BEN BAKER: Georgia should change its primary election system

This country was founded on the idea of one-person, one-vote. Yes, it took us about 200 years to get closer to that idea and we are not completely there yet.

Imagine this: You are forced to pay for a public election. You show up to the polls to vote. You are turned away and not allowed to vote.

How do you feel about that?

This is the reality for every Georgian over the age of 18, not just those who lost the right to vote because they committed a crime. If you choose to vote in the presidential primary election in March, you will not be allowed to vote in an election. You still have to pay for the election.

How is that fair? How is that a responsible use of taxpayer dollars? The state calls an election and refuses to allow you to vote.

You will not be allowed to vote in other elections coming up this year. You may be registered. You may be on the approved voter list. But you will NOT be allowed to vote.

Yet, these same politicians who refuse to let you vote also have no problem reaching into your wallet to make you pay for the election.

How is that fair? How is that right? 

Our state Legislature — and we are looking at you Clay Pirkle and Carden Summers — do not want you to vote. If you wanted us to vote, you would change the election system in Georgia.

When you head to the partisan primaries, you have to vote either Democrat or Republican. You cannot vote in both, but you have to pay for both.

Why is that fair? How is that fair? If you pay for an election, you should be allowed to vote in it.

Other political parties hold primaries, and the party members pay for it. No taxpayer dollars go into that. You want to vote in that primary, you help pay for that election. That is fair.

It gets worse on the local level.

Candidates run on the “R” or the “D” ballot in the primary. As voters, we are forced to choose between voting for one local office v. another. Sheriff candidates may run as Republican and county commissioners may run as Democrats. We get to vote for one. Often, the local primary completely decides the contest.

Not. fair. Not right.

Louisiana has open primaries. Everyone runs on the same ballot. That is fair.

The General Assembly can change this. It will not. The “R” and the “D” are too worried about what will happen. They prefer to keep us divided. After all, united we stand and divided we fall. Divide and conquer, and so on.

Not letting you vote makes sure they get to keep power. Not letting you vote makes sure they all stand an excellent chance of getting re-elected.

The General Assembly can make things right. The Constitution lets each state decide the times and manners of elections. Look at Louisiana.

It is past time to change. It is past time we got to the real one-person, one-vote that this nation should have.

Change the primary election system. If we pay for the election, we should be allowed to vote in that election.

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