Odds are, everyone has heard of president Donald Trump.
It’s also likely that most are familiar with a majority of the potential challengers to the president from the Democratic Party. Names like Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and others have been in the national news for months.
When early voting begins Thursday in North Carolina for the 2020 primary election, there will be a total of 15 names on the Democratic Party presidential ballot as well as an option for no preference. While it is out of the ordinary to have so many choices, that race will not be the only one with a slew of candidates to consider.
It’s excusable if the names Dimple Ajmera, Ronnie Chatterji and Matt Leatherman don’t ring a bell. Those are the three citizens running for North Carolina Treasurer as democrats. It’s also easy to believe that Chuck Stanley, Josh Dobson and Pearl Burris Ford might not be immediately recognized despite the fact that they are republican candidates for NC Commissioner of Labor.
With 2020 being a presidential election year, there are numerous national and state races on the primary ballot. In this edition of The Highlander there are sample ballots on page 5A that hopefully shed light on who is running for what government position.
In all, there are 10 races and a total of 48 candidates on the democrat ballot. On the republican ballot, there are 14 races and 57 candidates.
Meeting all of the candidates on each ballot is impossible and becoming well versed in their voting records, platform and proposed policies is also unlikely. But the important thing for voters to do, perhaps this year more than any before, is to do a little research and make an informed decision.
Voting is a right that should not be taken for granted or taken lightly, and stepping into a polling place and filling in circles next to names of people you know nothing about does not do our system justice.
Take a few moments to look up the candidates for state and national races online and decide who is most fit to govern. Picking names at random is a foolhardy strategy.