Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
Simply fill out the form below. A collection of each week’s responses will appear in the following week’s column. To view responses on last week’s topic "Quaint Town Poised for Development & Growth", click here.
Publisher reserves the right to edit responses for clarity and publish online and/or in our print publications.
Please let us know your thoughts!
This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Voter Suppression & Primary Election Results
On Tuesday, many-but-not-all Marylanders voted in the state’s primary election, choosing their candidates for the Republican and Democrat parties. Dan Cox earned the Republican nomination, while Wes Moore holds a lead in the yet-to-be-called tighter race for the Democratic nod. Two candidates will square off in the November 8th Gubernatorial General Election and Maryland will have a new governor regardless of who wins, with Gov. Larry Hogan leaving office after his eight full years.
But not all registered voters got their say in this past Tuesday’s election. Indeed, all voters registered as “unaffiliated” or independent are not allowed, under state law, to vote in the primary elections. Maryland is one of 14 states that has a “closed primary.” In the other 36 states, any eligible voter, including independents, can vote in partisan primaries in some fashion. If you’re interested in numbers, in Anne Arundel County, alone, there are 104,000 registered but independent voters that have no voice in the primary elections. Statewide, almost 900,000.
This is large-scale voter suppression. A simple solution—an independent voter could choose which ballot (Republican or Democrat) they feel most compelled to complete. Give the people their voice back. Of course, any unaffiliated voter could also switch to an affiliated party by updating their voter registration with the state—and they’d be wise to do so, until the legislature wises up.
What are your thoughts on Maryland’s unaffiliated voters being suppressed from primary elections? What’s your impression of the chosen gubernatorial candidates and the upcoming November election?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
