Thomas said he feels it’s unfair to the people of the county not to be able to participate in electing all local officials. During local primaries, some elections are on the Democratic ticket, while others are on the Republican ballot.
“It hit home for me four years ago when we had people running as Democrats for district attorney and I was running as a Republican for the county commission and I couldn’t vote for who my district attorney was going to be,” said Thomas.
The District 1 commissioner also noted that voters have the expectation of privacy, knowing that they don’t have to reveal who they supported in an election.
“But when you walk through that polling place they ask you if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” he said. “… You shouldn’t have to choose by party. You should be able to go in and pick who you think is the best person to serve in that position, whether it’s a Democrat or Republican.”
Thomas noted that voter turnout is low in Madison County. Only three in 10 registered voters participated in the county primaries on July 15.
“I think this (partisan elections) discourages voters,” he said. “I think we need to do everything we can to encourage voter turnout.”
Several offices in the county are currently non-partisan, including the probate and magistrate posts, school board seats and city council positions.
Pruett said he doesn’t think the county commissioners could make their own seats non-partisan.
Thomas said he would like to see the issue go before the voters in a referendum.
“Let’s give the people the option,” he said.
