Strategic possibilities

I was surprised to learn that Arkansas is an open-primary state, meaning you can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary, regardless of which party you originally registered with. In the primary, you have to ask for one party’s ballot, and you can vote only for that party’s ballot.

This raises interesting strategic possibilities. If you are a Republican and want the weakest Democratic candidate to run, you can get a Democratic ballot and vote for that candidate. If you are a Democrat and you want to unseat an incumbent Republican, you can vote for the other Republican. For instance, if you want to see a new U.S. representative in the 3rd District, you can vote for Robb Ryerse in the Republican primary. The same works for both parties.

The problem is that you give up the opportunity to vote for any of competing candidates in your own party. For example, if you want to choose between Mark Kinion and Nicole Clowney in the 86th district, you have to vote the Democratic ballot. You have to weigh the disadvantages against the advantages and decide what means the most to you.

The primaries are important, as they determine who is on the ballot in the general election in November. April 23 is the last day to register to vote in the primary to be held on May 22.

Get registered and vote! MAYA PORTER

Johnson