Why should you care or not care about the March 19th election?
Well, depending on who you are and your political party affiliation, you may not care.
The Presidential Preference election is not a general election. It is an election in which members of political parties who have candidates running for President of the United States, vote for the candidate they think will best represent the party’s values, goals, objectives and strategy for the United States.
Democrats vote for the Democrat presidential candidate they wish to see run in November as the Democrat candidate. Republicans vote for the Republican presidential candidate they wish to see run in November as the Republican candidate. If other parties like the Libertarian or Green Party have candidates they wish to see represent them, then those registered party voters will vote on that slate.
Once the party members vote for whom they wish to see run (each state holds their own party elections), then the parties conduct their party conventions over the summer months. The representatives from each state to the party convention cast their votes to decide which candidate will represent that party in the November Presidential election.
So the answer to the initial question is, you may not care about the March 19th election if the political party you joined doesn’t have a candidate running for president or if you have no political party affiliation.
If you are registered to vote as Party Not Declared (includes Independents), then you cannot participate in the Presidential Preference election by law and by definition. The whole idea is to have voters of each party decide who will represent them best in the November election.
If you wish to vote on March 19th, and are not registered to vote or are registered as Party Not Declared, you have until February 20th to register to vote or change your party affiliation.
You may check your voter registration status and party affiliation by visiting the County Elections website for the county you reside. This election only Democrat and Republican party voters will be voting since those are the only two parties participating in the Presidential Preference election.
Maricopa County Elections
Pinal County Elections
Cochise County Elections
Santa Cruz County Elections
