As the nation begins to wind down from an exhausting Trump-era administration where chaos, contradiction, and following the rule of law has been subject to interpretation, is it any wonder why local Democratic voters are shocked and appalled at the most recent turn of events in local politics?
Forsyth County Democratic Party (FCDP) Chairman, Kevin Farmer, much to the astonishment of District 1 voters, has gone silent as Democratic Party School Board members go rogue in their rejection of Democratic Party policies and procedures in filling the vacant WSFC Board-of-Education District 1 seat.
District 1 represents 47,390 Democrats, where over 41,000 are African Americans. These African-American Democrats are currently being abandoned and must tow the line themselves to keep historical representation and centralized power where it belongs, in the hands and power of the voters.
But there are some hiccups.
âThereâs a lot of pieces involved,â said county elections chief Gretchen Reinemeyer, who aims to convene a summit of involved parties â county staff, Virginia Department of Elections, equipment vendors â early in the new year to âhash out all the details.â
At the request of Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), the General Assembly earlier this year voted to allow Arlington to serve as an instant-runoff guinea pig before other localities have the option to implement it a year from now.
The instant-runoff process already is in use when the Arlington County Democratic Committee selects its nominees for local office through a caucus, though not in state-run primaries. When filling out ballots, voters are allowed (but not required) to rank candidates in order of preference; should no candidate receive 50 percent of the vote on the first ballot, the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated, and his/her votes are reallocated based