Barton County’s primary election is less than three weeks away.
The League of Women Voters held a candidates’ forum Thursday evening at the Crest Theater. The League invited candidates for Barton County register of deeds, sheriff, treasurer, commission and district judge, as well as for state House and Senate. The public was invited to come and listen to the candidates in person, or via a live Internet feed on the Great Bend Tribune website. Today’s edition of the Tribune also contains excerpts from the forum.
All of this is presented as potentially useful information, with no intention to sway voters toward one candidate or away from another. The Tribune has traditionally declined to endorse political candidates, and League of Women Voters is also nonpartisan.
The Republican candidate for each of the positions mentioned above will be chosen at the Aug. 7 primary. Let’s face it, in Barton County the winner of a Republican primary is often unopposed in the November general election, although we’ve heard there may still be a candidate or two running independent of party affiliation.
For those who have not registered to vote, it is too late to do so for the primary. However, registration is still being taken and the November election is next.
Those registered as Republican or Democrat will only be able to vote in their party’s primary on Aug. 7. But on election day, a registered voter who is unaffiliated may declare himself or herself a member of either party and vote in that primary. An unaffiliated voter may also remain unaffiliated but vote in the Democratic Party primary, but the Republican Party does not allow that option.
The time to vote will soon be here. The more we know about our candidates, the better our decisions will be.