Meaningful Virginia primary slated for Feb. 12
By Kelly Alm
With no primary candidate in the Democratic Party with a commanding lead in delegate totals, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are bringing their campaigns to Virginia in recognition of a nearly unprecedented role for the state in selecting Democratic presidential nominees.Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. will be holding primary elections next Tuesday, Feb. 12, in what has become known as the “Potomac Primary.” However, in contrast to Virginia and Maryland, which will hold a Republican and a Democratic primary, the District will hold a Republican primary and a Democratic caucus. Yesterday's Super Tuesday marked the highest-ever number of presidential state primary elections held simultaneously. A total of 24 states and one territory held primaries or caucuses.
This will be the first time in history that both the Democratic and Republican parties of Virginia will hold simultaneous binding primary elections to nominate a presidential candidate. The party elections will be conducted at regular polling locations in Fauquier and throughout the commonwealth.
A binding primary is one in which delegates promise to cast votes for a specific candidate at the national party convention. They cannot change that affiliation unless they are released by the candidate.
Many states hold closed primaries, in which voters can vote only in the primary of the party with which they are registered,.Virginia does not register voters by political party, and thus has open primaries.
All registered Virginia voters are eligible to participate in either the Democratic or Republican primary election, but not both. Voting in a party's primary does not give a person any political affiliation with that party. Workers at the polls will ask voters to identify in which party primary they wish to participate, and give them a ballot accordingly.
Although, Democratic challengers Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, and John Edwards have dropped out of the race, their names will still appear on the ballot. The same goes for Republican candidates Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani. Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, whose chances of winning appear to have diminished, also appear on the ballot with frontrunners John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Virginians will elect 103 Democratic delegates and 63 Republican delegates. Under the 2008 Democratic Party selection rules, delegates are awarded proportionately. That is to say, should Clinton win 45 percent of the vote, for example, she would win 45 percent of the delegates. Candidates are required to win a minimum threshold of 15 percent of the vote in order to receive any delegates for the National Convention. According to Danae Jones, communications director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, candidates who receive less that 15 percent of the vote will not be represented by delegates at the National Convention.
Under Republican Party rules, there are no provisions requiring proportional representation. Virginia Republicans use the winner-take-all method. Should John McCain eek out a victory over Mitt Romney, he would take all the delegates, despite the narrowness of the victory.
All Fauquier polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., just as in a regular election. Absentee ballots are due in the Registrar's office by 7 p.m. on election day.