It’s election season! That also means it’s the best and worst time of the year for political reporters.

It means endless fodder for stories, issues coming to the forefront and of course negative campaigning. Yes, most of these things still are a months down the road, but primary season is important, too, even if it doesn’t seem that way.

In Washington, we have a Top 2 primary that allows the two candidates getting the most votes to advance to the General election. If people want to those finalists two Democrats or two Republicans, that is their prerogative.

On the other hand, many of the races in our backyard already feature only two candidates, rendering the primary somewhat useless on first look. But this is less of an annoyance than it is a chance to get to know the candidates better before the final vote in November.

For most people, voting doesn’t always require the greatest amount of research. A lot of people find the man or woman their party endorses and go with that. Not only is that irresponsible, but also is exactly what many fear to be a weakness in our form of government.

David McCollough, an American historian and author once said, “An uninformed citizenry will be fatal to democracy.” This sentiment rings true at all levels of government.

Our primary can help us become a more informed citizenry by by letting us get involved in the process earlier than just a week or two before election night.

And it’s not like there aren’t interesting races. By getting into the debate earlier we can learn about Adam Smith’s four challengers in the new 9th District that now includes Bellevue. Under the assumption that he will advance, wouldn’t anyone interested in voting for someone other than him want to know everything they could about Jim Postma, Tom Cramer, John Orlinski and Dave Christie? We also have on the Aug. 7 ballot a proposal to build a new Juvenile Justice Center in downtown Seattle, a one-time property tax of 7 cents per thousand of assessed valuation.

Thanks for reading, now go get your voter’s guide and fill out your ballots please.