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Primaries put nominations in public’s hands, lack big turnout
By Karen Praslicka
The Battalion
Voters turning out for Super Tuesday
tomorrow are participating in the most
widely used system in the 20th century
for nominating candidates for elective of
fice.
The primaries are elections held by
each party to determine which candidates
will be on the ballot for the presidential
election in November.
The primaries have come a long way
since the 1800s, when nominations for
public office were made by congressional
and legislative caucuses or delegate con
ventions. There was no public voting to
decide who would run for office.
Robert M. LaFollette's Progressive
movement in Wisconsin during the 1800s
encouraged the nomination of candidates
by party members' direct vote.
Democrats in Crawford County, Pennsyl
vania first used this kind of nomination
system on September 9, 1842. Republi
cans first used the system in 1860.
Eventually the system was enacted
into state election laws, and presently
each state has some form of primary elec
tion.
Karen McQueen, election deputy for
the Brazos County clerk's office said she
is not expecting a large showing for the
Texas primaries this month.
"There's a bigger turnout in Novem
ber," she said.
McQueen said registered voters can
vote for any party they choose in the pri
maries. However, they can only vote in
one party's primary.
Texas voters are not required to regis
ter with a specific party, but if there is a
run-off in the primaries, persons voting
again in the run-off must vote with the
same party they voted with in the original
primary.
Bill McGuire, Democratic Party chair
man for Brazos County, said normally the
presidential candidate who gets the ma
jority vote from the public gets the party
nomination from state delegates, but it is
not definite.
He said delegates who vote for the
presidential candidates at the party's na
tional conventions can change their minds
about who they vote for, even if the candi
date received a majority vote from the
public.
"But they're supposed to vote the way
people send them up there to vote,"
McGuire said.
McGuire said voters often support a
candidate based on his or her popularity,
without actually knowing the candidate's
stand on the issues.
He said the best way to get candidate
information is to call local party offices
and talk to the area coordinator for that
candidate.
"They'll always have information," he
said. "If there's no coordinator, there's al
ways a state party office coordinator.
They'll send you information."
Another way to learn a candidate's
stance on an issue is to watch television
debates between candidates or news pro
grams featuring candidates, McGuire
said.
"Get somebody you're comfortable
with and believes in most of what you be
lieve in," he said. "We won't find some
body who has 100 percent the same be
liefs we do."
McGuire said many people consider
voting for a candidate that is "electable,"
and then consider who the best candidate
would be.
"I don't believe that's the right way to
go about it," he said.
Redistricting
shifts many
polling sites
Brazos County voting places change,
increase after '90 Census evaluated
Brazos County voting simplified for ’92 vote
By Jayme Blaschke
The Battalion
A wording problem on voterV
registration cards, which kept
many Texas A&M students from
voting during the last presidential
election, has been corrected this
year.
A deputy from the Brazos
County Tax Office, which is in
charge of voter registration for
Brazos County, said anyone wish
ing to vote must register at least
30 days in advance of that elec
tion.
"Any American citizen at least
18 years old can register to vote,"
the deputy said. "They can send
for an application from our office
through the mail or pick one up in
person. It only takes a few min
utes to fill out."
On previous cards, the space
for the voter's address was
marked as "permanent address."
Since most University applica
tions ask for "permanent address"
as the student's parents' address,
many students wrote down their
parent's address instead of their
local residence.
This registered them to vote in
their home town instead of Bryan-
College Station.
"The wording 'permanent ad
dress' has been changed to 'resi
dent address,'" the deputy said.
"This should cut down a lot on
confusion."
It is too late for unregistered
voters to get registered in time to
vote in the March 10 "Super Tues
day" primaries, but there still
plenty of time to get registered be
fore the Nov. 3 general election.
Once the card is filled out, it is
returned to the tax office, and the
voter will receive a voter registra
tion certificate, confirming that
the voter is registered.
Voter registration cards are
available this year from several
places besides the tax office.
Sterling C. Evans Library on
the Texas A&M University cam
pus, the Democratic and Republi
can party headquarters and the
United States Secretary of State's
T here m y
W u, ecin i ct l
▼ ▼ Where do I
go to vote in my
precinct?
These are questions facing
Brazos County residents after
a 10-month redistricting pro
cess expanded the voting dis
tricts from 40 to 76. A list of
the new district's polling sites
is listed on the back of this
page. If you are unsure
about what precinct you live
in call either party's head
quarters or the Brazos Coun
ty Tax Office.
Brazos County Tax Office
361-4490
Democratic Party Headquarters
846-1725
Republican Party Headquarters
764-1988
office will all supply registration
cards.
To find out where to vote, a
registered voter can either call the
local political party headquarters
or the tax office. Voters must vote
in their precinct polling place, and
with the recently redrawn voting
lines, many people will find them
selves in new precincts.
"A person doesn't need to take
their voter registration certificate
to vote at the polls," the deputy
said. "Their name should be print
ed on a list of the registered voters
in that precinct, although they
need to take some kind of I.D."
The polls will be open from 7
a.m. to 7 p.m.
By Alysia Woods
The Battalion
V~ f ers this year should be
awa? c new Brazos County re-
disb ,.ig that nearly doubled the
number of precincts in the county.
Ruth McLoud, executive assis
tant to the Brazos County Com
missioner's Court, said because of
the 1990 U.S. Census figures, the
county has increased its precincts
from 40 to 76 and now has two
U.S. Congressional districts, in
stead of one. Brazos County also
has two Texas House of Represen
tatives districts.
