In this age of politicians using redistricting to build safe districts and ensure jobs for life, it is important to realize that the election that determines who the next representative is going to be is the primary election of the party that controls the district.

The general election is merely a formality.

To deny independents and adherents of the minority party the right to vote in this critical election is to deny them the right to vote, period.

The party primary is the means by which party leaders prevent candidates who don’t toe the party line from getting elected.

The purpose is to eliminate choices. This does not serve the interests of the majority of the people because the parties represent the opposite extremes, whereas the majority tend to fall somewhere in the middle.

For this disservice, we actually allow the parties to use our election equipment for free, a gift worth tens of millions of dollars.

They are not arms of the government and don’t deserve government subsidies in any form.

A better way would be to make all offices non-partisan and use the ranked-choice ballot and instant-runoff voting to choose the winner.

You don’t know what that is? This is not surprising, as the parties control the government, and the government controls the schools, and the schools don’t teach the science of voting in social studies classes.