On Aug. 10 Connecticut will hold its own political version of college basketball's March Madness.

On the ballot across the state will be an unprecedented number of men and women looking to win their party's nomination for a spot on the November ballot. From state representative to governor, Aug. 10 will be a day of decision-making for Republicans and Democrats.

Some may ask, "Wait, I don't understand. Didn't the parties already have conventions and pick their candidates?" Yes, and well, no. (In politics it's never over until it's over and often it's not over then.)

True, the political parties had their conventions but the system, possibly designed by Rube Goldberg or two guys with a bottle of Jack Daniels and an election official, have it set up so that the convention is for party hacks who eat, drink and sleep politics.

That Aug. 10 primary is for the rest of the party members so they can weigh in.

Still confused? In short, the conventions don't really matter. Even those anointed at the convention have to get past primary contenders to be on the party line on the November ballot.

In recent years there have been complaints about decreased voter participation. Frequently the reason cited is homogeneous candidates. "They're all the same, they're all crooks," voters moan.

If people want choices, they have them in 2010. The state's primary ballot has more options than Custy's International Buffet in North Stonington. It's a smorgasbord of candidates.

Space limitations don't allow a complete review but here are some highlights:

Democrats will choose between two candidates for governor, two for lieutenant governor, two for comptroller and two for secretary of the state. Not to mention the local House and Senate races where there are some battles.

Not to be outdone, Republicans have three candidates in the gubernatorial scrum, two for lieutenant governor, two for attorney general, and three, yes three, for the U.S. Senate race.

In addition, the Grand Old Party has 11 candidates between the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th congressional districts, all fighting for a chance to battle the incumbent Democrats.

With so many candidates and campaigns coming to a head in August, one would think the chief elections officer, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, must be busy educating registered voters. (Bysiewicz was a candidate herself for not one but two offices this election cycle, until the state Supreme Court declared her ineligible to run for attorney general, an office she sought after initially declaring a run for governor.)

Here's what the secretary of the state's website has to say: "Our vision is to be the leader in providing prompt quality service, increasing access to information, and promoting participation in the democratic process."

Perhaps Bysiewicz needs to have her vision checked. There are virtually no public service announcements, nothing prominent on her website and it appears not even a directive to registrars of voters across the state to disseminate information on what the 837,240 unaffiliated registered voters need to do to participate in the democratic process.

The Aug. 10 primary is open only to registered Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who is unsure whether they are registered with a party should call their local registrar of voter's office and confirm their status.

Unaffiliated voters can have a vote, but only if they register with one of the parties before the primary vote. If you're unaffiliated and care about where this state and country are headed, study the candidates, decide who you like, and sign up with a party by the deadlines. After the primary, you can switch back to unaffiliated.

The deadline to register by mail is Aug. 5, in person by noon Aug. 9. It's too late for anyone already registered with a party to switch their affiliation.

Bysiewicz is apparently visiting newspapers asking them to get out the word about this. Her office needs to do much more than that.

Ben Davol is a veteran of numerous local, state and federal political campaigns. Once a Republican organizer, he is now registered as unaffiliated.