"Elections have consequences," the saying goes. Not having elections, or having elections in which voters have no choice, are perhaps even more consequential. This sentiment certainly holds true for voters of Ulster County's 1st legislative district, as voters this fall will choose who represents them in the county legislature — if "choose" is the right word, that is.

The problem, as we've discussed in an earlier editorial, is that the Democratic and Republican Parties engaged in a practice known as cross-endorsement for the four county legislative seats in District 1. The three Democrats managed to avoid a challenge from the Republicans as long as the Republicans got a chance to run their candidate, also unopposed in the fall election, for the fourth seat. If things had gone the way party elders had chosen, there would have been four candidates for four seats, no choice for the voters, nothing to see here, folks, please move along.

But someone decided to throw a democratic (small "D") monkey wrench into the Republican Party apparatus. Manuela Mihailescu, a current councilperson from the Town of Rochester, has challenged the GOP's anointed candidate, Terry Bernardo. This means that voters will have a choice, although this choice won't appear on the November ballot. No, the only honest-to-goodness democratic opportunity voters in District 1 will have for the county legislature this election season will be in the Republican primary on September 15, when Mihailescu and Bernardo face off against one another.

Does this situation strike anyone as somewhat problematic? The way this process is supposed to work is that both major parties (and the minor ones, we don't want to leave them out) put up candidates who have competing ideas on how best to run county government. After months of campaigning, in which voters hear both parties make their respective pitches, there's an election in which the person who has the best ideas — or is the best organized, perhaps — wins the day.

But this won't happen in District 1 this election cycle. Instead, voters are being treated to an example of politics at its worst. The quid pro quo between the two major political parties will ensure that each gets its respective seat at the table, the electorate be damned. This kind of thing cannot help but remind us of the days of Tammany Hall, when corrupt political machines doled out patronage and pork, all at the expense of the people they were elected to (allegedly) represent.

Unfortunately, New York State election law allows for the kind of backroom dealing voters have witnessed during this election cycle. While it may be repugnant, it's not illegal, in other words. Fortunately, there are other reasons for District 1 voters to go to the voting booth on November 3, as there will be a number of excellent candidates who will be on the ballot for local positions in the towns of Marbletown, Rochester, and Wawarsing. But on the county level, the choice for voters will be no choice at all.

Both of the major political parties are responsible for this mess, so both should be held accountable by their respective registered voters. Only due diligence by the people will ensure that this type of shady, back-room deal doesn't happen again. One of the ways Republican voters can do this is by sending a clear message to their leaders in the primary on September 15.