With the Ohio primary elections almost upon us, we here at the Kent State College Democrats, as well as everyone else in the Buckeye State, are incredibly excited and anxious to have our voices heard through the power of the ballot box. It is invigorating to see democratic pluralism in action throughout this election year and to see each candidate’s policies and principles tested through the competition of elections.

We have a desire to maintain the values of pluralism within our own organization and to respect the myriad individual choices and beliefs of our members concerning all things politics and public policy. We also have a desire to make decisions, to the best of our ability, which are not presumptuous in nature and would unnecessarily limit our actions and voice moving forward.

That is why, with regards to presidential elections, we are committed to a policy of abstaining from endorsing a presidential candidate until the nominee has been officially named by the Democratic Party. Especially during this election, where a competitive race remains between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, we feel it would be unfair to ourselves and to our membership to formally endorse any presidential candidate and thereby leave the values and preferences of others in the organization stigmatized in any way.

Only after the primaries have been completed, thus showing the will of Democratic voters to be fully expressed, and only after a nominee has been declared by the Democratic Party, do we feel it appropriate to initiate a policy of endorsement for that candidate.

We wish the best of luck to both Clinton and Sanders in the Ohio Democratic primary and to all other candidates at the state, regional, and local level. We look forward to endorsing the Democratic nominee for president once the general election is properly under way, and are very excited to be campaigning for another four years of a Democratic White House.

The views expressed herein are the policies of the College Democrats Executive Board and the organization as a whole.