When people say they are voting for “the lesser of two evils,” they are exposing the lack of participation in the primary election process.
In our U.S. system of government, one of the first steps to deciding who would represent our districts, cities, counties, state and in the federal government, is to have a primary election.
Primary elections allow voters to select which candidate will represent us in the general election. This means we get to vote for someone in the Democratic, Republican or independent party. There may be one or more candidates representing each party and we, the voters, can vote for one of these candidates to represent the political party for each office on the ballot.
There are two main types of primary elections: open and closed primary. In an open primary, you are not required to declare a political party affiliation to obtain a ballot. A voter can go to the polling location and select the political party primary ballot they want to vote for. Voters can change which primary ballot they receive for the next primary election, then switch to another political party primary ballot for that election.
The other main type of primary is a closed primary. In a closed primary, voters must identify their political party affiliation before obtaining a ballot. Based on their political affiliation, the voter will be given that specific primary ballot. If the voter wants to receive a different primary ballot, the voter will need to follow the process for their specific state before receiving the desired ballot.
Closed primary ballots generally are challenging for voters in closed primary states who elect “independent” as their political affiliation because those voters must change their affiliation depending on if those voters want to impact the primary election for one of the two main political parties, the Democratic or Republican primary.
In Georgia, we have an open primary election process. We can go to the polling location and choose a Democratic, Republican, or non-partisan ballot — then vote.
In the 2024 presidential primary election, Georgia had a 12.7% turnout (out of 6,987,141 active registered voters, only 879,032 voted). This means about one out of eight voters chose who we all voted for in the 2024 general election.
Then, in the 2024 general election, 72.9% of active registered voters voted. Yes, there were challenges with the Democratic presidential nomination and the candidates changed after the primary. Aside from the presidential race, there were other offices including the Georgia General Assembly, candidates for federal House of Representatives, as well as other state and county offices on the ballot.
With all these critical positions on the ballot, how many times did we hear “I don’t like either candidate” or “I am voting for the lesser of two evils” or any other variation? Knowing the turnout count, how many who did not like either candidate vote in the primary? The difference is 60.2% — nearly five times more people voted in the general election than in the primary election.
Of course, people felt they did not like either choice — because 60.2% of the general election voter did not make a choice in the primary — at the start of the election cycle. This could be because in the primary elections, candidates typically speak directly and only to the base voter. Negating the rest of the voting population. Voters complain about not knowing much about the candidates during the general election because the candidate only visited with “the base.”
Primary elections are helpful for exciting a political party’s base population of voters. The “base” is a group of people, of different demographics, that are reliable voters to the political party. The challenge is that the “base” is a small group of dedicated voters who will vote for the political party, usually, regardless of the nominee — yet the voting electorate is much more diverse in thought and demographic than the base group of voters.
These dedicated base voters are less than 10% of the overall voting population for each political party. This means we are allowing less than 10% of each political party’s voters to select which candidate is in the ballot in the general election. No wonder the electorate is frustrated by the general election options.
The primary candidates tend to do what the voters train them to do — only focus on the base. Then traditional political consultants reinforce the notion that the base is the only group of people that matter in the primary election campaigns. This narrowing of who the candidate speaks to and meets with creates polarization of ideas and audiences.
The base wants certain subjects discussed. Subjects that only excite that certain group. Candidates then only discuss those narrow subjects. The constant discussion of abortion, taxing the rich or gerrymandering as a yes or no does not create the nuances that allow for the general election voters to see themselves in the policy discussion.
The narrow discussion in primary elections creates camps, sides and yes, polarization. Then we complain about our politics being divided.
We created the division. All for the sake of getting the base out to vote.
Base voters, traditional political consultants and, increasingly, social media users will argue that the candidate must appeal to the base voters’ emotions on an issue and use the buzz words in order for the candidate to win. Yes. Win the primary. The thoughtful question is will these buzz words win the candidate the general election?
Is the goal to complain about our politics or to choose people who will work for the masses? Complaining about our politics presents as if we are separate from politics. We are not. We create the politics we are complaining about.
Primary elections are our time to vet the candidates and choose which candidate can win in the general election. Well, if the goal is to win the general election.
We can choose a candidate the base wants and who can appeal to voters who turn out in general elections without polarizing policy.
Primary early voting is Georgia ended Friday, May 15, 2026. The last day of primary election voting is Tuesday, May 19, 2026. The choice is and has been ours.
Tammy R. Greer has a PhD in political science and teaches public policy. She was recently featured in an ad for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Geoff Duncan.
