November may be months away, but the 2020 election cycle is in full swing. Dozens of presidential hopefuls have been weeded down to just five Democrats and two Republicans. On Tuesday, March 10, Missourians will have their say in the candidates who secure the official party nomination at the Missouri Primaries.

Know the facts

The five Democrats are Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. The only Republican officially running against incumbent Donald Trump is William Weld, who ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016.

Primaries have a complicated history, as they are not actually mentioned in the Constitution at all. In the 19^thcentury, party members in Congress voted for their candidates until John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson split the Democratic-Republican party into the Democrats and Whigs.

Today, parties leave the vote to citizens in each state. Voters are asked to choose a party ballot and cast their vote for who they believe can win a general election.

But without those voters, primaries cannot function.

Why you should vote

Dr. Katherine Gilbert, the director of Drury’s Humanities and Ethics Center, is also a member of the League of Women Voters. She explained the importance of voting, especially in primaries.

(Photo via unsplash.com)

“While I would argue that it’s always important to be aware of political events, paying attention in the lead-up to an election can also help you to anticipate how a variety of candidates might respond to events in the future, were they in office,” Gilbert said.

She continues, “How would, for example, each person respond to a public health issue? Well, you can get a sense of that based on what they might be saying they would do right now in terms of policy in responding to the Coronavirus, for example.”

Dr. Gilbert also addressed the myth that one person can’t make a difference in an election.

“Every single vote matters. Consider the fact that between 1991 and 2018, more than a dozen elections were decided by one vote or ended in a tie. One vote really can make a difference.”

It can be difficult to know who to vote for or what to look for in a candidate.

“The differences between visions for what the future can look like are quite large right now,” said Gilbert. “They seem to be cast in terms as stark as the question, Are you concerned that extraction of fossil fuels is transforming our climate at a rapid pace or do you think human-caused climate change is a ‘hoax’? Should everyone have healthcare, or only some, and should families routinely go bankrupt due to costs even after insurance? What should we do about student debt? These questions do not demonstrate small tweaks and revisions in competing policies. One could argue that the answers will determine the future of not only today’s college students, but the lives, and deaths, of many generations into the future.”

To register to vote in the Missouri Primaries on March 10, go online, or visit the Greene County Clerk’s Office at 940 Boonville Ave. The polling place for students living on Drury Campus is the Greene County Archives at 1126 N. Boonville Ave, just a few blocks west of campus.

Written by Forest Swisher.