When Virginia held its primary election on Super Tuesday this year, I found myself in a position that I had never been in before as a voter. Having missed only one voting day since I assumed my civic duty, I am typically well-read on the candidates and am prepared weeks in advance to cast my ballot. This year though, things were different.

There is a uniqueness in presidential election primaries in that we have many choices to make among a field of candidates. In fact, there are likely many candidates on the ballot that you agree with and your final choice comes down to whom you like the most. Yet, we’re also dragged into the nasty underbelly of politics.

Elections should be about choosing the most competent person to lead, not voting against a particular candidate. As the pundits and news reports detail delegate math along the way, we’re tempted to vote for whom we think will win as opposed to who is actually right to lead at this point in our nation’s history. This action debased the democratic process and undercuts its noble objectives.

Delegate math is what leads us to vote for the career politician or the biggest bully instead of the unassuming governor or well credentialed intellect. All things being equal, we would vote for those whom it said have little chance of winning not because our vote will make them win, but because we want to vote for the person whom we think is right.

We collectively pay the price for this game in the general election when we’re forced to vote for the lesser of two evils. We have to choose between two nuclear weapons, selected by their respective parties not based on their merits but because they’re believed to obliterate their opponent in the electoral college.

All of this can be traced back to voters not voting their conscience in the primaries. This is the conclusion that I reached before I stepped into the voting booth on Super Tuesday. I needed to not worry about how the remaining primaries were going to go, not about who had the best chance of beating the other party, but only about who was best to lead America right now. I did, and I slept peacefully.