WERE YOU HAPPY with the primary elections? Not with who won, but with your choices? And the knowledge you brought to bear on those choices?

A lot of the disappointment many people are feeling is our own fault, because we don’t encourage more people to run, we don’t do enough to educate ourselves about the candidates, we don’t make our voices heard anywhere except at the polling place.

But there are institutional barriers that make it less likely that the election ballots will reflect public desires, particularly in legislative races, and that voters will have the information they need to make the best choices. One of the biggest ones is timing.

Because we hold primaries in early June, candidates must file by March 30. That early date may not affect local races, but coming just halfway through the legislative session, it distorts legislative decision-making: Lawmakers are terrified to do anything controversial before filing closes, for fear they will attract opposition; once filing closes, those with opposition are tempted to cast votes with an eye toward the opponents.

Beyond that, the early filing date means that if the Legislature does an awful job — as it did this year — and voters decide it’s time to kick the bums out, they’re left with little recourse. When you consider the general disgust with the General Assembly that has developed in South Carolina — disgust that spans the political spectrum — you’d think the challengers would be lining up to take on the incumbents. But by the time the disgust began to gel, the filing season had long since closed, so precious few incumbents faced opposition this month, and few will face opposition in November.

Even when viable challengers step up to run, the June primaries still work against democracy.

Prime primary campaign season in South Carolina — May and the first week of June — is one of the busiest times of the year for a lot of people, including parents whose kids are winding down the school year.

It’s also a busy time for the people whose job it is to help you get informed and engaged about the elections — the news media, and particularly the political reporters at most news organizations. They have overlapping jobs of keeping up with the vitally important, hectic and confusing final weeks of the annual legislative session, while at the same time keeping up with election campaigns. Inevitably, something gets short shrift; usually, it’s the elections. So voters don’t get as many profiles on the candidates, or as much examination of the candidates’ records and promises, or truth-squadding of campaign advertisements, which means high-priced distortions go unchallenged by any independent entity.

Holding primaries five days after the Legislature adjourns can also distort the legislative campaigns themselves. Incumbents can’t campaign as much as challengers, but they’re also more likely to get news coverage. Of course, that can cut both ways.

Half the states hold their primary elections later than South Carolina does. A dozen wait until September for the primaries, which gives voters a compact election season, starting in August and concluding in November. South Carolina held primaries in early August a decade ago, and things went wonderfully. Whether we choose August or September, it’s time to move our primaries, so voters will have better choices, better information, better campaigns and a better Legislature.