Dear Editor:

Another primary election and runoff have come and gone, and the voter turnout in Troup County gets more abysmal and pathetic as time goes by. Only in the November general election every four years does the turnout even approximate what it should be, even when important local offices and issues are involved.

As a longtime observer and former participant in the local election process, I would like to offer my take on the reasons for the nonparticipation by local voters.

First and foremost is the lack of coverage and commentary by the local news media, particularly LaGrange Daily News, on the state and local candidates and issues which would serve to create and energize voter interest and turnout. For the past several years the Daily News has ceased to publish precinct returns in state and local races, which a lot of people are interested in seeing how their and other local precincts voted.

Secondly, in the primaries, it is necessary to publicly identify oneself as either a Democrat or Republican to obtain a ballot. This does not bother me, but it does a lot of people who do not want to publicly identify as to how they vote by party.

I have come to the conclusion that the best way to avoid this is to have nonpartisan countywide general elections where all candidates for an office would run in the general election without party identification, which most people don’t care about anyway. In turn, this would greatly cut down on election expense, and would stabilize and simplify the location of the various polling places.

I fully realize the above will not be accomplished any time soon, but I do think they are worth considering.

Wallace Rhodes

South Lewis Street, LaGrange