The 2020 election season is in full swing. There has been drama on the debate stage, plenty of polling, and a catastrophic first caucus in Iowa. Incumbent Donald Trump will surely secure the Republican nomination, but the Democratic candidate is a point of contention. Approximately 28 candidates have been involved in the Democratic race for 2020 at some point, with the field now narrowed down to a group of eight.

Thus far, the wide field of Democratic candidates has resulted in a spread of delegate numbers across multiple campaigns. There have already been primary contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, but the bulk of primary elections occur in March. After two caucuses and one primary, Bernie Sanders is in the lead, but multiple candidates have the potential to take the nomination, and analysts cannot determine a probable favorite heading into Super Tuesday. The race is still very competitive at this point in time, and it remains to be seen who, if anyone, will win enough delegates to secure the nomination.

With much of our staff eligible to vote in the Virginia primary, we asked our staff how they follow the primaries, and if they think the process is an accurate reflection of the country’s voters.

Amira Lovelace, Staff Writer- “I don’t follow primaries very well, but I know that Bernie is in the lead. I don’t think the primary process is very fair because certain states get to go first, but they can only represent a certain type of voter.”

Shayla Shuping, Staff Writer- “I don’t personally follow primaries, but I’m a big follower of Bernie Sanders’ Instagram, so I catch it when he wins. I think the primary process has been a little biased; I don’t think these little states represent our whole country, but they’re in the news all the time.”

Jasmine Brown, Staff Writer- “I haven’t really been following the primaries because- it’s not that I don’t care- I really don’t have time. I personally don’t think it’s fair just because, when you think about the demographics of Iowa, they’re not really diverse and they don’t represent everyone as a whole. They don’t represent everyone’s mentality or everyone’s way of life, so that probably has a biased outcome.”

Laura, Madler, Editor-in-Chief- “Personally, I’ve been looking forward to primary season for quite some time. I started following primaries in 2016, when both parties were looking for a new candidate. It’s a very exciting time because you get a preview of how the presidential election will look come fall, and all the debates help you determine which candidates and issues are most important to you. This year, now that I am able to vote in both elections, I have been following the process closely. I think the primary system definitely has some issues, and the Iowa caucuses have shown us how that system can be inefficient and prone to error. Certainly the early results are not indicative of the nomination because the first states to assign delegates are widely covered in the news, but their populations do not necessarily represent the whole of America’s voters. Despite the problems, though, I’m eager to see this election unfold.”