Were you aware there was a primary last month for several state and federal office seats? Based on the pathetic election turnout we've just witnessed, I wouldn't be surprised if most people were unaware that there was a primary election season, let alone an election for essential state and federal government positions.

Because of the state's arcane election laws, the primary election results and turnout don't reflect the will of the majority of the state's electorate. If we desire candidates that reflect the viewpoint of the majority of state residents, then new election laws are desperately needed.

Recently, columnist Susan Bigelow did an excellent job detailing the embarrassment that unfolded last month when a Trump-endorsed stooge won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate with only a super-minority of the state electorate supporting her cause.

What were those turnout numbers, again? About 90,000 voters turned out to select the Republican nominee or 20% of the 497,981 registered GOP voters. Registered Republicans themselves are a distinct minority in the state, making up only a fifth of Connecticut’s registered voters. Democrats make up about 37% with 905,268 registered voters, while unaffiliated voters, the largest voting bloc in the state, are at 42% with 1,028,066 voters.

This means that the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, the person chosen to face off against Sen. Richard Blumenthal, was decided by 3.7% of registered Connecticut voters.

Bigelow’s analysis should alarm anyone who cares about living in a democracy that is supposed to represent the will of the public. The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate won her race by attracting less than FOUR percent of the state’s voting bloc to her cause. Meanwhile, the state’s largest voting bloc is barred from participating in the election process simply because most changed their party identification from "Republican" to "unaffiliated."

In the end, voters are left with a candidate who is woefully unqualified to run for local office, let alone federal office, while the incumbent sails to another easy re-election for six years without any sense of a healthy and intelligent debate on his record in Congress.

This voting fiasco is complete madness, and changes to our election laws are needed now more than ever.

Maybe rank choice voting, being adopted in several states, is the answer. In simple terms, voters rank their candidates by preference under the rank choice voting format. The candidate who wins the majority of votes in the first round is declared the winner. If no one receives the majority, another round of voting is held based on the voters’ rank choice preference.

Another reform idea surrounds bringing an end to the closed primary process. With a majority of registered having rejected the Democratic and Republican parties, maybe having open primaries that allow everyone to participate in primary elections regardless of political affiliation should be up for discussion. 

Whether it's adopting rank choice voting, open primaries, or adopting both options, the current state election system is broken and is in desperate need of change if we ever want a government for the people by the people.