EDITORIAL: In a huge election year, the end of the beginning and more clichés

We promise that soon we will begin our intensive coverage of all the Triad races in the 2022 election. But for reasons ridiculous, spurious and sinister, we don’t yet have a complete field of candidates. This is because we live in a failed state, as measured by our inability to hold free and fair elections, among other metrics.

Remember, the 2022 primary was initially set to be held this month. Redistricting chicanery forced a necessary pause as Republican efforts to stack the deck worked their way through the courts. Our congressional districts are in fact still being litigated. We will explore the intricacies of the matter before the US Supreme Court at another date, but for now our statewide primary is set for May 17. That’s a Tuesday, in case you were wondering.

This primary will include candidates for the Greensboro City Council election, which was supposed to be held last year. This was pushed back because of a screw-up with the US Census at the federal level, which trickled down to uncertainty in the North Carolina legislature. This move gives current councilmembers an extra year on their terms, leaving newly elected ones a full year short — which is not supposed to happen.

The Greensboro city council election will be held on July 26 — a Tuesday! — just two months after the primary.

But! We still don’t have a full candidate slate for any of the 2022 elections, because filing was suspended while the redistricting issue worked its way through the courts. On Friday, when the deadline to register for the 2022 election finally expires, we will have a definitive list from which to begin our coverage of the races.

In the case of Greensboro municipal races — which is going to be a hot one — many people have already either filed or declared, but there will almost certainly be a flurry of activity before the end in this one. Same goes for county offices like school board and even sheriff.

Congressional and state candidates only got their districts last week. The dust is still settling from that fiasco; those filings should also go up until the 11th hour.

But Friday’s the day that the beginning of this election is officially over. We can finally move on to what’s next, which is also sure to be a shitshow.