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'What is a delegate and why should I care?'
To the Editor:
I am a poll worker for the Mifflin County Board of Elections. In the past four years of doing this job, I have found that a lot of our county's voters do not know what the Democratic and Republican Delegates do and why they should vote for someone. As a result, the average voter leaves that section unmarked. In this letter I want to try to explain why it is very important for people to vote for the Delegates of their respective party.
In a Presidential election year, at the primary election, electors (that is, the voters), get to choose the people they want to represent them at their respective party's national convention. The national conventions are where those delegates vote for the presidential candidate that they want on the ballot in the fall general election.
For Pennsylvania, the Democratic and Republican Parties each have delegates that will be chosen at the primary on April 23. Each of the 17 Congressional districts of Pennsylvania will have delegate candidates on the primary ballot. These delegate candidates get selected for the ballot by the Committees of their party. Some of the delegates are bound to one candidate, meaning that the delegate is committed to vote at the convention for the specific Presidential candidate who received the most votes from the electors in the primary election. Most delegates are unbound and can vote at the convention for the candidate of their own choosing.
For this reason, it is important that you ask each delegate candidate from your respective party to whom they have committed. If your party has more than one presidential candidate running, those unbound delegates can vote for whichever of those candidates they choose, regardless of whether they actually received the most votes from the electors (YOU) during the primary. This is why you should care and why you should vote. You probably don't want to vote for a delegate who is committed to a candidate that you don't want for President of the United States.
You need to do your homework and make sure the party delegates you vote for in the primary are going to support the presidential candidate you want when they attend the national convention. You also need to understand the delegate's values and for what issues they are willing to stand since they also vote for the party's platform at the convention.
These things matter. If you choose not to vote, you are giving your voice to others to choose the candidate and platform of your party. If you choose not to ask the delegates what they are committed to, you are giving your voice to another who may not hold your values. Does this take time? YES. Is this important to our Representative Republic? YES.
It was hoped by our Founding Fathers that the citizens of the United States would be a body of informed voters. That was part of the reason why the public school system was instituted so that people would know how to read and think critically. That they would be informed voters. The other part was that they would be able to read the religious scriptures of their faith and have a moral foundation also. It feels like we have gotten away from both, and we are on the brink of losing it all.
On Sep. 18, 1787, when the Constitutional Convention was over James McHenry, as Maryland delegate, recorded the events of the last day and a conversation between Ben Franklin and a lady, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia. He wrote: "A lady asked Dr. Franklin, 'Well Doctor what have we got-a republic or a monarchy?'- 'A republic,' replied the Doctor, 'if you can keep it.'" Don't let it be said you couldn't keep it.
You can find out more about your party's platform and candidates at their websites: https://mifflincountydemocrats.com and https://mifflincountygop.com
Respectfully,
Crystal Jost