March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 51 F

PRIMARY PRIMER: Single Shotting

 

Politics can be a dirty business. There are all sorts of tricks to be played with words and images–we’ve all received plenty of mailers. Another form of shenanigans that we recently heard was happening was to “single shot”, or vote ONLY for a specific candidate.

What is a “single shot?” Simply put, it is not using all of your votes to help out a preferred candidate.

For example, let’s say there is a race with three open spots and four candidates. The intent is to select the top three vote getting candidates who would move on.  Seems pretty fair and honest. But single shotting tosses a wrench into the works.

Let’s say a family goes to vote.  Here’s how they vote:

Family MemberCandidate ACandidate BCandidate CCandidate D
DadXXX
MomXXX
Kid 1XXX
Kid 2XXX
TOTAL
2442

Candidate B and C are sure things.  A and D need to fight it out–maybe they need to count some absentee or provisional votes.

Now let’s look at single shotting. Candidate A knows he or she is in trouble, so the call for single shotting is made.

Family MemberCandidate ACandidate BCandidate CCandidate D
DadX
MomXXX
Kid 1X
Kid 2XXX
TOTAL
2222

All of a sudden B & C are not in the lead and there is a 4 way tie. It’s anyone’s game and B & C are no longer front runners.

Now imagine this with thousands of voters and maybe 8 or 9 candidates running for a few seats. Imagine how it can skew an election. And we have many races that could be impacted by this practice.

I am not sure if it is illegal, but if a candidate asks you to “single shot” or vote ONLY for them, you might ask yourself “why?”

 

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