"Because of the population
shift, we've had to realign the
precincts to ensure minority rep
resentation," McLoud said .
The realignment has resulted
in smaller precincts with fewer
people in them.
Redistricting is a process in
which county officials realign
county precincts to ensure appro
priate representation within each
precinct.
Redistricting is conducted ev
ery 10 years following the census
and is a result of the Federal Vot
ing Rights Act of 1965.
McLoud said Brazos County
began redistricting in March 1991
and finished Jan. 1.
"It actually took that long,"
McLoud said . "We were glad it
was over."
A consultant from Austin was
hired to help in the process, which
included computerized maps and
statistical information from the
census. McLoud said the redis
tricting affected almost all the
precincts.
"Some were cut by more than
50 percent," she said. "The north
ern part of the county was affect
ed the most."
McLoud said students who in
tend to vote this year should be
aware of the new precincts.
She said the first thing stu
dents should do is check and
make sure their voter registration
card has not expired. A new card
is issued every year.
The next step, said McLoud, is
to check the precinct listed on the
card because, more than likely, it
has changed since last year.
"For example, if you previous
ly voted in the 15th Precinct, it's
now been divided into two or four
districts," said McLoud.
Next, voters need to determine
where their precinct's polling
place is located and, finally,
McLoud said students should call
their respective party to clarify the
location.
Many precincts have been
combined into one location.
"It's extremely difficult to un
derstand, but we can't deviate
from it," she said.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
Smaller parties offer alternative to big party
politics with small budgets, high aspirations
— ; money and time," Feldman said.
By Ursula J. Burrell
The Battalion
Democrats and Republicans
dominate the electoral spotlight,
but other political parties, howev
er, do exist, including diverse or
ganizations such as the Prohibi
tion, Peace and Freedom, Socialist,
and Libertarian Parties.
Unlike the Democratic and Re
publican Parties - that hold pri
maries to select candidates for
upcoming nominating conven
tions - minor political parties hold
one nominating convention dur
ing August and September to se
lect their nominee for president.
Minor political parties may
not participate in primaries due to
the expenses that incur.
Libertarian Party office staffer
Steve Feldman said the Democrat
ic and Republican parties can af
ford primaries because they are
forcibly funded through taxes.
Money that supports their pri
maries is taken from everyone's
income taxes whether they like it
or not.
"Primaries also require a lot of
"These are things that small par
ties do not have much of."
The Socialist Party is another
organization with limited re
sources.
"We do not participate in pri
maries because we are a small
party and we are not going to
fight to among ourselves like the
Democrats and the Republicans,"
said Ann Rosenhaft, national sec
retary for the Socialist party.
The Socialist party nominated
retired school teacher J. Quinn
Brisben for president and William
D. Edwards for vice president.
The party seeks radical and fun
damental change in the structure
and quality of economic, political,
and social relationships in Ameri
ca.
Their platform includes restor
ing high tax rates on the wealthy,
socializing banks and creating a
publicly funded and administered
health care system for all.
Commercial real estate broker
Andre Marrou and Dr. Nancy
Lord are the Libertarian president-
See Smaller /On Back
Presidential race draws interest
of Democrats, bores Republicans
Sheriff’s office, other local contests attract students’ attention
By Reagon Clamon
The Battalion
Students at Texas A&M are rushing to find out
more about the Democratic presidential candidates
as the March 10 primary approaches, while debate
among the Republican voters seems to be reticent.
Joe Trimble, president of A&M College Republi
cans, said the national race isn't a topic of much ex
citement to student Republicans.
Trimble blamed the lack of Republican interest on
the fact that there's no real contest between the presi
dential candidates.
"There is less interest in this race than, say, two
years ago when Clayton Williams was running
against Ann Richards," Trimble said. "I don't think
anybody doubts that Bush will get the nomination
eventually. You might explain the lack of excitement
by saying there's no knock-down drag-out in the Re
publican race."
Unlike the Republicans, the attention of most stu
dent Democrats is focused on the presidential prima
ry-
David Lesmes, a graduate student with Aggie
Democrats, said local issues do not seem to interest
the students he has talked to.
"They don't know who's running," Lesmes said.
"They mainly know about the national election."
Lesmes said the Democratic race, at least among
students, has narrowed to two.
"Clinton and Tsongas are the big guys that we're
getting inquiries about," he said.
Trimble said the economy is foremost among stu
dents who have talked to him about the presidential
primary,.
"Obviously, the first question that comes up is
about the economy," Trimble said. "There was a dip
in the economy, and people are concerned. Now the
economy is recovering, so it's a moot point."
Trimble felt that most of the speculation among
student Republicans was over the local elections.
He said the Brazos County Sheriff's race, pitting
incumbent Republican Ronny Miller against Repub
lican Howard Hill, will turn out to be the attention
getter.
" As much as students deal with law enforce
ment, I think the sheriff's race should be the most im
portant," Trimble said. "Students pay taxes and go
to jail in this county, so they should be concerned
with who is sheriff."
Lesmes said although students are ignorant of lo
cal issues, the excitement of a national presidential
race has opened a few students eyes to what is hap
pening in their own back yard
"Most of the people working on this election are
having their first political experience," Lesmes said.
"I think that's a good indicator."