A lot of Saline County residents that I’m talking to – way too many – are dissatisfied with local and nationwide governmental and political issues. Yet, they don’t know that we are currently in the middle of an election process.
Keep reading to find out 1️⃣what’s already happened, 2️⃣the importance of a Primary Election versus a General Election, and 3️⃣why some candidates will have to run more than one time, and amazingly, others don’t have to run at all. 4️⃣In addition to all this info, you can visit our main article for the 2024 Elections. It lists candidates, dates, times, locations, 5️⃣a poll, and more.
We break down all the things below?? so you won’t break down when you realize a missed opportunity to get educated make a difference!
1️⃣What already happened
Well before Thanksgiving 2023, election officials all over Arkansas and the United States held a candidate filing period for the 2024 elections. Hopefuls were tasked with getting a certain amount of signatures on a petition, then turn that petition back in to the County Clerk’s office to officially file as a candidate.
There is a different number of signatures required for different offices. Signatures must be from citizens that are registered to vote in the hopeful’s voting area (district, ward, etc.)
2️⃣Primary vs General Election
The Primary Election serves the purpose of narrowing the field of candidates before the General Election. To win an election, a candidate must get at least 50% of the vote, plus one additional vote. If there are three or more candidates running in the same race, this makes it difficult to achieve that percentage and find the winner.
2024 Primary Election choices:
Same Political Party Candidates
- Democratic
- U.S. President
- Republican
- U.S. President
- State Representative
- Saline County Quorum Court (Justices of the Peace) – Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 12
- Saline County Constable – Township 1
Non-Partisan Candidates
-
- Bryant Mayor (to complete a previous mayor’s term)
Judicial Candidates
-
- State Supreme Court – Chief Justice, Pos 1
- State Supreme Court – Associate Justice, Pos 2
- Arkansas Court of Appeals – Associate Judge Dist 06, Pos 01
There are 10 races with two or more Republicans running for the same position, and one race with multiple Democratic candidates. There were seven Democrats and seven Republicans who filed to run for the office of U.S. President.
Locally, four Republicans filed to run for the office of Saline County Justice of the Peace in District 4. There are two other local races with three candidates each running as a Republican. There are five races that each have two Republicans facing off.
Those Presidential candidates will fight hard for their votes, especially since there is an incumbent on the Democratic side, and a former President on the Republican side. Our poll is already showing strong leads for the top candidates, so they may easily get the required 50%+1 vote, without having to compete in the Primary Election Runoff.
A run-what? See more about that in #3 below.
3️⃣Some candidates run more than others
The Multi-Run
The 1st run for a candidate with a same-party opponent is the Primary.
The 2nd run would be the General Election… But wait – that’s just a maybe. If no candidate gets the 50%+1, then the top three candidates will run again, a few weeks after the Primary Election.
A 3rd run – For whoever survives a runoff with that same 50%+1 requirement, they will go to the General Election. That would make three campaign runs.
A 4th?? Yep. There are Libertarian party candidates and Independents in some races this time. Therefore, it’s possible to have more than two candidates in a race in the General Election in November. That means it’s possible for a candidate to fall under the vote amount requirement again, and they would participate in the General Election Runoff.
The No-Run
The best way to run for office is without an opponent. After the deadline to file for candidacy, some candidates did not have an opponent in any party. This means they have already won their race, although the General Election is all the way in November 5th, 2024. It also means those already in office can focus on the business of being an elected official, instead of the additional work of a campaign to be re-elected. Those unopposed candidates still must garner at least one vote to win. Hopefully, they will remember to vote for themselves.
The One-Run
Some candidates have opposition but they still aren’t required to run in the Primary Election. This is either because the opposition is from another political party, or because the candidate is an Independent – not claiming any political party.
One obvious benefit for the One-Run candidate is fewer races to run. They will also be able to watch the campaign behavior of the other party candidates who are competing in the Primary.
There are drawbacks as well. Smaller political parties have a smaller number of built-in voters than established parties. Also, the party committee will have fewer members, likely resulting in fewer campaign dollars available to the candidate. An Independent would have to rely solely on donors, since they don’t have a party committee.
In addition to those obstacles, an Independent or smaller party candidate may have difficulty convincing the community that they aren’t contributing to one or more undesirable outcomes… One is wasting their vote. The other is causing just enough of a split in votes that a General Election Runoff is necessary. That would turn the One-Run into a Multi-Run. The rebel side of this writer would like to think anything is possible (even if not quite probable).
4️⃣Get ALL the 2024 Elections info
This article doesn’t tell all the info you need for voting in the 2024 Primary and General Elections (and possible runoffs). HOWEVER, there is a main page that gives info as we get it. The link is www.mysaline.com/2024-elections.
- The campaign announcements from hopeful candidates.
- The names of those who actually filed for candidacy.
- The election dates.
- The early voting dates.
- The polling place locations and open hours.
- The poll (see #5 below).
- And eventually, the election results.
5️⃣Take the poll
Now that you know more, take the poll for the candidates that will be in the Primary Election on March 5th, 2024. It’s a good practice run. Here’s the link to vote: www.mysaline.com/2024-election-primary-poll.