St. Louis Post-Disaptch: “Editorial: Our recommendations on four St. Louis city ballot propositions”

“In addition to the two statewide referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot, St. Louis city voters will consider an array of local propositions. Let’s cut to the chase and address them in order: First is Proposition D, which asks voters whether they would like to revise the city’s partisan primary election system.

The overwhelmingly Democratic makeup of the St. Louis electorate means that the primary election result pretty much decides the general election winner in major races. It’s exactly because of this skewed system that this newspaper is not recommending in the big local races — treasurer, circuit attorney, etc. Why bother? Regardless of how qualified the Republican or third party candidates might be, the Democratic primary winners are virtually destined for victory (regardless of how unqualified they might be).

The candidate who garners the plurality of votes in a packed primary might not necessarily be the one voters would have chosen in a general election once the field had narrowed. For example, the 2017 Democratic primary pitted then-Alderman Lyda Krewson against Treasurer Tishaura Jones among three other Black contenders. Had the multiple-candidate primary not split the Black vote, Jones might have emerged the primary victor instead of Krewson.

Prop D proposes to establish an open, non-partisan primary with voters allowed to choose multiple candidates for mayor, comptroller, aldermanic president and Board of Aldermen. The top two finishers would advance to a general election runoff. It’s time for St. Louis to dump its outdated partisan system and broaden the choices for voters. We recommend a yes vote on Prop D.”

Read the full story on its original platform here.