Primary election next Tuesday

A primary election will be held next Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. Without considering the write-in possibilities, Republicans are selecting a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Democrats are deciding who will run for State Attorney General and a seat in the Vermont State Senate.

Primary election ballots are shown outside the Whiting Town Offices.

John MacGovern of Windsor and H. Brooke Paige of Washington are competing for the GOP nod to run against incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Burlington in November's general election. Thomas Donovan and William H. Sorrell, both of Burlington, are competing for the Democratic nomination for the attorney general race. Claire Ayer of Addison and Christopher A. Bray of New Haven are competing for the Democratic nomination to run for State Senate from this district.

Interestingly, Vermont does not register voters by political party. So, on Primary Election Day, voters are presented with the ballots of the various parties seeking to resolve their candidate issues. (I must admit that I haven't yet figured out what the Progressive Party is hoping to resolve, as its ballot is mostly blank and no races are contested.) Voters are to fill in just one of the party ballots, leaving the others blank.