campus of ASU has its own way to pick a nominee during the primary: the Polytechnic caucus, the West primary, the Downtown primary, the Havasu caucus and the Tempe primary, in that specific order over the course of two months.
In this analogy, the Poly caucus and West primary have historically correctly predicted who the nominee will be for both parties, but in the last few elections their predictions have been incorrect. So, why are those two campuses touted as being so important while the other campuses are ignored?
This is essentially how the American presidential primary system works. The Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary are the two most coveted elections for both parties in order to determine a nominee.
This system makes no sense. If we are a democratic country, then all 50 states should be considered important to win. Iowa and New Hampshire do not represent the values of all Americans just as Poly and West don’t represent the values of all ASU students.
The primary system is archaic and should be merged into a national election, just like the general election. That way every state can contribute to the same vote count and a real, national nominee can be selected at the convention.
By implementing a national primary, polls would become more trustworthy and accurate. Those polled would take them more seriously and not wait for the party to pick a nominee based on another state’s decision.
A national primary would also draw out youth voters because there would be no law requiring a voter to pledge to one party or the other before they could vote in that party’s primary like some states require.
The youth does not tend to vote in primaries in the first place because they don’t pay attention to who is actually running until right before the general election. The only reason there seems to be a greater turnout this time is because there are much louder mouths in the room than in previous elections.
The system is broken and it needs to be fixed. We all want to be heard, but in democracy we have to all speak at the same time to actually make a sound.
Related Links:
Primary elections need playoffs to simplify presidential races
Here's how to register to vote for your state's presidential primary
Reach the columnist at abundy@asu.edu or follow @abkbundy on Twitter.
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Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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